Hey readers, we're getting into the final loop of BioPattern Rose. Thanks for coming back to the fic, and as always, thanks for the reviews.
As the heavy load of information sunk into his brain, Koenma mulled over each and every aspect his father had outlined in his explanation. Creating new humans, balancing the world to fit the view of a madman; it seemed like something out of a science fiction novel. He cast a look at his father's face. The seriousness punctuated by a tightened jaw line reaffirmed Koenma's gut instinct that everything his father just told him was the truth. If any hope at all sat on the horizon, Toguro's frame blocked the view. Koenma sighed.
"What do we do? Is there anything we can do?" he asked.
For two whole, horrendous minutes, Koenma thought he would not receive an answer from his father. The man sat in the bed, looking at the blanket with an expression as blank as the walls around them. Then, he looked up at his son, smiling.
"Yes, there is one thing. I just realized this: when Toguro transferred control over to me, he did it via written contract. If my memory serves, nowhere in that contract did it ever say that if I were to be suspended from the lab indefinitely for some reason, would control shift back to Toguro. Legally speaking, the Phoenix Project is in my hands, under my name. Toguro has no right to take that control back without my consent."
"So what you're saying is, that all we have to do is find this contract, present it to Toguro, and make him transfer control back to you? That seems way too easy."
Enma nodded. "It is. First off, you're going to have to locate the document, which will be no easy task as I suspect Toguro may have either done away with it so he could be prepared if you and I ever had this conversation, or he has it hidden away somewhere under tight lock and key. Second, if you do present it to him, he'll try to find a loophole, or persuade you to see one that isn't there. Believe me Koenma; he's quite skilled at that."
"So what the hell am I supposed to do?" Koenma demanded, throwing his hands up in the air, "I can't let things just go on like this, who knows what will happen!"
"Take things one step at a time: locate the file, let me know when you do, and I'll direct you from there."
Frustration ate away at Koenma's patience. "But how am I supposed to even locate the damned thing?"
"You aren't."
The assistant director blinked in surprise. If not him, then who? Curious eyes blinked once more at the man sitting in the hospital bed. His father was incapable obviously. Botan was out of the question. No way in hell would he bring her into this. Ayame? Perhaps, but using a neutral party might be a bad idea. That left Hiro. Koenma gave his father a quizzical look.
"You want me to use Hiro?"
"Of course." his father responded. He raised a finger, "think about it. If you go in poking around, it'll arouse suspicion immediately."
"But Hiro-" Koenma protested.
"Can execute this action a lot cleaner than you."
Sound logic. Koenma shut his mouth. Silence reclaimed the room for a moment as yet another barrage of thoughts went hurtling through the young man's brain. Yes, his father was correct, Hiro could prove a useful spy to slip behind enemy lines, but how would he go about accomplishing such a task? Toguro was no fool. To top it all off, the man possessed incredible powers of observation. A single speck of dust out of place did not escape his piercing gaze.
"One thing at a time." Enma said. Koenma stared at his father. Enma chuckled. "No, I'm not reading your mind; I'm reading your face. It's pretty easy to tell what you're thinking about."
Koenma hung his head. "And is that why I'm not perfect for the job of infiltration?"
"That and you can't lie very well."
He couldn't help it. Koenma giggled. It was good to hear his father joking again. Hell, it was good to hear the old man talking period. Yawning, Koenma stood, walked over to Enma's bed side, and put a hand on his father's shoulder.
"Thanks for all your help Dad. I'll see what I can do. Get some rest." With that he turned and walked out of the room. However, he stopped in the doorway. Enma raised an eyebrow.
"Something wrong son?" he asked.
Slender fingers tightened their grip on the door frame, turning the knuckles white. In a quiet voice, Koenma said; "Please recover quickly. We need you back at the lab Dad. Now more than ever."
Enma watched his son walk away, looking so small and defeated. The co-founder sighed. What had Toguro done? What had he done? He shook his head. Looking at the empty doorway, Enma closed his eyes.
"I'll try Koenma. That's all I can do for now."
The needle on the speedometer crept up to the sixty-five mark and Botan cursed herself, slipping her foot off the gas pedal, easing the car back down to the safer speed of fifty-five. Relax she told herself. Botan sighed and loosened her grip on the wheel. As she rounded another curve, hugging the yellow line, the image of Kurama's face came back to her. White fangs, red blood, the look of sorrow in his eyes. What did it all mean? Her foot began creeping up on the gas pedal as she dove further down into her thoughts. Karasu had said something about changing the face of science, what did that mean? Botan swallowed a cold lump of apprehension and remembered her foot. Thinking about it now wouldn't do her any good. Best to get off the treacherous road, park, and find Kurama. If she could just see him, then she could be sure that it had all been a bad dream. A late-night combination of stress and not enough food.
Just as she finished that thought, the road rounded off, and the parking lot came into view. Behind it, Libra loomed. It reminded Botan of the creepy old houses that they always did a close up on in horror movies-the ones that the camera would pause on for three-fourths of a minute. Even in broad daylight the lab looked foreboding. Her stomach twisted into complicated knots as she pulled into the parking lot and parked in the first available spot she could find. Just a dream, she told herself as she turned off the ignition and unbuckled her seatbelt. Just a dream, just a dream.
Quick feet carried her across the asphalt and through the doors. Upon entry, Ayame glanced up from the lab reports she was holding and greeted the young tech.
"Why hello Botan. Dear me, is it four o' clock already?"
Botan smiled at her and moved on without acknowledging her superior's comment. Ayame called after her.
"Botan! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"
It seemed she'd realized what time it was after all. Feigning innocence to cover up her exponentially increasing anxiety, Botan looked back over her shoulder.
"Oh, Hiro needed me here for something today, that's all."
"This early?" Ayame questioned.
Botan nodded. "Yeah, he didn't tell me what it was for though."
"I see." Ayame regarded her co-worker with a suspicious look before nodding and continuing on her way. Sighing with relief, Botan began walking towards the east wing of the laboratory. Her eyes scanned left and right as she trekked on towards her destination. She kept her ears peeled for the slightest sound, be it nearby or far away. However, she wasn't able to pick up either soul or sound. Strange. Botan glanced at her watch. The tiny hands showed the time to be eight-thirty. Normally the lab was bustling with people either getting to their posts or just getting on with work; but no matter where she looked or which corridor she turned down, the place seemed empty. It didn't make sense. Heart pounding out a staccato tempo of anxiety, Botan sped up her pace, breezing down the hallway. When she reached the stairs she took them two at a time. She sailed past Koenma's office, not bothering to see if he was in or not. After pushing her way through some closed doors, Botan found herself in front of the doors leading down into the demon's hall.
The eerie silence caused an ominous air to seep out from beneath the heavy wooden doors. This close, and at a complete stop, she could now see the lock dangling off the broken chain. Botan blinked, wondering why that had been put on in the first place. Problematic demons were confined in such a way that escape was next to impossible, so what was the lock for? Botan crept closer, kneeling down once she had reached the door. She took the lock in her hand, mindful of the chain to which it was attached, and gave it a more thorough examination.
Hm, now that I take a closer look at it, she thought, turning it over and over in her hand, it's not like normal locks. Instead of being square, it's round, but it's got a keyhole instead of a combination. It's also big and awful heavy, more like a lock that people use on their storage sheds. From what I understand, these kinds are very hard to pick. It still doesn't make sense as to why the door would be locked from the outside if what's within has no means of escaping. So why is it here?
"That lock is in place so you'll keep asking questions."
Botan yelped and whipped around. A few feet behind her, imposing and creepy as ever, stood Karasu. Cursing her curiosity and bad luck, Botan stood up, smoothing her lab coat as she did so. Karasu walked towards her, stopping once he had her against the door. Icy fear pulsed through her veins; her mouth dried at an alarming rate. Indigo eyes searched her own.
"What are you doing up here?" he asked.
"Oh! Um…just checking up on the demons, mainly Subject 0119. Hiro…um…asked me to. You know, since I'll have to start doing things like this on my own soon, he thought that I-"
"You shouldn't be up here by yourself. It's dangerous." Karasu stated, cutting off her half-truth.
Botan huffed and glared at him, "Would you stop it with the 'all demons are monsters' thing? Some of them happen to be okay."
Karasu shook his head, "Don't be fooled. The ones that are tame are especially dangerous. It's a ploy to make you let your guard down."
"Oh what would you know?" Botan snarled, "You're not even allowed near Subject 0119. And speaking of you, what are you doing over here anyway? Aren't you normally downstairs at this time of day?"
"I came to fetch you."
Botan blinked. She regarded Karasu for a moment, fear creeping back into her body, frosting over the blood in her veins, "What?"
"There's a meeting downstairs. It's imperative that everyone working at Libra be present."
The lab tech opened her mouth to ask why Hiro had not been to one to retrieve her, but Karasu, sensing her question, answered her.
"Unfortunately, I cannot locate Hiro at the moment. Had I been able to do so, I would have had him collect you immediately." Karasu turned away from her and began walking back down the hall, "Now that I've updated you, I suggest you get going. As I said, it's imperative that everyone working at Libra be present." He called, not bothering to look back over his shoulder. Botan watched him depart, his figure growing smaller and smaller until he rounded the corner and disappeared from her sight. She glanced back at the door. Should she ignore Karasu and head in anyway? Standing outside the door, her need to see Kurama was fiercer than ever, but something in the back of her mind told her that if she was not present for the meeting she would regret it. Botan suppressed an aggravated groan and walked away. Hopefully the meeting wouldn't be too long.
Anxiety and mounting tensions chilled the atmosphere as Botan followed her co-workers. She kept an eye out for Hiro, hoping to spot him and get an update on what was going on. She tried to tell herself that it was just a meeting to decide whether or not to update the equipment, but she knew that was wrong. If that had been the case, then the only people who would need to attend a meeting like that would be Koenma, Toguro, Hiro, and Karasu. To involve everyone meant that something big was going to happen.
"Botan!"
Botan whipped around. A few feet away and waving frantically, stood Hiro. Relieved, Botan jogged towards him.
"What on Earth are you doing here this early?" he asked when she reached him.
Long fingers played with the fabric of her lab coat. Botan chewed on her lip, trying to decide whether or not to tell Hiro the truth. After a few second's indecision, she decided to tell Hiro as much of the truth as she could.
"I have a really strong feeling that something bad is going to happen, and I think it involves Subject 0119, so I came here to check on him."
Hiro sighed, "While I can't say I disagree with you on your premonition of evil being afoot, I will say that your actions were a bit rash." He then looked out over the crowd of scientists and techs streaming into a large, carpeted room, "However, I think that coming here today at this time was the right thing to do."
"Do you have any idea what the meeting's about?" Botan asked as the two of them resumed walking.
"No, I don't. All I know is that Toguro's the one who called this meeting."
Botan sighed, apprehension gnawing a hole inside her chest, "Where's Koenma?"
"Still at the hospital talking to Enma." Hiro replied. The two of them crossed the threshold and stepped into the meeting room. In the center of the room sat a large oak table, flanked on both sides by a plethora of high-backed leather chairs. Thin curtains had been drawn, which would have given the room a sleepy look if nor for all the people assembled in it. Someone went to pull back a curtain, but was ordered to sit back down. Botan spotted Ayame, who waved the two of them over. People continued to stream in as Botan and Hiro made their way over to Ayame. Just as they were about to sit down, Hiro's cell phone went off.
Apologies tumbled out of Hiro's mouth and he flipped it open, thumb on the 'disregard' button, when a look at the caller ID brought him up short.
"Who is it?" Botan asked, peering at the phone in Hiro's hand.
"It's Koenma."
"Take it." Botan told him, she dropped her voice down a few notches, "knowing him, and concerning the current situation, it's bound to be important."
Hiro nodded and zipped out of the room. Botan took a seat by Ayame, watching as the last few stragglers made their way in and sat down. Once everyone had been accounted for, the man standing by the door closed it and took his own seat. Silence enveloped the room in a thick shroud. Someone coughed. Chair legs scraped against the carpet as it was scooted further to the table. A steady, low, pounding came from further up the table. The person creating the sound was then told to quit drumming their fingers. Botan fidgeted in her seat and threw a questioning look at Ayame who shrugged in reply. Pink eyes darted left and right, scanning the room for the man who had called the meeting. No luck; Toguro was nowhere in sight. She couldn't even spot Karasu. Sitting in the semi-lit room, Botan laced her hands in her lap and studied the table.
What was taking so long? Inside her chest, her heart hammered away at lightning speed. What did Toguro want? Was it about the demons? Were they going to be terminated? What about the lab, what would happen to the lab? Botan shook her head. Calm down, she told herself, you're getting yourself way too worked up. Hiro's on the phone with Koenma. Hopefully, Koenma's thought two steps ahead and is giving Hiro tips on what to do. If anyone knows what to do right now, it'll be Koenma.
Satisfied that things would be alright, Botan sat back. At that moment, the sound of a door opening caught her attention. In the far right corner of the room, a door swung open. Toguro strode in, Karasu trailing close behind like a shadow. Every person stared at Toguro, each silently asking the same question. The behemoth man stopped at the head of the table. Karasu situated himself to the far left of the lab's head director and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Far down near the end of the table, Botan's gaze lingered on him for a moment before she turned her attention back to Toguro. The man in question observed the seated staff members, making sure everyone was present. Once he was sure that he had everyone gathered, he began to speak.
"I would like to thank you all for coming today to attend this very urgent meeting. Now I understand many of you are quite anxious to know what this meeting is about, and so I will tell you." The weak light straining through the curtains bounced off the ebon lenses of his sunglasses, "This meeting is about Libra's future…" He paused for a moment, then shook his head, ignoring the shocked faces of those before him, "No, let me rephrase that. This is not about Libra's future per se, but it is about the future of the Phoenix Project, which bears this lab the most fruit in its labors. Tell me, do any of you know the purpose of the Phoenix Project?"
Ayame raised her hand. Toguro inclined his head in her direction.
"The goal of the Phoenix Project is to use the findings we gather from the lab and put them towards already existing medical studies. In other words, we take the results we gather from the demon testing and use them to better the life quality of humans."
Toguro smirked, "A noble goal indeed, but what if I were to tell you that there was more needed to be done than just testing on the subjects we have gathered here at the lab?"
Silence met his inquiry. Botan tensed, dreading what the answer might be. Everyone else stared hard at Toguro, almost trying to discern the answer from behind the man's thick shades. Toguro extended his hand into the air.
"We must do more than record our findings. The path of Libra is not one of medical science, but one of eugenics. We have done more than enough in regards to our research and now we must implement the Phoenix Project as it was meant to be; we must move on from collecting our data and put it to use. We must advance the Phoenix Project from its current state into its second phase."
Nearby, a man raised his hand. Toguro indicated for him to speak. The man put his hand back down and glanced over the faces of everyone else assembled. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat and he took a breath.
"I-If I may be permitted to ask…what will be done in this second phase you're speaking of?"
"Simple," Toguro replied. The smirk on his face grew into a horrid sneer, "we move the testing from the demons, to us."
The tapping of hurried feet echoed throughout the empty corridors. A black and white blur zipped around a corner and stopped outside a closed door. From behind his glasses, Koenma's aide examined the plaque upon the wood. Printed on the sleek, black surface in silver letters, Toguro's name glared down at him. Hiro gulped and reached for the doorknob. He turned the knob, and, to his surprise, found the door to be unlocked. Hiro glanced around to be safe, then stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
As he stood inside Toguro's office, taking in the surroundings, he felt like a young soldier who'd wandered deep into enemy territory. He took a few breaths to calm himself and placed a hand over his heart. The organ pounded out an allegro tempo of anxiety, but the more deep, slow breaths he took, the slower his heart beat. Once he had everything under control, he went straight to Toguro's desk. In his mind, he replayed the instructions Koenma had given him.
" I need you to do something for me. See if you can sneak into Toguro's office and locate a contract concerning the control of the Phoenix Project. Although I can't describe it to you, it will probably be somewhere tucked away in a folder. Once you've located the contract, filch it and notify me- it's crucial that you do. I'll explain everything later."
And before Hiro could ask questions, the dial tone had rung in his ear. Now, here he crouched, bent paper clip in hand, preparing to pick the lock on a drawer in Toguro's desk. As he inserted the tool into the lock, he thanked the Gods of luck for the meeting. With Toguro, Karasu and everyone else occupied, he could execute his task without fear of being caught. A few wiggling motions, a nip, and a small twist and the drawer sprung open. Hiro smirked and for once was grateful for the lock pick skills his sister had bestowed upon him when they were younger. Wasting not a minute more, Hiro pulled open the drawer and began rifling through the files contained within.
Case study, case study, case study, data output report, countless lab reports, but no contract. Sighing, Hiro shut the bottom drawer and moved to the one above it. Four desk drawers later and he had found nothing. Hiro moved onto the file cabinet and continued lock picking and snooping. Same result. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Hiro's eyes swept the bookshelves, hoping to find something. The books on the shelves regarded him with apathetic stares. Give up, they seemed to say, you're probably not going to find it. Either Koenma's sent you on a wild goose chase, or Toguro's thought one step ahead of you and destroyed that contract because he knew someone would come sniffing around for it. Hiro shook his head. No, he was not being sent on a wild goose chase, and for as meticulous as Toguro was, he was also quite arrogant. As far as Hiro could guess, since everyone else assumed the Phoenix Project was under Enma's control, the only people who knew about the contract at the time of its drafting and signing had been Toguro and Enma. Therefore, it made sense that Toguro would make the assumption that there would be no need to destroy the contract because he was the only person still inside Libra who knew of its existence.
With the desk and file cabinet searched through, the only option left was the bookcase. Confusion dropped a mental block on him as he walked over to examine the shelves. Where the heck would he start? The towering object went clear from almost the ceiling to the floor, and six out of the seven shelves were nearly crammed full of books. Sighing, the aide squatted in front of the very bottom shelf and began leafing through each of the books in hopes that he might find the contract stuck between the pages. Probably a hopeless move, but he'd heard plenty of stories where a will had been found hidden between the pages of an old, dusty tome. Call him desperate and foolish, but Hiro was willing to search wherever he could. After a couple more shelves gave him nothing more than the books they contained, Hiro groaned. He stood up and placed a hand on the shelf above him and leaned against the bookcase. As he stood there, despairing about what he would do if the coveted item could not be located, something caught his eye.
The books in the middle of the fourth shelf were raised just a bit higher than the ones on either side. Curious, Hiro tried to push them back down, but they were wedged in so tight they wouldn't budge. Hiro raised an eyebrow and wiggled one of the books free from the shelf. It popped out of its chamber of confinement and sank gratefully into Hiro's hands. He was about to look through that one when the second mystery presented itself. Instead of the rich brown oak which the rest of the bookshelf was made out of, the spot underneath the book he'd pulled out was black. When he touched it, he found the surface to have a smooth, plastic-like texture. He ran his finger towards the back of the black patch and found edges. A piece of paper? No, whatever this was, it was thicker. A binder? No, too thin. Then it clicked. Maybe it was a folder. Excitement racing through him, Hiro removed the rest of the books in the middle and, to his delight, found a black folder that had been resting underneath the books. Hiro snatched it and opened it up, thumbing through the papers. Nothing worth noting in the left pocket- in fact it was just blank printer paper. Aggravation set the bile in his throat rising. He began going through the papers in the right pocket and was about to throw the folder down when he noticed the back of one of the papers appeared to have something on it. Hiro pulled it out of the folder and turned it over, praying it was what he was looking for. It was.
At the top of the paper were the words "Directing the Phoenix Project". Hiro skimmed down the page until he found what he was looking for.
"And by signing this contract, full control of the Phoenix Project will be transferred from Libra's founder and director over to the co-founder. Signed Toguro and Enma Daioh." Hiro read, smiling as he did so, "This is it! I've found it. Yeesh, finally."
Task complete, Hiro stuck the folder back in its original position and set the books back on the shelf. He went around to the desk and file cabinet and double checked the drawers to make sure that he'd used his mighty paper clip to re-lock them. After his clipless efforts to get back into the desk and cabinet proved unsuccessful, Hiro smiled, folded the contract, and stuck it in his lab coat. He walked out of the office and down the hall, digging his phone out of his pants pocket as he went.
"Mission complete." He said to himself as he flipped his phone on and punched in Koenma's number.
"What the hell do you mean 'move the testing to us'? I didn't apply for this job to be your guinea pig!"
"Damn straight! Why do you need to test on us anyway? And what's with all this babble about eugenics anyway Toguro?"
"You're not going to turn us into demons are you? If that's how you want to do things, count me out!"
Toguro stood at the head of the room, observing the angry three who voiced what everyone else had been thinking. Botan gulped, afraid of how the towering man of muscle would react, when Karasu strode up beside Toguro, sighing.
"Everyone please calm down. The tests that Toguro speaks of are merely compatibility tests and nothing more. Rest assured that you will not have to fight drones, or have electrode measuring equipment attached to you as you run your legs off on a treadmill, or worse, be injected with a deadly bacterium to see how your body fights it off."
"Compatibility?" A red-haired woman snorted, "And just what is that supposed to mean? Compatible for what? To what? How are you going to test this 'compatibility'?"
"Relax," Karasu replied, "blood will be drawn and synch patterns evaluated and matched to find the person most compatible. To put it in simple terms: all that you will need to do is give one vial of blood. Nothing more, nothing less."
Anxious glances were shared by all. The red-haired woman huffed, confused and irritated.
"But you never told us what we might be compatible for."
"That's because it is none of your concern, Miriko." Toguro said. The deep rumble and sudden resurgence of his voice made the woman, Miriko, jump. Her gaze flicked to Toguro where the flames of anger popped, sputtered, and then died. She looked back to Karasu, then towards her peers, searching for someone to refute her point. No one said anything. The three who had previously stood up had taken their seats after Toguro had spoken. Miriko looked back at Toguro one last time and decided it best if she took her seat as well. Toguro smirked.
For a full minute, a tense silence stretched taut threads throughout the room. Then, from the back, one of the threads broke and someone spoke.
"Erm…Toguro, I have to admit I'm curious; if it's not our concern, then whose is it?"
"The concern of the four people who are found to be compatible. As for who they are, they will know once the data presents itself. Karasu or myself will inform them personally."
"S-So…we're sitting ducks then?" Miriko asked, hiding her trembling hands in her lap.
"It won't be as dangerous as you think." Toguro said, not sounding reassuring in the least.
Next to Botan, Ayame fidgeted in her seat. Her eyes darted around the room for a moment before she spoke up.
"Um…I have a question: How will we know of we're compatible or not?"
"You won't, but we will," Toguro responded, gesturing both to himself and Karasu.
Frightened glances and whispers spread from person to person. Botan and Ayame looked at each other. Ayame's hazel eyes took up half of her head, her mouth hung slightly agape, as if to say "Can you believe this?". Botan blinked back at her friend, communicating her shock, then turned to view everyone in turn. They all had their eyes on Toguro, waiting for him to say something, anything of possible reassurance. The man in question said nothing, instead he gazed out at the assembled staff. Botan could have sworn she saw him smiling, even if it was just a tiny bit. To her right, another tech folded his hands on the table and narrowed his eyes.
"If Enma were here," he said, glaring up at Toguro, "I doubt he would allow us to be turned into experiments."
"Ryu, what the hell are you doing?" whispered the man next to him. At the front of the room, Toguro cocked his head. Karasu's eyes glittered with vile mirth.
"What?" Ryu asked, never taking his eyes off Toguro, "I know it's true. Enma surely would have found a different way to continue the Phoenix Project that didn't involve using the staff at Libra. He would never have allowed you to do something so hideous to your own co-workers."
"I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. However, know that even if Enma were to return, his presence would change nothing. I would continue this testing, with or without his consent." Toguro responded.
Ryu's glare intensified, "So you would fight your superior?"
Toguro smirked, "What do you plan to do Ryu? It's not like your fit of defiance will change this. This was inevitable, from the very moment the Phoenix Project began."
"I thought as much," he said, standing up. He pushed in his chair and walked towards the door.
"And where are you going?" Karasu called after him.
Ryu stopped and curled his hand around the door knob, "While I realize the futility of fighting you on this, I still believe this is wrong. If nothing else, be ready to accept my resignation letter." With that, he opened the door and strode out of the room. The sound of the door shutting echoed in the heavy silence. All those seated stared at the door until the abrupt sound of Toguro clearing his throat brought their attention back to him.
"Does anyone else have a problem?"
No one said a word.
"Good," he said, "with that concluded, this meeting is over. Compatibility testing will begin in a few days' time. Now, you all are permitted to leave and carry on with the rest of your day."
Chair legs scraped the floor as several people rose at once and half jogged, half walked towards the door. People flooded out at twice the speed at which they had arrived. Botan stood by the door, waiting for the tide of bodies to slacken so she could slip out of the room and back up to the second floor. A quick glance at her watch confirmed the time to be nine-thirty. She tapped her foot and tutted to herself when the flow jammed, further stalling her.
"Are you thinking about heading back upstairs? Without someone else with you, I wouldn't advise it."
Botan whipped around to see Karasu standing a couple feet from her with his arms crossed. The lab-tech sighed. It seemed she wouldn't be winning the argument any time soon.
"Yes, I'm going back upstairs, but I'm also waiting for Hiro to come back so he can accompany me," she replied, hoping her slight change in plans would get him off her back.
However, it was to no avail, "You have no idea when he'll be back. You should let me accompany you."
"Thank you, but that's not necessary. This deals with Subject 0119."
Karasu's right eye twitched, "Him again? You know, you've been getting a little friendly with him lately. In fact, if you ask me, I think your friendliness with him goes beyond professional boundaries," he strode towards her and thrust his face into hers, "when are you going to realize he's a dangerous creature who's just playing you like a chess piece?"
Before Botan could lash out with a razor-sharp retort, a hand clapped down on her shoulder. Botan jumped and turned to see Hiro smiling at her.
"Hiro, welcome back. What did Koenma want?" she asked.
Hiro glanced at Karasu, before answering her inquiry, "He called and told me that his father's woken up and is doing a lot better."
"Really? That's great." Botan said, clapping her hands together.
"It took him that long to convey that little bit of information to you?" Karasu remarked, raising an eyebrow. Suspicion infected his tone, giving his voice a sour sound.
Hiro's eyes glittered, "Oh no, that's not all he told me. Koenma gave me details on his father's path to recovery, babbled on and on about that actually, then the conversation took different routes from there, and after that he ended the call. Simple as that," Hiro's sunny smile turned into a contemptuous smirk, "Why do you ask?"
Karasu's facial features replied in kind: a leer curled upon his lips and his eyes glinted like twin daggers, "Oh, just curious. You were gone for an entire hour, your presence was missed. Speaking of which, you my friend missed an important meeting regarding the direction of Libra and the Phoenix Project. As Koenma's personal aide, it would benefit both you and your superior to attend regardless of whatever matters occur outside."
"Well, 'my friend'," Hiro replied, "I'm sure that there are certain circumstances that allow for a few loopholes."
Botan blinked, looking back and forth between the two aides. What was going on here? The situation reminded her of two male cats facing off. She looked at Hiro and pictured him as a tabby-cat with its ears laid back and fangs bared. Her eyes roved to Karasu and she saw a scarred black cat lashing its tail in agitation, sheathing and unsheathing it's claws. The two of them continued to stare at each other for a moment, then Karasu turned to Botan.
"Ah yes, Botan, I was just about to accompany you upstairs to the demon corridor in the west wing."
"Actually," Hiro cut in, pulling Botan close to him, "she'll be coming with me for a little bit. There are a few things I've still neglected to inform her of."
"I see. Very well, I've got a few things of my own to take care of as well." Karasu said, a smile instantly plastering itself on his face. Without another word, he brushed past the two of them, sticking his hands in his pockets. Botan stared after the aide for a moment, still trying to process what she had just seen. Had Hiro just been cocky and snide with Karasu? Hiro, of all people?
A pair of snapping fingers in front of her face jerked her out of her thoughts.
"Botan? You in there? I need to talk to you."
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Sorry!" Botan apologized, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. Hiro sighed and shut the door. After making sure the door was locked, he turned his attention to the upper corners of the room. He squinted, trying to discern something different from the norm. When his search yielded no results, he began scanning the floorboards.
"Hiro…what are you doing?" Botan asked. Okay, now she was really confused.
"This is going to sound weird, but I'm checking for cameras."
"Oka-Wait, what? Why?"
"Because I don't trust Toguro; especially not after what I just found out, which," he said, concluding his search, and walking back towards her, "is what I need to talk to you about."
Botan nodded, "Okay."
He pulled a folded piece of paper out of a pocket in his lab-coat and handed it to her, "Read this."
Botan took it from him, unfolded it, and began to read. When she read the last line on the page, she looked up at Hiro open-mouthed.
"Hiro…we," she began, "we could get him in court for this! This is a legal document that he's violating, never mind the fact that he's the one who wrote it, and it says in black and white that in no event would power ever be switched back." She announced. Glee zipped through her body, causing her to bounce up and down. By violating the terms of his contract, Toguro had broken the written rule, which would surely bring some sort of punishment down upon him. Euphoric happiness skittered along the wiring of her brain. They could nab him for this, kick him to the curb, and Enma would be better by the time they were done. Perfect!
Koenma's aide nodded, took the paper from her, and stuffed it back in his pocket. His eyes shone with the same happiness that radiated out from Botan's body, but they were also veiled by a cautious expression.
"While I admit you're correct, we could take him to court for violating a binding document, we can't do it right at the moment."
"And why not?" Botan pouted. The proof was right in front of them. It was in black and white. All they had to do was present it to a judge, and things would work themselves out. It was a simple procedure.
Sensing the gist of her thought process, Hiro shook his head, "It's not that simple Botan. First off, I would have to explain how I came to be in possession of this document in the first place; and they won't look favorably upon us when it comes out that I sneaked in and filched it when no one was looking. That's why my plan is to make a photocopy of this, sneak the original back into Toguro's office, and then wait until Enma comes back. Since he's supposed to be the only one besides Toguro who knows of the contract's existence, it wouldn't be suspicious if Enma were to be the one to take Toguro to court over this. If we try to do it, then we'll get into some pretty big trouble because we broke the rules too."
He looked at Botan, "Do you understand what I'm saying? I need you to keep a tight lid on this for now. We'll bide our time until Enma comes back to Libra."
"And if he doesn't?" Botan asked
Hiro shrugged, "At this point, I really can't say."
Botan looked at Hiro while the man in question looked off into space. She chose to ignore his statement about how he had snuck into Toguro's office and stolen the document. Considering what she'd just heard about the entire staff being used as guinea pigs, Hiro's little unscrupulous deed wasn't that big of a deal. Botan shook her head to clear her mind and walked towards the door. Then, she remembered her initial reason for arriving at Libra so early in the morning.
"Uh, Hiro?" she asked, "May I go up and see Subject 0119?"
Yanked off his train of thought, Hiro turned towards her, "Sorry, what was that?"
Botan ground her toe into the floor, "May…May I please go see Subject 0119?" she begged, clapping her hands together.
Hiro cocked his head to one side, "Yeah, sure. I don't see why not. After all, there's no reason to worry about him." Botan smiled and ran over to Hiro, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you so much!" she squealed. Leaving Hiro behind, she stepped out into the hall and made her way over to the staircase in the west wing. About half-way up, she bumped into Karasu. Trying to right herself, her right foot slipped and she began to fall backwards. Karasu reached out and grabbed her.
"Careful." He said, steadying her.
"What are you doing up here?"
"Remember? I said I had some business to attend to."
Botan nodded and slid her wrist from his grip, "I see."
"Still heading to Subject 0119?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, I am." Botan stated, crossing her arms. He wouldn't stop her. Not here, not when she was so close. Even though the image was fading, the terror still resided in her heart, and the colors kept flashing through her mind. Scarlet blood, ivory fangs, and the ebon, icy terror that had welled up within her bosom. She needed to see Kurama. So she continued to stare down Karasu, hoping to exasperate him to the point where he would just give up and stop pushing his issue.
Karasu sighed, "Very well, go on."
A trumpet call of victory sounded in Botan's mind and she began to walk around him. However, when she placed her foot on the next step, Karasu grabbed her arm.
"Will Hiro be with you?"
Botan resisted the urge to groan and roll her eyes. It seemed Karasu was determined to keep pushing the envelope. She didn't know if Hiro was coming with her, and she really didn't want him accompanying her on this personal mission of hers.
"Hiro's not coming with me. I don't need him around because Subject 0119 won't do anything to hurt me. He's completely different from the rest of the demons here."
Violet eyes scrutinized her. After a moment, Karasu sighed and released her, "Fine, go on. But don't say I didn't warn you."
This time Botan did roll her eyes. Pushing past Karasu, she continued making her way upstairs. Her quick feet carried her to Kurama's cage door in a matter of minutes. Botan paused. This close to her goal, her heartbeat raged in her chest. She clenched a tight fist over her left breast, almost as if she was afraid that her heart would leap out if it beat any harder. A sticky lump of fear crawled down her throat and sat in the pit of her stomach like a small rock. Why did she feel so anxious? Nothing was wrong. Taking a deep breath, Botan opened the door and peeked inside. Near the far wall stood a bed. Dominating the middle was a lump all wrapped up in the voluminous white sheets.
"Kurama?" she called.
The lump stirred. Bright red hair shot out from beneath the white sheets. Botan stilled a shiver that tried to course through her when she saw the bright red of his hair. Green eyes followed the red hair out from the fabric burrow, blinking away grogginess. Finally, his whole upper half was free and he stretched, letting loose a yawn as he did so. He shook his head to clear away the last of sleep's fog then swung his legs out of bed. Botan was a bit surprised to see him in casual clothing.
"Hey Botan. Sorry if I look a bit scruffy."
Botan smiled and entered, closing the door behind her, "No, it's fine. Besides, the bed-head look suits you."
She walked towards the bed and sat down next to him. "So, how are you doing?"
"Alright."
" 'Alright'?" Botan echoed.
Kurama looked at his arm, "Don't get me wrong, I am fine, it's just that when you woke me up, I noticed my arm started to sting a little."
"Huh, that's weird," Botan remarked. She leaned over to get a better look at the fox demon's arm. Marring the pale skin was a purple-green bruise with a tint of red in the center, "Where did that bruise come from?"
"I'm not sure." Kurama replied. He lowered his arm and turned to her. Small lights sparkled in his eyes as he smiled at her, "So, what brings you by today?"
Botan averted her eyes to her lap, "Well…um, I had a frightening dream last night, and I-I know it won't come true, but it still frightened me."
"A frightening dream?" Kurama asked, cocking his head.
Botan nodded.
"What was it about?"
"Um…you…" Botan sighed and closed her eyes, "I'm not sure I want to talk about it." She opened her eyes and looked up at Kurama, "The point is, now that I'm here, I don't need to worry about it anymore."
Kurama blinked at her. Confusion smeared his facial features into an odd formation, "Okay…"
Botan flashed him a grin, "Trust me! Everything's fine."
Placated by her insistence, Kurama smiled, "Alright, I believe you."
The two of them lapsed into silence. A cool breeze wafted in through the open balcony door. Off in the distance, a swallow poured its heart into a sudden song. Botan's eyes moved over the books in the shelves. Curious, she walked over and began examining some of the titles and author names. Contact, Swan Song, and Don Quixote sat amongst various Asimov collections and a good portion of Stephen King novels. Kurama watched her as she frowned when she read a title or author name she hadn't heard of; he smiled when he saw her eyes light up when she came across something she knew. He opened his mouth to say something, but his comment turned into a hiss of pain. His arm throbbed in time with his heart beat and he could feel the bruise getting hot. He looked at his arm, anxiety welling up within him. This wasn't right. He had never felt this way before. On top of that, he thought, I have no idea where this bruise came from. I know for a fact no experiments were performed on me yesterday. A light pressure on his shoulder made him jump. His head shot up and he found himself staring into expressive, bright fuchsia eyes. Transfixed, he stared back.
"Are you alright?"
The scent of her breath wafted near his sensitive nose and he smelled the citrus tang of the orange she'd eaten for breakfast that morning. Overlaying this was the intoxicating aroma of vanilla, and laying just beneath was another smell; sweeter, fresher, so full of youth and vitality. Kurama gulped. Now he was frightened. He was used to smelling Botan's usual scent of vanilla, but never did it assail his nostrils like this. And what was with that scent lingered below? Why was it there? Why was it so captivating?
"Kurama?"
The bruise on his arm sent another wave of pain blasting through him. Kurama growled and doubled over, clutching the throbbing limb. What the hell was going on? Waves of heat coursed up and down his arm, fanning out to his shoulder and right pectoral muscle. The hand on his shoulder shook him.
"Hey! What's wrong?"
Her scent washed over him. This time, that unidentifiable scent was much stronger. Just a whiff sent an electrical current coursing through him. An image flashed through his mind. Sharp teeth, soft flesh, a crimson spray of blood. Kurama shot off the bed, past Botan and thumped back against the bookshelf. Something was wrong, something was very wrong.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Botan take a tentative step towards him.
"Kura-"
"Stay away!" he barked.
Botan drew back, fear glittering in her eyes, "But…but you're in pain. I have to do something."
"Leave. That's what you can do."
The lab-tech drew herself up and shot him an acidic glare, "What? I don't think so! I'm not about to leave you here when you in such horrible pain!" She strode towards the demon. Ignoring the screaming of her instincts, she stopped a hair's breadth from him, "I won't leave you. I'll call Hiro and we'll have him see what's going on, but I'm not going to leave you here to suffer."
"Don't be foolish!" he snarled, grabbing her shoulders. He gripped them with such force that she could feel the joint groan in the socket. For one terrifying moment, Botan thought he was going to pop both shoulders out of socket. His eyes burned into her own. They kept changing color; flashing to a bright, wild gold, then back to his normal gentle green, then back to gold, then back to green.
"Kurama…what…"
Kurama growled and shoved his face into hers. One moment, fiery gold eyes demanded her attention, the next frantic green glared at her, "Leave Botan. You have to leave. I have no idea what's happening, but I do know that you shouldn't stick around."
"No! I'm worried about you!"
Grinding his teeth, Kurama let go. Botan took a deep breath and prepared to try and calm him down. Before she could open her mouth, she saw a white blur, and in the next instant she was bouncing off the far wall. She forgot how to breathe and went sliding lifelessly to the floor. Once she touched the cold floor, the shock brought back a gasp to her lungs, which set off a bout of coughing. The back of her head beat out of rhythm of dull pain as she pushed herself to her feet. She put a hand to her chest and was surprised when she felt something wet. Botan looked down at her hand and found a swathe of scarlet smeared across her palm. Her snow-white lab coat was painted a vibrant red. Where did all this red come from? Is it… Am I…
A soft plip drew her attention to the floor where she saw tiny red drops grouping together. Botan gasped and the pain came crashing down upon her. She sunk to her knees, cradling both her abdomen and chest. She looked across the room at Kurama and nearly screamed at what she saw.
Against the bookshelf, glowering at her with fierce flashing eyes, with long claws dripping blood, her blood, stood Kurama. She swallowed. He shimmered and then was gone. Botan blinked in confusion then yelped in pain and fear as two hands picked her up by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall.
Kurama panted. The sweet smell of her blood clogged his nostrils. Saliva pooled in his mouth and he swallowed, trying to fight whatever urge was trying to overcome him down. Calm down, calm down. If I don't try to control whatever this is, then I'll end up hurting her quite badly. I need to control this, but I need to do a good enough performance to the point that I'll terrify her enough to convince her to leave. He squeezed her shoulders again, mindful of the creaking joints beneath his hands.
"I'll say it once more: Leave."
Botan whimpered. Through the haze, Kurama felt a stirring of sympathy. Another wave of pain ripped through is body, making his spider-thread of control falter. He winced, but focused his gaze on her. The fear in her eyes, the light coating of sweat on her face, they way her top two teeth peeked out from her mouth and chewed her bottom lip. He hated himself, but her safety-well her life at this point because he was quite sure that any regards to her safety had been thrown out the window- was far more important, and this had to be done.
"Leave." He repeated, lowering his voice to a threatening growl.
Botan trembled. She had no idea why Kurama was acting this way. Images from her dream flashed through her mind. White fangs, red blood, claws. Everything had come true, yet none of it made sense. He kept telling her to leave over and over again, that meant something was seriously wrong. Didn't it? She was scared for herself, but terrified for Kurama. For him to be acting so out of character, something had to be off.
"But…I-I…" she stuttered. Talking around the lump of fear in her throat was difficult.
Kurama growled and threw her. Botan screamed when her bruised shoulder knocked against the tile floor. She curled up in a ball, whole body throbbing in pain. Her heart pounded no longer out of fear but exertion, her breathing became ragged, and her midsection screamed in agony. I have no idea how deep he cut me, or how much blood I'm losing. My shoulders are pretty bruised up by the feel of them, but luckily they aren't dislocated. Still, this blood loss is bad… Nearby she heard Kurama hiss. A cold shot of fear zipped down her spine. She curled in further, tucking her head into her bloody chest. Fear replacing concern, Botan lay on the floor, trembling. I don't know what's going on, but I want it to be over soon. I've never been this scared in my life. What if I die? Oh my God, what if I die? I don't want to die, I don't want to die, don't want to die, don't want to die, don't want to die, don't-
At that moment, the door flew open.
"Enough!" shouted a familiar voice. Botan tried to place it. It wasn't Hiro or Koenma, and it was too deep to be Ayame's.
The demon responded with a growl. Botan heard him leap, followed by a soft thump, then a hard thud as something heavy hit the floor. She continued to lay on the floor, waiting for the killing blow to come. Instead, she felt a gentle hand lay itself on her shoulder. Botan gasped in pain and the hand pulled itself back.
"Botan? Can you hear me?" the voice asked.
Botan uncrossed her arms and raised her head. She blinked, clearing away the sudden thick fog obscuring her vision. Purple eyes stared at her shining with worry. Botan blinked again.
"Botan?" Karasu repeated.
"K-Karasu?" Botan rasped. The slash wounds throbbed. Botan winced. Karasu stood up and lifted her to her feet, mindful of her shoulders and wounds. As he was hauling her to her feet, she looked behind him and saw Kurama sprawled on the floor unconscious. Once she was on her feet, Karasu wrapped an arm around her back, supporting her as he guided her towards the door. Botan looked back at Kurama.
"I had to knock him unconscious to get to you. I didn't hurt him, just gave him a sharp whack on the occipital bone."
Botan nodded, faintly registering the words Karasu spoke. All that she could think about was how Kurama had attacked her. She didn't believe it, couldn't believe it. Led by Karasu, she made it out the door. Karasu reached behind him and closed the door with his free hand. Once the door was secure, he lowered her to the floor so she could rest. Botan stared at her lab coat. Very few spots on it were still white. He had cut her that deep. Her breath hitched in her throat. He attacked her. Kurama attacked her.
"Didn't I warn you?"
Botan's head jerked up. She stared at Karasu, "But Ku- I mean Subject 00119 is different! Or…at least I thought he was…" she trailed off as her lowered her gaze back down to her bloody coat.
"He attacked you," Karasu stated, "when it boiled down to it, he was no different than the rest of the monsters that reside here."
"He attacked me," Botan whispered, "he attacked me." Tears rolled down her face. She looked up at Karasu; her eyes wide and pleading, "but why? Why would he do that?"
"Because he's a demon. It's like domesticating an animal. You can't truly change what lies beneath, they will always be vicious creatures at heart. That is why I told you over and over again that no matter the disposition, a demon is still a demon."
"I'm sorry," Botan sniffed.
Karasu cupped he cheek with his hand, "It's alright Botan. Just stay by me. You're safe now."
Jeez, finally! I never thought I'd make it to the end of this chapter. Anyways, drop me a review and tell me how I did. The next chapter will be the last.