What Should Have Never Been Found


Warnings: About none for this chapter, though the fic is going to become bloody and (if I manage to convey it) scary. ^^

Characters: Tezuka, Fuji. (Friendshipp-y). Rest of Seigaku makes random appearances.

Disclaimer: PoT is not mine. I'm merely playing with the characters.

Thank you very much for the reviews! There's no better inspiration than knowing people out there are reading this! ^___^

Without further ado, enjoy

Four

Something was directly behind him; just on the other side of the glass pane.

Fuji felt the blood in his veins turn to ice. Then the power erupted.

The room seemed to be shrinking – lights flickered, shadows lengthened, darkness crawled out of corners and Fuji's heart stopped. Reality shattered in front of his eyes as he could practically feel the space rippling and bending and there was nothing he could do but watch in frozen horrification.

And pray the wards would hold.

The window pane trembled.

This power was beyond incredible – intoxicating, fearsome, awe-inspiring, mind-numbing at the same time; an endless abyss of all-encompassing darkness that the physical word had to submit to. Whatever it was out there, wherever it had come from – Fuji had never encountered a spirit strong enough to compare.

Had this been…

Fuji's eyes widened. This power – had it been here last night as well?

Had he really opened that door the split second this spirit had attempted to destroy the wards?

Darkness flickered at the edges of his vision, breathing turned difficult and every fibre within his body that was fine-tuned to sensing spiritual presences screeched in alarm. Ordinary spirits did not feel like this – something was horribly, horribly wrong.

The wards trembled.

Fuji didn't dare to move. If this thing, whatever it was, noticed him – or worse, if it was to notice he could sense it – there was no telling of what would happen.

He held his breath. The wards couldn't break.

Never in all times had this kind of ancient, fundamental barrier been broken by sheer power alone. Whenever protective wards failed treachery or trickery had played a part. Fuji did not even to dare imagining the implications should this thing succeed at the impossible.

A sudden shudder ran through the air and then the light returned.

Fuji felt the power weakening, retreating – should luck be on his side and the thing outside draw back? Or was this merely a pause before a second attack?

He shouldn't be scared, he told himself. As long as he remained inside the wards the thing outside couldn't harm him.

Still, he sighed in relief when everything remained silent. The living room had returned to its warm, golden light and slowly Fuji felt the tension drain from his body. At least Tezuka hadn't been around this time, he resumed with a dry smile – the tennis captain might not have taken to well to being informed a mysterious power was trying to demolish a just as mystical set of wards.

He wouldn't believe that story himself, if anybody else told him.

With a deep breath he reached out again and collected his ID card. Wearily he gazed out into the garden. Night had not yet completely fallen – yet the light that remained was scarce and whatever had been there had vanished without a trace.

The snow cover outside had not been disturbed. No foot prints, no reminders that any being had entered the garden within days were to be found.

Fuji shuddered. This little interlude had offered him an insight on what had transpired yesterday. But it was not a pleasant explanation, since it raised far greater concerns.

What kind of a spirit – if a spirit at all – wielded such power? And what was it after, that it sought to gain entry to this building so desperately? Would it mean harm to the human inhabitants?

If his assumption was correct, and he truly had met said spirit head-on yesterday, then the mere fact that he had walked from the encounter with little more than a scare was a good omen. Yet Fuji felt reluctant to believe – beings this powerful rarely cared for human concerns.

Fuji swallowed, trying to calm his palpitating heart and forcing himself to address the situation at hand. He was safe inside, but he needed to leave this house at some point of time. And seeing just how skilled that thing had been at concealing his power, Fuji doubted his meagre abilities to sense the supernatural would help him any, should he run into the spirit a second time.

He'd been immensely lucky yesterday.

With a long sigh he sank back against the armchair, his student ID clutched in limp fingers.

If he couldn't tell it was gone, if he couldn't even tell whether it had noted his presence, if he couldn't tell its aim – then he couldn't predict what would happen the moment he set a foot outside the door.

Maybe nothing would occur – the spirit appeared concerned with breaking the wards and not interested in human residents. But then again Fuji was only too familiar with the simplest way to breach wards.

Invitation by a human.

It remained questionable whether this spirit knew about that method as well.

Fuji closed his eyes for a moment and let his head slump forward. Cold air tingled on his cheeks, creeping in through the window and reminding him that he could not stay here.

He wondered whether he should try his luck or prepare some emergency plan should that thing attack him – though when he tried to recall what his sister had taught him, he realized he only ever adapted the basics since at that time he'd vastly preferred tennis magazines over odd books that made no sense half of the time.

Probably the Nakayamas had books holding deeper knowledge anywhere in this house. Maybe there was even something useful in plain sight – but while Fuji wasn't incapable of recognizing this kind of items, he had no idea how to use them.

In all honesty, he had never expected to find himself in such a situation. Spirits tended avoid humans and rarely approached them with will intent. Furthermore, spirits were not supposed to be so powerful.

Even if there was something he knew how to use, he'd hardly be able to stand up to this spirit. Taking his chances with slipping out undetected probably made for the better alternative.

Fuji opened his eyes and wearily stood up. It was time to go.

Tezuka couldn't help feeling foolish as he made his way through the snow. The closer he got to his destination, the louder his mind kept insisting he had made the journey for nothing. Fuji would merely raise a questioning eyebrow at him and they'd sit in awkward silence through the three-hour trip back to Tokyo.

That was if he and Fuji hadn't missed each other. Depending on how fast Fuji had been gotten here, there was a chance Fuji was already sitting on a train back home while he was only making his way to the house.

A cold gust of wind tore through the trees and Tezuka shivered involuntarily. Temperatures had started falling with the onset of night and the clouds promised new snow. Dimly he wondered what he ought to do if the weather continued growing colder – even now his black coat barely kept him warm enough.

Finally the trees parted in front of him and he stepped out on the silent road lined by large houses. Behind the wall on his left he could barely make out the roof of the Nakayamas' home – and with a small sigh he realised he would have to take the long way up to the front entrance.

Fuji would be quite surprised to see him there, Tezuka conceded. Hopefully his friend wouldn't take this as an implicit expression of distrust, since Tezuka had not yet found a good way to tell Fuji he had been worried.

For a moment Tezuka wondered whether there wasn't still a subtle way of checking up on Fuji without the other noticing. But nothing short of hiding behind a bush on the other side of the street and wait for Fuji to exit came to his mind – and it was far too cold for this.

Now that the main gate to the house was already in sight, he squared his shoulders and continued forward. Snowflakes began drifting down again.

He could feel the cold emanating from the iron through his gloves as he pushed open the old gate. The house in front of him appeared uninhabited, abandoned. The landscape around him remained silent; the majority of the vegetation had been hidden underneath a thick layer of snow.

Maybe he and Fuji had really missed each other.

It would save him many awkward explanations, though his own worries would be left unaddressed. He wasn't quite sure which alternative he preferred – as he was out here already however, it would be foolish to turn around now.

Tezuka pressed the bell.

Fuji jumped when the ring of the bell tore through the silence.

The sound echoed eerily in his head and his heart pounded loudly, yet with a firm shake of his head he admonished himself for being exceedingly nervous. Probably a neighbour or a delivery man.

With a sigh Fuji crossed the corridor, leaving his coat behind. He almost hesitated before grasping the handle – his presence here might require some awkward explanations – but then opened the door.

His eyes widened as he recognized the person standing outside.

Tezuka's expression betrayed nothing and Fuji barely managed to suppress the confusion from showing on his own face. For the moment the freezing air had been forgotten.

"Tezuka." He greeted and only his intonation betrayed his surprise.

A small wrinkle formed between Tezuka's eyebrows as Seigaku's captain once again remembered that he had no explanation to offer for his presence. He swallowed and collected himself.

"Do you need the keys back tonight already?" Fuji questioned. "You could have just called me then, I would have dropped them off at your place once I..."

"You didn't pick up your phone." Tezuka evenly replied, relieved at not having to address the reason for his visit.

He had been deeply worried when Fuji failed to answer.

"Oh." Fuji's shoulders dropped. "Sorry, I guess I forgot to turn off the silent mode after class. You should have just phoned my home number – but instead of standing in the cold, come..."

Fuji had almost missed the movement.

He trailed off and confused Tezuka followed his eyes. There, beside his feet sat a small, black cat.

Wide golden eyes beseechingly gazed up at the two of them. Tezuka's brows furrowed – he hadn't even noticed the animal approach.

And …

His eyes caught sight of a green collar and in the back of his mind something clicked.

"It probably wants ..." He started, attempting to reason things out just as Fuji abruptly grabbed hold of his arm.

"Tezuka! Get away!" His friend screamed, Tezuka's mind froze and he could only watch in horrified fascination as the cat's eyes changed – though it were not only the eyes, something else was changing as well, something he couldn't understand or see – but feel and an inexplicable, deep-sated fear spread through his entire being.

Midnight black, flawless white and bottomless gold blurred before his eyes.

Fuji jerked him forward, Tezuka stumbled – then the cat pounced; sharp claws ripping easily through the sleeve of Fuji's school shirt. He saw his friend's face twist in pain, felt the claws ghost over his own arm. Abruptly he was off balance, Fuji's hand gone from his arm, the scenery in front of his eyes tilted as he fell backwards.

For a split second he could not tell up from down, the world had become a maelstrom of madly spinning colours and sounds barely reached his ears, drowned out by the pounding of his heart. Somewhere, something – his mind was nothing but scattered fragments, logic eluded him and only when his back hit the snow-covered ground with a dull thud reality appeared restored.

Mindlessly he stared at the grey sky overhead, his view broken only by the black silhouettes of trees. A snowflake landed on his cheek and melted instantly.

It felt like an eternity before he gathered himself, though it had not even been a minute. His heart was racing, he realized, and even though his was lying in the snow he couldn't even feel the cold.

Footsteps reached his ears and Fuji appeared in his vision.

"Tezuka?" Fuji called out, worry written all over his features. "Tezuka, are you okay?"

Tezuka blinked. Confusion assaulted his mind as Fuji dropped to his knees beside him. Hadn't they just been standing at the door, talking? Everything after that had happened so fast it seemed completely surreal.

"Tezuka, say something!" Fuji pleaded and reached for him, unmindful of the blood that ran down his arm. For a moment the colours blurred once more in front of Tezuka's eyes – white, red, black – but a shake of his head and the nightmarish vision receded.

Instead of answering Tezuka slowly pushed himself up, his mind awash with unanswered questions. Yet as the excitement drained away he started to notice the cold.

"We should get inside." He announced, though he felt dizzy. Too many things demanded his attention – Fuji's injury, that odd cat, the snow soaking through his coat – and this confusion threatened to impair his ability to act.

Fuji, obviously relieved, nodded and said nothing as Tezuka needed a moment longer to climb to his feet. Together they made their way inside and only after Fuji had closed the door behind them Tezuka broke the silence.

"You should take care of that." He pointed to the still-bleeding scratches on Fuji's arm, ignoring the unanswered questions that hung heavily in the air.

"And should get out of that coat at least." Fuji replied, pulling off his now utterly-soaked socks. Tension slowly drained from his body and he hoped his legs wouldn't give out before he reached the living room. The short encounter had left his blood frozen, and recalling Tezuka lying motionlessly in the snow, he couldn't help shuddering.

That cat ...

Even he wasn't entirely sure what exactly had transpired – and even though there probably existed a logical explanation for this – chalking this up to chance was impossible.

Something very, very twisted was at work here.

"There should be a first-aid kit in the bathroom." Tezuka stated, taking off his shoes and frowning at his pants. While his shirt had stayed dry, his pants were quite soaked where they had come into direct contact with the snow.

Fuji nodded and followed Tezuka toward the bathroom. The scratches were starting to burn and his school shirt was probably ruined, so he simply pressed his injuries close to his chest in order to avoid dripping blood on the floor.

Tezuka quickly turned up the heating as far as possible, grateful that Nakayama xxx had insisted on a floor heating for the bathroom. He simply spread his coat on the floor – hoping that would suffice to dry it – before turning to Fuji.

"You should probably take off your pants as well." Fuji advised from where he sat on the edge of the bathtub.

Tezuka nodded. "Yes, but we should probably dress those scratches first."

Fuji glimpsed down at his arm, but Tezuka had already procured a first aid kit from one of the drawers. Silently he sat down beside Fuji and the other obediently held out his arm. The sleeve of his shirt was tattered, blood-soaked – Tezuka had to swallow and concentrate on cleaning the injury.

He couldn't help glancing at his friend from the corner of his eye. Fuji was pale and Tezuka couldn't help feeling worried. If Fuji hadn't pushed him the cat might have gotten to his face.

The surprise attack had left him far more shocked than he ought to be, the reasonable side of his mind chided him. That cat had probably been half-starved or out in the cold for too long and had perceived him as a threat.

That was logical. Yet it did not explain why the cat had actually stopped to attack them. If it had been looking for shelter and food, it should have simply proceeded inside the house – Tezuka couldn't help but wonder.

Then again, this kind of weather was probably reason enough for any living being to loose its bearings. With a light shake of his head, he dismissed that train of thought and turned back to the task at hand.

The scratches on Fuji's arm, it turned out, thankfully weren't deep and would probably heal well enough on their own. Tezuka still proceeded to bandage them, before turning back to the issue concerning his soaked pants.

"Thank you." Fuji nodded and glanced down at himself. "I probably shouldn't take off my jacket anytime tonight. People will think I killed somebody..."

The corners of Tezuka's mouth twitched and Fuji mustered a light smile before leaving the bathroom. "I'm going to make some tea; you get out of those wet clothes meanwhile."

Without waiting for a reaction from Tezuka Fuji vanished from the bathroom, closing the door to give his friend privacy. The smile disappeared from Fuji's lips the moment he turned his head, glancing down the corridor towards the door.

Checking the scene outside again would not reveal anything new. Fuji knew what he had seen well enough. His senses might have been too startled to catch on at that time, but –

There was no denying the lack of any paw-shaped footprints in the snow outside.

tbc

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