Scooter: Attention all Kyon/Itsuki fans! A little bit of shounen-ai in this chapter!! XD And here comes the second test!! And please, as usual, enjoy this newest development of insanity/angst/character bashing. XD ((laughs)) Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Itsuki gave a brief nod, before stepping in carefully.

There was no avoiding the syringes, and the guy who kidnapped them had taken their shoes as well. As soon as he stepped in, a volley of needles pierced through the sole of his foot, into his ankle, then his leg, then soon his other one. It took mental mouth glue to keep him from screaming, not just from pain but from panic at the unsanitary conditions. He didn't have soon to think much on it though, as he sunk through to his waist almost immediately.

"Ngh!" He grit his teeth and shuddered, a million things happened in his body at once.

Kyon watched with worry in his eyes. He dearly wanted to call the other back, but he knew that: 1: The ESPer wouldn't heed him. And 2: they needed the numbers and Kyon couldn't go in."

So he merely watched with baited breath, his pain leaving for the moment to be overcome with worry for the ESPer.

It hurts...

Koizumi sobbed mentally, pressing his arms in, and throwing hurdles of needles out, digging as fast as he could.

After about 10 minutes of digging and searching, he felt his hand brush against something metallic.

"Kyon!" He gave a strangled cry, lifting it up and throwing it over the edge towards him, revealing it to be a small tin box.

Kyon was startled and he caught the box, setting it down. "Itsuki!" He cried, reaching out. "Take my hand and I'll get you out!" he yelled.

please don't leave me alone here... he whimpered mentally, but resolved himself to wait it out for Itsuki's sake. He clenched his teeth. I'll get in there and get him out myself if I have to!

Itsuki immediately slapped a hand on the floor at the edge of the tub, sending small droplets of blood splattering, countless holes punctured in the skin of his arms.

Kyon thought that he would again vomit; the sight of blood never sat well with him. He wanted to take a hold of Itsuki's hand, but didn't want to harm him anymore. "Itsuki..." he whispered to himself, gently taking the other's arm, blood coating his fingertips as he reached in with his uninjured arm, instantly hissing and pulling back with a whimpered apology.

Itsuki threw his leg over, pulling himself out and rolling over, dozens of syringes stuck in his legs, arms, back, chest, and even one or two in his neck.

"Kyon...open it..." He croaked, giving a meager cry of pain as he lied there on the floor.

Kyon was torn. He opened the box and inside was a scrap piece of paper. He read it and then memorized what it said before handing it to Itsuki. He looked at the ESPer."Do you want me to remove the needles?" he asked quietly, his voice trembling, stroking the other's forehead in a weak attempt to soothe him like Itsuki had soothed Kyon.

Kyon just was not very good at that type of thing.

"Please..." Itsuki said, voice shaking as he glanced down at the paper.

A yellow 4-21...?

Kyon nodded and was sure to pull them out quickly so that the pain didn't linger. His throat tightened and he turned to the side, coughing, before he helped the other male to sit. Unshed tears of pain and fear were in Kyon's brown eyes.

"That cant be the full combination..." he said weakly, helping the ESPer to sit without falling.

"There must be more cards in the rooms..." Itsuki mumbled, hugging himself shakily, wishing the thing trails of blood would stop.

Kyon removed his jacket and clumsily wrapped it around Itsuki's shoulders. After all, he only had one usable arm. He put it around Itsuki's shoulders and coughed again, clearing his throat before erupting into more coughing. He narrowed his eyes from the pain and looked back at Itsuki. "And I'll get the next one," he said quietly, ignoring his own pain.

He stood and looked at the other door. "Shall we?"

Koizumi nodded, getting to his feet as quickly as he could. The clock was ticking away, and even if they could survive the tests, if they didn't hurry, the nerve poisoning would kill them.

Giving a small thanks for the jacket, Itsuki picked walked out of the room back into the dimmer hallway, walking to the next room over.

Kyon followed, shivering slightly from fear, cold, and a fever. We can't take much more...how many are left?

Kyon kept his arm around Itsuki, worrying constantly. He always had a problem with that: worrying abourt others. He looked around this room, blinking rapidly to clear his vision up so he could view the room completely.

Taking a deep breath, Itsuki gripped the handle to the next room, and opened it slowly.

It was dark once more, the only thing on the other side was a stairway that led down into another basement.

Kyon looked at the door and, his arms still around the ESPer, he moved to open it, holding his breath, only to find that he couldn't do that easily as he withdrew his hand from the handle to cough into his fist violently.

It's slow...but my coughing is getting worse...and so is my fever I think... He panted and opened the door with a slight effort, determined to protect the ESPer as best he could

Itsuki slowly walked down the stairs into the darkness, ignoring all the warning signals going off in his brain telling him to turn around and run.

Once he felt his bloodied feet hit the bottom, he felt around for a light switch, which, luckily, wasn't far from the first place in the wall he touched. The lights went on, and immediately, the first thing he was drawn to in the cellar was an odd oven that looked to be for cremation or some sort...

"...?" He took a step closer, feeling no heat from it. It was about 15 lengthwise, brick set on the outside, a handle for opening the door on the side they were standing on, with an iron grate on the door.

Were they to go in that thing? It looked about 5 feet in height, and 3 feet for shimmying room if they were to venture in...but only enough room for one person.

Peeking inside the grate bars, on the other end, he saw an envelope hanging from a steel chain, like one you'd find on a lamp.

Kyon looked around the room in awe and finally his gaze was drawn to the oven and he swallowed his fear of being alone. I'm not letting Itsuki do this one, he thought and followed the ESPer.

"There's only room for one of us...and I said I'd do this one. You need to rest up, OK"?" Kyon said, looking at the other brunette in worry.

It's a trap, I know it is, but then again, so s this whole house. He took a step forward and put a cautious hand on the handle of the oven and opened it slowly, half expecting something to happen. When nothing did, he walked in slowly, holding his injured arm to his chest to avoid bumping into any walls, which was hard, given there was barely any space in the oven.

He made his way to the letter and tugged on it, pulling it free.

"Got it, Itsuki."

Itsuki opened his mouth to acknowledge it, but the iron door suddenly swung shut and locked.

"Eh!? Kyon!" He cried, grabbing the handle and trying to pull it open.

The furnace slowly began to heat up on the inside.

Kyon gasped and began to pant, the heat getting to him. He ran back down to the end where the door was locked, and his broken arm accidentally bumped into the now pretty warm walls. He hissed in pain and bit his lips to prevent himself from crying out. He shoved the card through the slot and looked at Itsuki with panicked eyes, trying to push the door open only to yelp slightly as his hands were scalded slightly.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead and he doubled over in a cough.

"Kyon! It's not opening!" Itsuki cried, disregarding the card for now as he pressed his foot against the furnace, pulling on the handle with all his might.

Panic was rising in his throat and pretty much all of his body at this point, a wall of flame bursting from the beneath the cracks of the iron bars Kyon sat on.

"Back up!" He shouted, gritting his teeth, hoping Kyon wouldn't catch fire.

Kyon didn't need telling twice. Tears rose in his eyes as he looked from the fire to Itsuki and back again. He hissed again in pain as the heat began to grow. His breathing became deep and he struggled to stay awake. He coughed again and looked around desperately for a clue on how to escape.

"I-Itsuki..." he managed before coughing again. "Just take the card!"

"No!" Itsuki yelled back at once, giving up his efforts for trying to pry open the furnace gate, yielding no results.

"Tsk!" Running around to the other side, not even sure what he would find there amidst his growing hysteria, he saw a 2 foot by 2 foot white glass window at that end.

As Kyon crawled back, the wall of flames approached.

"Kyon! This way!" He yelled, grabbing the nearest blunt object he could get his hands on, a baseball bat with nails driven in it, and thrust it at the window with all his might, which shattered upon impact, sending bits of glass flying Kyon's way.

Kyon turned and closed his eyes fast enough, but felt pain sting his cheeks and warm blood trickle down his face where the glass had bit into his skin. He turned to see the fire and he - on the verge of passing out - scurried back towards the Esper, bumping his injured arm a few times, but in too much shock to do anything about it.

He attempted to get through the window, and the adrenaline allowed him to use his broken arm, but he was most of te way through when he got stuck. He thrashed slightly, trying to push his way out, his eyes light with fever and panic.

Itsuki jumped into action, taking hold of both of Kyon's hands in his and pulling like he was a tug of war rope, sending them both flying to the ground once Kyon was unstuck.

"Ow..." Itsuki whined, having hit the back of his head, not even noticing that for the moment, Kyon's face was right on top of his.

Kyon cried out, his pupils dilating and he opened them slightly, spotting Itsuki's face beneath his. A dark red blush tinted his features and before he knew what he was doing, he pressed his lips to Itsuki's as if in a thank you.

His entire body was shaking for the pain and his arm was screaming for mercy.

Itsuki slowly opened his eyes in a wince, before they shot open when he felt a soft pressure against his lips.

Completely forgetting about all the adversities they had gone through up until then, he felt incredibly embarrassed and excited at the same time beneath the other male, who seemed to be kissing him...

His face turned a deep shade of red in a mere second, heart beating faster than it ever had since the time he woke up.

His sense returning to him in a rush, Kyon opened his eyes and pulled back with a short cry of pain, and a hiss, cradling his now throbbing broken arm to his chest. Maybe amputation wouldn't be so bad...

"I-I'm sorry, Itsuki. I didn't know what came over me...I just..." His hidden feelings for Koizumi had come out just slightly in that moment when his brain had seemingly gone for a snooze. He tried to rise, but found that he couldn't. He was still sweating, although he was out of the oven.

Though Kyon was still on him, Itsuki slowly sat up with the other male still leaned against his chest.

"..." He looked to the side slightly, hooking his arms around Kyon's stomach and helping him to his feet, before retracting his embrace.

"Kyon...If we get out of this alive..." He began to mutter, walking over to the other side of the furnace.

Thinking that Itsuki was severely pissed at him, Kyon flinched and stood with his gaze hooked on the floor. "I'm sorry, Itsuki..." he said in a tense voice, taking a shaky breath before walking slowly over to where the ESPer was. He kept a fair distance though, as if afraid that Koizumi would strike him, though common sense knew he wouldn't.

He watched as the ESPer picked the card up.


Scooter: A-ha! Now here is the question: Will Itsuki push Kyon away, or will he accept him? XD It's kind of a given, but, whatever. Anyway, I hope to get another review. I might finish this story tonight since I have it all ready. Now, remember: IF YOU GIVE ME CREDIT!! GIVE SOME TO SOLARED!!

--Scooter--