Haruka tried not to feel like too much of a jerk as he pushed through the throng of students that were clamoring around the nurse's office. Some of the kids were downright unwilling to move aside as he shuffled passed, even though he was taller than half of them and trying to say 'excuse me' as loudly yet as politely as possible. Eventually he gave up and just shoved his way through.

The safety of Watanuki and Doumeki was his top priority and at the moment these students were standing in the way of their safety. He had little patience for such inconveniences. It was lucky that Akane was slim enough to stick close to him and slip through the gap he created before it closed again with yet another body.

The principal and a couple of teachers were standing guard around the office. One of the teachers was a very large man – clearly the gym teacher by his choice of attire – and was yelling at the students to get back to class. Despite the fact he was a frightening and imposing figure no one was listening.

A look of relief crossed Principal Kinomoto's face when his eyes landed on Haruka and Akane as they emerged from the crowd. "You made good timing," the man remarked.

"What happened?" Haruka asked.

The principal ushered the two of them into the office and closed the door behind them. "I'm not really sure. There is a lot of confusion going on right now and no one has a clear picture of what happened. All that we do know is a book case fell down in the library and it landed on Doumeki-kun and Watanuki-kun. Both of them are injured, but Watanuki-kun's injury cannot be explained by a shelf falling on him." Kinomoto motioned for the nurse to move aside the curtain surrounding one of the beds.

The woman slid the curtain aside and revealed the students on the bed. Akane gasped at the sight of them.

Watanuki looked as pale as death, his face ashen white and his lips a cold blue. His eyes were closed, but whether it was from sleep or passing out from blood loss was anyone's guess. Doumeki was on the bed with him, one hand lying dutifully on Watanuki's bandaged side and his left leg in a make-shift splint the nurse had put on him.

Doumeki looked immediately relieved at seeing his grandfather and mother.

Haruka looked to the nurse and the principal. "Thank you. We'll take it from here."

The nurse held her hands together in front of her chest. "The boys need to go to the hospital immediately. Doumeki-san's femur is likely broken. Already his leg is swelling from the blood leaking from the bone. I do not know what happened to Watanuki-san's side, but the bleeding will not stop. I've changed his bandages twice already. Please, let me call an ambulance."

Haruka shook his head. "It will be faster if I drive them myself. Let me talk to my grandson a moment then we will take them to the car."

Kinomoto nodded at the look the nurse gave him. "It's all right, and it will be faster if they are driven directly." He looked at Haruka and Akane pointedly. "But only a moment, then we must get them to the car."

"Of course."

The principal and the nurse stepped out of the room and closed the door behind them. Haruka wasted no time in turning around and checking on Watanuki's temperature. He pressed the back of his hand against the boy's forehead and frowned. He was very cold. "What happened, Shizuka?"

"A spirit attacked him in the library," Doumeki informed him. "He didn't see it right away, or react to it at first. After it shoved the bookshelf on us it possessed a girl and tried to make him doubt my intentions. That's when he started to cough. One of the spirit's many arms injured his side when we fell."

"Many? How many?"

Doumeki furrowed his eyebrows together in thought. "It was difficult to count. It could have been eight, or twelve, or six. It was very large and kept most of its body covered in shadows at the far end of the library."

"And the wound?"

"It bleeds as soon as I let go."

If Haruka was one to curse he would have made a sailor blush. "As I feared, then."

"What?" Doumeki asked, mildly alarmed. He'd never seen his grandfather admit to having any kind of fear before.

"This spirit has been after Kimihiro-kun for a very long time. I've learned recently that his parents took drastic measures to protect him from it, but those wards have finally faded away."

"How do you know?"

Haruka pushed at the bangs that were hanging in Watanuki's closed eyes to the side. The color of his skin indicated they didn't have much time. "I looked at the pictures of their car accident. The marks of this spirit were all over the wreckage. The evidence of the spell they used just before they died was left behind as well and I recognize what they did."

"Spell? So his parents were not average people."

Doumeki's grandfather removed the glasses from Watanuki's face and stuffed them in one of his pockets. "Not in the least."

"Dad, we have to hurry," Akane spoke up.

"We have to get him back to the temple. This is not an average wound and the medics can stitch it all they want but it won't help."

"That's why I have to keep holding it?" Doumeki asked.

"You have a cleansing aura, Shizuka-kun. It acts like an antidote to the spiritual poison that was inflicted on him. I can save him, but we must get back to the temple."

"Will I need to go to the hospital after that?"

Haruka frowned deeply. "The femur is the largest and thickest bone in the body. It takes a great force of impact to fracture it. A bookcase should have caused excessive bruising, but no more than that. The spirit may have done something to cause more damage. You may yet need to go for surgery just to keep the bone in place, though."

"How are we going to get them to the car? Neither can walk," Akane pointed out.

"I can carry Kimihiro-kun out to the car. He won't bleed while I have him, too."

"I'll be fine on crutches," Doumeki said. "Let's just hurry."

Haruka moved around the bed and started to untie the splint on his grandson's leg. "You won't get anywhere on crutches with this. It should be fine until we get you home."

Akane rushed back to the door and asked for the nurse. Luckily the woman did have a spare set of crutches in her supply closet that she could lend to Doumeki for the moment. Haruka bent down and slipped his arms under Watanuki's body and lifted the limp form up. He was startled for a moment. The boy weighed practically nothing. "He's light," he stated.

"Always," Doumeki agreed.

The principal and other teachers gave them an escort to the car, though really they didn't need one by then. The students parted around them like the Red Sea, each of them with identical expressions of shock, horror and amazement at Watanuki's feeble form. It was probably quite a spectacle.

Once finally outside Akane opened one of the back doors of the car and helped her son ease his way in. Doumeki grunted and winced but finally managed to get his aching leg in place and out of the way.

Haruka noticed as Watanuki's face scrunched in sleep as the sunlight hit them. The boy shivered and a week hand clutched at Haruka's shirt. "Sh...Shizuka..." he murmured.

"It's Haruka, Kimihiro-kun. We're taking you home." The boy did not respond but at least he stopped shaking so much after the reassuring words.

Akane handed the crutches back to the nurse just as Haruka started to ease Watanuki into the back seat and back into Doumeki's arms. The teenager did his best to hold onto Watanuki even though he had to be placed partway on his lap and already broken leg. He was very uncomfortable, but he would rather die before letting go.

Haruka and Akane got in the front seat and the engine revved to life with the turn of the key. "Shizuka-kun, Akane-chan, place these around the car, would you?" Haruka held up a small handful of paper wards.

Doumeki raised an eyebrow at the precaution but grabbed a small stack and stuck them wherever his hands could reach.

"Do you really think it will try to attack us on the way home?" Doumeki's mother asked her father.

"I'll be surprised if it doesn't," Haruka replied.

That wasn't very reassuring. Doumeki tightened his grip around the one in his arms a little more. "Just hurry."

Haruka stomped on the gas and they nearly peeled their way out of the parking lot of the school and down the street. Haruka had always been a rather sedate driver so Doumeki was surprised by the speed. He wondered what else would get his grandfather to drive like a crazed man.

Haruka turned the car around a corner and sped through two yellow lights and a stop sign, though he was still a little careful in checking for other traffic while he did so.

A block from the temple and Haruka brought the car to an abrupt stop. Doumeki shifted his position a little to get a better look out the front.

"Aah, see, told you so," Haruka smiled at his daughter.

"It's awful looking!" Akane yelled in shock.

"Well, it's no surprise." He pushed a button in the center console and the retractable roof started to pull itself down.

"Grandfather?" Doumeki asked.

"Eh, take a look, Shizuka. You can still see the chunk of damage Kimihiro-kun's parents left on the spirit. It's still missing its top right side."

Doumeki focused ahead and stared. Wow. It really was missing a part of its main body. Now that the creature was out in open daylight and unable to hide in the shadows of a crowded library Doumeki could see it in all of its gross, petulant, slimy green and purple glory.

The main body of the spirit was rather shaped like a jellyfish. The gelatinous mound coagulated and shifted around like briny ocean water was rumbling beneath the surface. The arms quivered and twitched in agitation around it. Doumeki indeed did see a top portion of the spirit's main body was missing and there was a poisonous looking pink goo slipping down the wounded side.

He also noticed two of his arrows still stuck in the creature's underside. He was glad to know his arrows were still causing some discomfort.

The driver's seat jostled around in place as Haruka lifted himself up and stood with almost unsteady legs in his seat. He was instantly glad he'd bought a convertible. "Bow, please."

Akane lifted a large hunter's bow from down next to her legs. Doumeki felt his mother was taking things rather well, considering her very recent exposure to everything. "Will this kill it?" He asked.

"No," Haruka sighed as he pulled his string back. "But it will make it clear out of the street for a little while. My arrows have a bit of a bigger bite than yours, for now."

Doumeki closed his eyes and held Watanuki protectively when an arrow flew into the creature and a storm of wind kicked up from the aftershock of the blow.

There was a sound, a screech-like noise of stones slipping and inhuman voices screaming. Haruka weathered the wind slashing at his clothes and skin as though he noticed none of it and fired again.

The spirit moved back another half a block, and then another when it was hit again by more spirit arrows.

After a volley of shots had all hit home Haruka felt satisfied with the results and slipped back down in his seat proper and handed his bow back to his daughter. "Now then, as soon as we get home Kimihiro-kun needs to be purified."

"It's a good thing he's unconscious," Doumeki said. "The water from the lake is always really cold."

"It's a pure source of water, a hard thing to come by these days," Haruka said as he pulled into the drive. "Besides, it's connected to a lake up on a mountain. Of course it's cold." He shut off the engine and took the keys out of the ignition. "Akane-chan, go fetch something for Shizuka-kun to move around with. I'm taking Kimihiro-kun directly to the lake."

"There's a set of crutches left behind by a patron a few weeks ago. I'll go get them from the store closet."

"Very good," Haruka chirped. He got out of the car and opened the back door to retrieve Watanuki. "I won't need him long, Shizuka-kun. I will need you at the lake, too."

Doumeki was almost reluctant to let Watanuki out of his hold. The boy looked so terrible it seemed as if a mere touch would cause him to break. "Okay."

. . . . . . . . . .

Watanuki's unconscious body was mostly submerged in water at the edge of the temple's lake. Silt from the bottom of the pool had been pushed up into the wound and bound with white linens. His head was kept afloat in Doumeki's lap. Tanned fingers brushed at his bangs worriedly. Tiny wisps of blood leaked out from the wound still and thinned away in the water.

Haruka stood over them both with a bowl of ink and a calligraphy brush. "I suppose this is as good of a time as any, though it will be dangerous with your leg swelling with blood."

Doumeki looked up at his grandfather. "What do you mean?"

"Kimihiro-kun has lost a lot of blood, as you know. This needs to be restored. It would be best to give him some of yours. The way the magic handles the transfer of blood is ideal as it would keep the presence of yours in his system. The cleansing affects would be permanent, along with the added benefit of healing his wound."

"You mean a permanent ward for him? He wouldn't need intimacy anymore?"

"Not completely, no. He will still need you, but it won't have to be every twelve hours anymore. Perhaps once every twenty-four hours, maybe even forty-eight. We won't know the full impact of the transfer until after it's done."

"Fine, do it," Doumeki confirmed.

"This will hurt, Shizuka-kun. After which you will need surgery for your leg."

"That's fine."

Haruka smiled affectionately as he dipped his brush in the ink. "He will yell at you for hours afterward."

Doumeki's thumb rubbed down the pale boy's cheek, then his fingers buried themselves in coal black hair. "I know."