I told you guys that from here on out, it's gonna be quite the "roadtrip." I also reminded you guys to watch that "you won't get left behind." And I meant that, especially now, more than ever. There are going to be a lot of bizarre plot twists and turns, but I've no doubt you're going to love all of them.

And elpatolocosisi? Forget everything I told you. ;) I guess when you first asked me about it, I wasn't too sure with the plotline. I told you; I screwed up. So I'm trying to fix it. So, technically, things are different now, so you just have to sit back and read.

Don't worry; everything will work out in the end. ;)

Cheers.

---

Takeshi was first to wake up this morning. He didn't really intend to wake up at 5 AM—that was usually way too early for this tastes—but the nurse had come over to give him a shot or two as well as a quick progress report on his condition. It would be quite rude if the nurse had just stuck a needle through his skin while he was snoozing and that would've pissed him off really badly.

"You know, you're getting a lot better," she said. "Really better."

"How better?" Takeshi asked.

"Enough for you to be discharged and sent home," the nurse replied pleasantly. She quietly took out a pair of scissors and began to move to the other side of Takeshi's bed.

Takeshi gaped at her, astounded. "For real?!"

"Yup. But you still can't go home today; the doctors are going to run extra tests on you just to make sure you're really fine, and by tomorrow you can leave."

Takeshi inwardly groaned. "Is that even necessary?"

"Well…to some of the doctors, it isn't. And I think they're right."

Takeshi sighed. Me three.

The nurse began to take off some of the tubes to my body, gently dropping them to floor.

"But you know…you can't be too careful, right?"

Oh sure. "Yeah, I suppose." Takeshi looked up at the clock overhead and frowned. "Hey, about that woman who last visited…"

"Anna Asakura?"

Takeshi nodded. "Yeah. When's she coming back?"

"She didn't say…but visiting hours start six, so I guess she might be around at that time."

"You don't say…" Takeshi smirked. Good. This is coming along as planned.

The nurse smiled, unaware of Takeshi's curious-looking smirk. "Well, I have to get going. I still have to go deliver some medicines. Take care, Mr. Himura."

"Thanks."

The moment the nurse gently closed the door and left the room, Takeshi's eyes began to drift from the foot of his bed to a window just a few meters above his position.

Takeshi smirked. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes. If Anna were here right now, she would've smacked him across the face for even thinking of doing something this crazy.

I think I'll fit.

***

Takeshi's POV

I casually climbed through the open window and jumped off of it, only to land feet-first into a pile of crates. The impact made me wince lightly—frankly, I didn't think my gunshot wounds were still that painful.

Slowly, I surfaced from the pile and took a deep breath while gazing around me. I felt relieved that Anna had left some clothes out before she left last night—otherwise I'd have to perform my escape still wearing that lousy hospital gown. I won't be able to get very far if I'm caught red-handed outside the hospital in that stupid outfit.

SO, wearing a plain white shirt, a pair of faded jeans and a pair of old sneakers, I cautiously ran out into the parking lot.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ugh. So much for being cautious.

Anyway, I felt like I was going to faint. They recognized me…?!

"You better get back in your room, Takeshi-sama," said that same voice. It was a man's voice. He sounded very familiar. "Anna-sama won't like it if your condition got even worse."

I stopped. Anna-sama? I quickly whipped around and came face-to-face with Umemiya Ryunosuke. Or Bokuto no Ryu, in other words.

"Ryu?!" I mouthed out. "What're you doing here?"

Ryu casually went around his awesome-looking motorcycle and smirked. "To look after you, of course. Anna-sama had a feeling you were going to do something stupid, so she sent me here to watch that you behave."

"To look after me?" I repeated in utter disbelief. "Who does she think I am—some five-year-old kid looking for trouble?"

"Well, maybe not a five-year-old, but you sure are looking for trouble, Takeshi-sama," Ryu replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "You know you still need time to recover from your gunshot wounds. And you know that won't be easy, considering you don't have your powers anymore."

I glared at him. So much for Anna treating me like an adult. "I'm fine! Look—the nurse said I'm well enough to leave—it's just that I still need to undergo some extra, unnecessary tests for precautionary measures! Unnecessary!"

I threw my arms in the air for emphasis, all the while still glowering at Ryu heatedly. Honestly, I—! Suddenly, I felt a small tinge of pain in my chest—probably one of my gunshot wounds—and I doubled over, wincing.

I could almost see Ryu's smug face looking down at me. Can it, Ryu.

"See? You're not okay," he said, helping me straighten up. "Now you be a good boy and—"

Damn you. I had enough of this. "Stop treating me like a child! I'm twenty-four, dammit, and I know what I'm doing!"

"Yeah, you're trying to get yourself killed. Again." Ryu sounded awfully sarcastic. It pissed me even more.

"I told you; I'm better now!" I said through gritted teeth. "I've been recovering these past two weeks—there's no need to worry about me!"

Ryu coolly took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He stuck it inside his mouth and puffed. "Why're you in such a hurry to leave anyway?"

I stopped, taken aback. I didn't really expect him to ask such a question. I sighed, looking away. "You wouldn't understand."

Ryu puffed on his cigarette and grinned toothily at me. "Try me."

"No, you'd tell Anna."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you're her lackey. That's why you're out here, looking after me, in the first place."

Ryu cringed. "You are very harsh, Takeshi-sama."

"Not as harsh as Anna."

He nodded. Nobody could ever argue with that.

"But you can trust me, Takeshi-sama," Ryu added, puffing out a long trail of smoke from his mouth. "I can keep secrets."

"But are you good at keeping them?" was what I shot back.

Ryu sighed, obviously exasperated. He locked gazes, looking incredibly serious. I almost flinched from the sudden change of aura.

"Takeshi-sama…you might think I don't know what's going on."

"What?"

"I was more than your ambulance driver when Anna-sama called for me that night," he said, eyes narrowing. "For one thing, I know about that mark on your arm."

I gasped. "The Oni."

"The Black Oni," Ryu corrected me. "I didn't tell Anna-sama about it. I didn't think it was a good idea."

"Well, you got that right. Anna shouldn't know about this," I said, nodding in agreement. Focusing back on the issue at hand, I asked, "And while we're at it, who's the Black Oni, Ryu?"

Ryu stared at me like I had just grown two more heads. "You don't know about the Black Oni?"

I've been gone for seven years; how am I supposed to know?! I rolled my eyes. "Uh, no?"

Ryu sighed. He leaned back on his motorcycle and said, "Well, first off, the Black Oni is known to be a group of people, not a single person. I guess you could call it a cult."

"What kind of cult?" Images of people in hooded outfits came to mind.

"I'd say a demonic cult. They worship the Black Oni, a really powerful and evil demon."

"Powerful?"

"Yeah. Anna-sama said he could rival even the Spirit of Fire's God-awesome power."

"You serious?! The Spirit of Fire?!" I suddenly found myself gasping. Then suddenly realized I had just missed something significant. "Wait, wait, rewind a sec. Anna knows about this cult?!"

Ryu nodded, grinning broadly. "Of course. What do you expect? Anna-sama is very much well-informed. The Black Oni cult became notorious only two years ago, but nobody has been able to track down their exact hideout."

I mouthed out a big O, finally piecing everything together. "Ohh, now I understand why you didn't want to tell Anna. If she found out the Black Oni cult's after me, she'd go looking for them and might get herself killed."

Ryu nodded quietly. "That's right. If the Black Oni's really as powerful as the Spirit of Fire, then her life will be put into jeopardy."

"Wait a second…" I frowned, realizing something that was a bit off. "The Black Oni…is alive?"

"Well…I'm not sure if 'alive' is the right word to use, but…" Ryu paused. "Tokagero has been telling me that he senses a presence similar to the Black Oni every now and then, so I'd hazard a guess that the demon somehow managed to escape from Hell."

"How is that even possible?"

"I don't know either," Ryu admitted. "But one thing's for sure, with the Black Oni back on the mortal plane, things aren't looking so good."

"Yeah, definitely. Especially since I'm pretty sure that bastard's got something bad up his sleeve."

I still couldn't understand why the cult was trying to get rid of me. I must pose some sort of threat of them, but I wasn't sure what that is now. And that's what I'm determined to find out.

"The Black Oni cult wanted me out of the way," I slowly said. Ryu listened intently. "I still don't get why. But that has to mean something."

"Like…?"

"Like they're planning something and I'm kind of in the way of it."

Ryu nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose that makes sense."

"I just know something is up," I said with conviction. "And I'm not going to rest until I find out what that is, if it's the last thing I do."

Ryu suddenly became silent, like he was thinking hard about something. I frowned, curious. He suddenly smiled, tossing his cigarette aside,

"I'll help you."

I blinked, not believing my ears. "What?"

"You heard me, Takeshi-sama. I'll help you with your little quest." He stomped on the cigarette on the ground, crushing it.

"Why?" I said, asking the obvious question.

"If this is going to affect the mortal plane, then I'm willing to help stop something that could harm it. That could harm life as we know it."

I swallowed. I felt anxious, but a part of me said that having Ryu with me was a good idea. After all, I was practically powerless and having him by my side would be very handy, considering that he's a skilled shaman. He'd take good care of me.

But still, I wanted to make sure… "You promise not to tell Anna? Or anyone else?"

Ryu nodded. He looked pretty sincere. "Yes."

I smirked. "Alright. I'm holding you to your promise."

Ryu smiled mischievously and got on his motorcycle. He patted the back seat, beckoning me to hop on. I did.

"What's first on the list?" he asked, smirking.

I smiled crookedly. "I dunno—get me outta here, I guess?"

"Before Anna-sama gets here?"

"Duh, yeah."

"You know Anna-sama will get mad at you."

I shrugged, grinning. "No worries. There's nothing she can do that I can't handle."

Smirking to himself, Ryu revved the engine and we sped off.

---

How was that? You must've noticed; I used the first-person perspective. Well, I've always been better with first-person narrations, so I thought it'd be smart if I just keep it that way. It's not always going to be in Takeshi's POV, though.

Anyway, don't forget those reviews. Please and thank you. ;)