Next point in our journey. Please keep your hands and arms inside the story at all times. No food or drink allowed. No pet lawyers allowed either. Thank and have a nice ride.

-

When the bell rang at 3:30, announcing the end of school, all Ayumu wanted to do was sleep, but he had to go and see the hunter, get any answers he could. So he met Kousuke, Rio, and Ryoko at the school gate with Hiyono (she absolutely cannot be dissuaded).

"Alright, let's go." Ayumu said when they had all assembled.

"You sure you wanna do that, Otouto? You really wanna know what this bastard has to say?" Kousuke asked, serious for once. Ayumu paused for half a second at that. 'What if...?'

"I said, let's go." Ayumu bit back, annoyed at the game he thought Kousuke was playing with him.

'Correct answer, Otouto.' "Alright then, follow us." Kousuke said, leading the way.

Hiyono pulled Ayumu's sleeve, making him walk beside her. "Narumi-san, is this really a good idea?" She whispered in his ear. "You don't know what this hunter might do or say to you. This is reckless!"

"So?" Ayumu asked, nonchalantly. "He might know about Aniki, that's reason enough to talk to him. End of story."

A tick stood out on Hiyono's forehead, and she looked ready to pull out her stuffed puppets for a 'Hiyono punch' but she, somehow, stifled her anger at the boy. She followed him and the Blade Children in silence until they reached the hideout where they had stashed the hunter. She noticed that Ayumu hesitated for a moment before decidedly following the others in; she stayed at his back the whole time. Down the hall, they found a set of stairs, going down into a large room, with a door connecting to a smaller room.

"You girls wait here." Kousuke said, indicating the small chairs against the wall. "Narumi-Otouto will go and see the hunter. Alright?" He clearly was asking a rhetorical question, the girls were staying there, like it or not, though Hiyono wanted to protest, a look from Ayumu changed her mind. She sat quietly between Ryoko and Rio, watching as the boys entered the room, Kousuke closing the door behind them.

Inside, Eyes stood with his arms crossed, next to a 'humanoid' figure with a hood over its head. Eyes nodded in acknowledgement of the two coming in.

"Shall we get started then?" Eyes asked, already knowing the answer.

Ayumu took a seat across from the hooded figure, nodding his assent, mentally preparing himself for what may come. Eyes removed the hood, and Ayumu had to force himself not to flinch at what was there. He had one eye and ear, his noes was gone, his hair was gone. His face had shiny new burns all across from cheek to forehead to chin, a blackened patch just to the left of his jugular on his throat. Slices from knives and bruises from punches and kicks marked him all over. He did not look human. Ayumu swallowed hard.

The thing opened its one eye as saw Ayumu sitting there, and what was left of his mouth split into a maniacal grin. "If it isn't Kiyotaka's bastard brother. Come to see the result of your interference?" His voice was scratchy and wheezy, his voice box damaged.

Ayumu steeled himself and answered. "I came for only one reason: Tell me what you know about my brother, everything you know."

"'Everything I know'?" An asthmatic chuckled came from his throat. "I know more than you'd ever want to know, boy. I know that Kiyotaka has been manipulating you and the cursed children from the beginning. That everything you've done up till now was part of his ultimate plan and that you can't escape, non of you can. These children were never meant to exist in the first place, and would you like to know something else?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You were never meant to either."

Ayumu's eyes widened, his breathing became a little faster.

"That's right, boy. You don't deserve life anymore than the Blade Children do. And as much pain as I'm in right now, it's nothing compared to what agony you will go through very soon. When your life begins to tick away, the pain will eat away at your body, rendering you helpless. You will die alone, this knowledge will eat away at your heart and will inevitably destroy you."

Eyes and Kousuke gauged Ayumu's reaction to his words. He was pale, brow sweating, almost hyperventilating, trying so hard to remain calm.

"You don't even know what you are, do you." It was not a question. "You only know that you're the 'hope of the Blade Children', you don't know what you truly are! You're even more pitiful than they are, because even if you do manage to save then, you'll never save yourself! Not even your precious 'Aniki' can save you. The little brother of the one who could be called a god, and he's just a shivering little boy with no hope and no future at all!" Maniacal laugher echoed in the room.

"I believe that's enough." Eyes quickly hit the nerve center at the base of his neck, knocking him out, then pulled the hood back over him. He looked to Ayumu and he started.

Ayumu was shaking badly, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty, his face pale and sweaty, breathing erratic. Kousuke crossed over to him, placing two fingers gently on the delicate throat, tilting the head. Ayumu didn't even try to fight him off, barely even registered it in the back of his mind. 'What is he talking about? What is Aniki planning? Why was I not meant to exist? What am I?!'

The pulse under Kousuke's fingers was erratic and fast. Kousuke's eye's widened at that. "Uh, Eyes, I think we got a problem." He tried to remain calm.

"The adrenaline going through him is making his heart beat too fast. After the strain of the anaphylactic shock, this is that last thing his heart needs." Eyes walked to the other side of Ayumu, sitting in the vacant seat. "Narumi-Otouto, you need to calm down, otherwise you'll only hurt yourself." Eyes spoke to him calmly, as one would to frightened child.

Ayumu closed his eyes, still trying to process everything around him. He felt Kousuke's fingers on his throat, not doing him any harm, and his hand on his shoulder. He felt Eyes sitting next to him, felt the soft breaths against his face. He was distantly aware of the fact the hunter was silent and the Eyes was trying to talk to him. He tried to take a deeper breath but ended up choking. He raised a hand to cover his mouth as he coughed violently, but Eyes held his hand down and leaned him forward, putting a handkerchief in front of him, letting him cough into that until he could breath again. Kousuke had removed his fingers when he started coughing.

"Are you calm now?" Eyes asked, slightly tinged with worry.

"I...I think so." Ayumu's voice shook slightly as he tried to pull himself back together, his thoughts trying to piece together and make sense of what the man had said.

"You might as well just admit you're not okay, Otouto." Kousuke said, squatting down so that he was more or less eye level with the boy. "Any more shocks like that and I think you're heart'll give out."

"Kousuke's right." Eyes added. "You're heart, and the rest of you, has been strained too much. Go home, Narumi-Otouto." Eyes stood up. "Go home and rest, let your sister and the Yuizaki girl worry over you and take care of you. From what he seems to know, you're going to need to be a full strength."

-

I'm not sure how, but this just became a three way romance and I really don't know how it happened. I mean, my thoughts are literally spewing out onto the keyboard. So, hold on for the ride and let's see if this gets us anywhere good.