Tangled Webs We Weave
Part Five: A Deeper Darkness
By: Valandra
Zorra
A/N:Thanks to all reviewers for your wonderful input and encouragement. Also, uploading messed with the formatting and italicised a good chunk of this. I've done by best to catch it all with two read-overs, but if I've missed anything, I'd appreciate a PM so that I can correct it. Thanks!
B/N: Read on!
ooOoo
Curling up even further on the bed edge, Ryo groaned through his tears. He willed everything to just go away, to leave him drifting in the void he'd been walking in for the past few weeks. But the pain wouldn't release him and the stench of bile was as bad as the taste still on his throat and tongue. 'Why won't you stop it? I didn't ask for this!'
Sobbing, Ryo shoved himself from the bed and landed with a scream that echoed off the empty walls of the Koji Manner. 'Just leave me alone!' Crawling away from the bed, dragging himself with his right arm, he collapsed once more as a red glow slowly grew on his brow. "Go away!"
ooOooOooOoo
"Shin!" Touma yelled as he hauled himself up. Shin had shoved him away and he suspected Seiji as well to summon his armor. Whatever was stalking them was still playing with them, toying with them really; they'd all felt the air from it's last passage as it brushed against their backs.
Touma almost jumped when he felt a touch to his shoulder from behind. Spinning, he stepped back when he got a face-full of Shin's helmet. "Shit! Don't do that!" He clutched his chest.
"Grab hold," Shin commanded. He turned his back to Touma and knelt down, mindful of Seiji in his arms.
Hesitating a moment, Touma could practically feel Shin preparing to snap at him and so climbed on carefully. Slipping his arms around Shin's neck, he shifted his legs around the boy's armored waist. "Shin…" He could see Seiji now and would have laughed at the sight of the blond trying to keep his legs spread around the folded claws on Shin's gauntlet if the situation wasn't so serious.
Blinking as the brunette stood, Touma shook his head and tightened his hold. "Shin, you don't have the strength for this!" With as much blood as he knew the boy had lost, he was amazed Shin was moving around with such ease. The armor always did give them a boost in strength, but the cost for it was equal if not greater.
"Shut up," Shin snapped, voice too thick to be sharp. Testing his balance and the weight he carried, he tightened his hold on Seiji and took off at a run for the manner. His only goal to get the two boys back to their home and to their orbs. Even Seiji with his busted (though adamantly not broken) leg would be of more help in a fight then he himself presently. 'And Ryo's there. …Assuming this thing's alone, and that he's not come out looking for us himself. Or it.'
All three could feel the thing's attention on them still as they retreated. It wasn't until Shin reached the top steps of the porch when the thing's presence vanished completely from their awareness. Even so though, Touma jumped off of Shin as soon as they were inside and ran up the stairs for his orb. Unable to do the same, Seiji had to wait for Shin to put him down.
Standing unsteadily, Seiji didn't miss the fact that he had more balance then Shin. "Off," he ordered, hand tugging on the shoulder part of Suiko. He wasn't going to even wait for the boy to get closer to the couch, unwilling to let the elder wear the armor for longer then absolutely necessary.
Shin didn't argue. Everything went black on him and the world twisted out from beneath him. He was vaguely aware of a grunt, no doubt Seiji's, then nothing else.
Muttering to himself, Seiji hauled Shin's slumped form up enough to get one of the boy's arms over his shoulders again. Dragging his left leg behind him and both of Shin's, he was relieved when Touma jumped back down the stairs. "Gimme a hand," he groused even as the blue-haired archer slipped beneath Shin's other side.
"Worse then I thought," Touma muttered, getting a better look at Shin in the light of the still playing television. Once they got him on the couch, he went to turn the light on while Seiji took a heavy seat at Shin's legs.
"Much worse," Seiji agreed, squinting in the sudden flood of artificial light. Then he frowned at the older boy. "What was that Shin?"
"Ryo," the young man whispered and shifted with a groan. He didn't seem completely aware and was held in place with ease.
Seiji snapped his attention up to Touma. "Find him," was all he said before the blue-haired boy was gone, and Seiji's fingers curled around the warmth of his own orb suddenly placed into his hand. With a quick flash of light, he was left kneeling beside Shin in his own green and white sub-armor. But still whatever had chased them home had yet to return.
ooOooOooOoo
While he ran up the stairs and down the hall, Touma could feel the gentle tugging in the back of his mind that was Korin and Seiji working together to heal Shin. 'No doubt slow the bleeding, since he's not cleaned him yet.'Keeping those thoughts to the back of his mind along with the impression, Touma turned most of his attention to outside the manner and any creatures near to their home. He couldn't find anything.
"Ryo?" he called out, running into the room. He frowned when he didn't see the boy on the obviously mussed bed, but running further into the room found the boy on the second bed, Ryo's usual one. 'Why'd he…? Oh yeah,' he answered his own question when the stench of the boy's earlier illness assaulted him. 'Shit, forgot about that. Wonderful. But at least he's still here.'
Reluctant to banish the sub-armor, Touma still did so and with a silent groan he set about cleaning the room. But not until he checked Ryo over to make certain he wasn't bleeding beneath those blankets. Touma damn near screamed when he realized the dark-haired boy was. "SEIJI!!"
Touma swore he could hear the blonde's swearing over his own from down the stairs, and certainly the order towards Shin to stay put. Banishing his own armor so he could feel the warmth of Ryo's skin, he whimpered at how cold the older boy felt. "Come on Ryo," he growled, drawing in a deep breath. "You're better then this. Wake up!"
"Touma!" Seiji called, swinging into the room, sub-armor catching the gleam of artificial light when he flipped the switch.
"Nothing, but he's bleeding and freezing." Touma stepped out of the way, pulling Ryo's shirt up as he did so.
Taking the archer's place beside the bed, Seiji's ice-blue eyes narrowed on the apparent damage, the stench of blood hitting him with a heady, almost dizzying sensation. "As bad as Shin," he muttered, running his fingers down Ryo's ribs to his hips, white armor quickly stained red. "Deep." Tugging Ryo's pants down to ride low on his hips, Seiji made a sound and pulled them the rest of the way off.
"Get the kit from under the sink, a wet cloth and some towels. We have to get this blood cleaned away." Touma was almost to the door before he'd even finished.
'Twin incision on his leg, lower side punctured just beneath the ribs, and dark bruising on his other leg, both lower and on the outer hip.'Looking up, Seiji slowly carefully scanned the room while he waited for Touma. 'No sign of intrusion. What the hell happened to you Ryo?' Lowering his gaze back to the younger boy, he took the towel suddenly thrust at him and started cleaning.
'It never struck us, we only felt its presence and the movement of air from attempted strikes. It vanished when we got to the manner. A creature couldn't have done this, nor would, couldone just up and vanish from our awareness like that. It's not a soldier like from the Youjakai or anything like that, we would have sensed as much, or at the very least have seen or heard something! There'd be some trace. A spirit then? But how could one of such ill intent get into the manner uninvited? Or have we attracted the attention of something even higher?'
Blinking, Seiji's thoughts quieted and he realized together he and Touma had already cleaned and wrapped Ryo up. He shook his head at the blue-haired boy's questioning look, and knew from Touma's own expression that the younger boy hadn't had any more luck in coming to a conclusion. Sighing, Seiji moved his hands to hover over Ryo's side bellow his ribs only to look up with a start when Touma laid his own hands over his. He looked up to see the blue-haired boy wearing a bemused expression.
"You've already sped the healing up Seiji," Touma murmured softly, lips twitching at the irritated twitch to the blonde's eye. He knew it was directed just as much at him as it was to Seiji himself. "Alright Blondie," he sounded far too chipper even to his own ears. "Let's get you to your own bed and have your leg looked at."
Standing, Touma dragged Seiji up and gave the white, red and green sub-armor a pointed look. His lips twitched when he heard the older boy's irritated breath, but smoothed his expression when the armor vanished. Wrapping his arm around Seiji's waist, neither said anything as Touma helped him to their shared room. Touma waited until he had Seiji on the bed and his pants off before opening his mouth.
"What's Shin's condition?" He asked, running long, nimble fingers along Seiji's injured leg, catching every restrained wince, grimace and bitten off groan.
"Since he's not shown up, he should be sleeping," Seiji's voice was just a bit more terse then it should have been, giving evidence to his tight control. Touma just snorted.
"Doubtful. Not until he knows what the hell that was all about, don't matter how bad he is." He heard something akin to a laugh from Seiji and let a small smirk pull at his own lips.
"Too true," Seiji found himself agreeing. "There was more blood then damage done, he'll be fine with a couple days true rest. Still need to wrap his chest."
"I'll do it when I'm done with you. You are going to get some rest yourself." They both knew Seiji hated being ordered around, but Touma wasn't in the mood to deal with an argument and too many of their own were already injured. 'Yeah, all but me. I wonder if it's all a coincidence, or if something's trying to pick us off one at a time?'Something in Seiji's expression led Touma to believe the older boy was thinking something along the same lines.
"It's late," Touma stated as he straightened, then grabbed the sheets from the foot of the bed. "Doesn't feel like you broke anything, and I didn't feel any cracks. I'll bring some ice up after I get Shin settled." Draping the sheets over Seiji, having no intention of returning the blonde's pants, Touma turned to go. "We'll see how it looks in the morning. Wake me up if it starts to throb, ach or anything understand? Don't grit and bear."
Seiji mock-saluted him, and they both laughed. Tension easing between his shoulders, Touma grinned. Twisting in the doorway with a remark on his lips, Touma swallowed his breath and watched as Seiji closed his eyes, either to sleep or meditate.'Happy birthday Seiji,' he wished with just a touch of remorse. 'We'll just have to make it up once we're all together again, whole and healthy.' He smirked. 'Don't think you'll get out of it so easily.'
ooOooOooOoo
Come noon the following day found Touma to be the first and only one awake. The fact that he made it downstairs, fully dressed and showered without waking anyone was a point of worry for him. It made it painfully clear just how bad a spot everyone was in, and once more forced the consideration that they were being set up. It made him very nervous about Shu being by himself, hospital or not.
'Shu,' he thought, pausing in the process of cooking breakfast. 'We still haven't heard anything, and neither of us had a chance to talk to Shin about his condition. They were naught but burns, but anything bad enough to need the hospital…. We've dealt with worse, but that was a year ago. And we had the armors then; as much as they wore on us, they still gave us the strength we needed, would heal us when we could afford the energy. Sometimes even when we couldn't.'
Sighing, Touma threw the burnt pancakes away and settled for making some toast and eggs. 'And Ryo…. We still don't know what happened to him, what attacked him. I searched the house over after seeing to Shin last night, and still couldn't find a trace of anything. No spirit, no beast, no forced entry or sentry. And his injuries…no weapon did any of that. We weren't gone for long, not long enough for there to not be any trace!'
"Damn it!" he cursed, the smell of burnt toast snapping him out of his thoughts. Already agitated by his thoughts of Ryo, he threw the eggs away with them. "Fuck it! Cereal and milk's just fine." Grumbling as he moved about, he did remember to refrain from banging around. Shin was still asleep on the couch, and Seiji had yet to even stir; neither one of them needed to be up and about yet. He had to roll his eyes then, somewhat calmed as he thought of the blond and was kinder to the cereal box he was shaking.
'He was out cold before I went up to bed; not even meditating but truly asleep. And still the brat tried to hold his silence. I swear, he's sixteen now but he's acting just as juvenile as people expect me to.' Touma's lips twitched as he poured the milk. 'Still, I probably had a bit too much fun forcing him to take the pain-killers. But I warned him! I told him to wake me up, and does he? Noooooo.' Sitting down at the table, he started to eat as he thought about that short interruption in the night. He'd gone to check on Ryo and Shin after forcing the pills on Seiji and getting him another ice pack. 'Neither of them had woken up, at least not from what I could tell. Neither of them were disturbed either.'
Getting up and cleaning up his mess, he thought about whatever it was that had chased them last night. 'It vanished when we got to the door, a few feet from it actually.' Turning the water on, he started washing the dishes he'd dirtied. 'It came close enough to touch us more then once, yet held back long enough to let Shin summon Suiko and gather us both up. It didn't have to.' He paused as he put the dried dishes away. 'Was it trying to herd us back to the manner and Ryo?' Now there was a thought. 'It never actually attacked us. …But then again, we still don't know what happened to Shin. Never did have a chance to get that information from him.'
Drying his hands, Touma left the kitchen and went to check on Shin. Leaning over the couch back, he quirked an eyebrow at the brunette and felt a grin pull at his lips.
"You done destroying my kitchen?" Shin questioned quietly, struggling to contain a coughing fit. He settled for a mock-glare when the younger boy just laughed at him.
"Nope, but I'll get back to it later. How you feeling?"
Glaring up at the blue-haired boy, Shin pushed himself up into a rather painful-looking upright position. Touma immediately reached out to stop him and push him back down, but didn't have much room where he stood and instead had to help the older boy up and ease him back against the arm.
"Shin," he drew the elder's name out warningly. The fact that the pain kept Shin's pale face tight was enough for Touma to hold his tongue. "Stay put, lemme get another pillow."
Running off, he was back within the minute and walked around the couch to lean a knee on it beside Shin. "Easy now," he cautioned, easing the boy's head forward to prop the pillow behind him. Laying his head back down, Touma moved down to his legs and pulled the comforter away to look at the damage. Hissing softly, he slipped another pillow beneath Shin's knee to elevate it and carefully peeled back the large bandage. "God Shin," he breathed, his heart catching in his throat. 'It looks worse then last night, and Seiji's cleaned it already!' "I'm going to get you some pain killers," he wouldn't let the boy argue with him, and when he looked up as he stood, it was clear the older boy wasn't in any state to do so. 'We try to avoid them when we can in situations like this,' he thought in the back of his mind. 'We need clear heads if we're attacked again but he's not any good if he can't move. Granted he's still got his armor orb,' he thought with a touch of irritation; the older boy wouldn't give it up last night. 'Not that I blame him. But he really doesn't have the energy after calling it last night, not with the blood loss. I'm actually surprised he's so coherent.'
"Thanks," Shin muttered, taking the glass and pills from Touma, snapping the youth out of his thoughts. He would have rolled his eyes if it wasn't such an effort; the youth was getting lost in his thoughts again and had stood there beside him for half a minute before Shin realized as much. Swallowing quickly, he closed his eyes with a groan and laid his head back down. "How are they?" he asked and lifted an arm to rest over his eyes.
"Sleeping," he replied and took a seat on the coffee table; he'd pushed it back away from the couch last night in case Shin did try to get up. "Seiji's leg isn't broken, but he came damn close. Ryo...Ryo looks worse then you both. He didn't respond when we cleaned him up, nor when I checked on him a few hours ago."
"Do we know what happened?"
Touma shook his head, despite the fact that the brunette couldn't see him. "Not a clue. There's no sign of entry, forced or otherwise, and no spiritual or supernatural trace either."
They were both silent then, and the silence drew out comfortably, if a little morose. It was broken as Shin started to doze beneath the medicine's work by something rather large tumbling down the stairs followed by a sharp outcry of unyielding pain.
Jumping up, Touma ran around the couch towards the stairs without a breath to demand Shin stay put. As it was, the older boy was only a few feet behind him when he found Ryo curled up at the base of the stairs facing them, his arms wrapped around his leg. 'His injured one,'Touma realized, then jumped with a startled yelp when a hand closed on his shoulder. Jerking his head around, he glared at Shin. "What are you doing?!" he snapped.
Giving the youth a flat look, Shin looked around him pointedly and focused on Ryo. "What are you doing out of bed?"
Swallowing a growl, Touma took Shin's hand from his shoulder and turned the boy back around to the couch. "You, go lay back down. And you," he twisted back around and knelt beside Ryo. "Let me see Ryo." His voice had softened dramatically.
Ryo's hold on his leg was like a death grip, and when Touma looked up at the older boy to repeat himself he realized just how much pain the other was in. Ryo's face was ghostly pale and tight, and though his eyes were clinched shut Touma could see the gathering wetness of tears. He wasn't breathing either. 'Shock, he's in shock.'
"What is going on down there?" Seiji's voice called from the upstairs railing. Touma felt like screaming.
"Why can't any of you just stay in bed?!" He heard a small whimper in front of him and realized Ryo had flinched. "Don't you damn well dare try the stairs Seiji!" Touma called out as he leaned over Ryo, only to grit his teeth when he felt Shin's hand return to his shoulder.
"Touma, go get him some milk," Shin canted his head, and the young boy caught something in his eyes. Nodding slowly, mindful of his own headache, Shin continued. "We can move him when you get back."
"Right." Standing, Touma took a final glance to Ryo and moved to the kitchen. Sighing, Shin knelt down beside the dark-haired youth and even Seiji could hear the groan he tried to swallow.
"Touma can make a pallet on the floor for Ryo Shin. You're going back on the couch; your leg needs to be elevated." Leaning over the railing, Seiji frowned down at the two boys. "He's still conscious?"
Shin nodded, watching Ryo's expression closely. He opened his mouth to question the young leader, but instead all three jumped at the shrill ringing of the telephone. "I'll get it," Seiji called down, a hand to his chest; it went unseen though as he already had his back to the railing and was carefully limping towards Nasutie's room.
Groaning, Shin glared at the phone half-way across the room. But he didn't argue with the blond, unwilling to leave Ryo alone; he had no doubt the boy would try to get up if left to himself. Touma returned shortly and knelt down to pass the glass, but Shin shook his head. "Seiji's getting it. You help Ryo drink that," he looked down at the raven-haired boy. "All of it Ryo."
Hauling himself up painfully, Shin ignored Ryo's protests, small though they were, and Touma's ensuing "encouragement." 'This really is new for Touma, to have all of us "down" and without even Shu. Poor kid.' Despite the wars forcing them to grow up, they had gratefully found that in some mundane things they could still retain their youth. 'Well, most of us at least,' Shin thought, his lips twisting as he eased himself down onto the couch. 'Twelfth year...'Frowning at himself, Shin shook such thoughts off and focused on more pressing problems. Only to start in surprise when he felt hands lifting his injured leg. "Touma...?"
"He's out cold," Touma explained and slipped a pillow beneath the boy's knee. "He finished the milk off and didn't notice the sleep powder mixed in. You know he's going to be pissed when he wakes up."
Blinking his eyes open, Shin looked down at the boy looking up at him and quirked an eyebrow. "He'll just have to deal with it then. He shouldn't have gotten up in that kind of condition to begin with."
Touma just rolled his eyes and pulled a blanket up and around the elder boy. "I'm going to make that pallet for him and then move him. You stay put this time." Standing, he ignored the brunette's snort and lifted the half-full glass he'd set on the floor. "Here. I'll get you something to eat if you want when I'm done." Turning, he went to go get some blankets, muttering to himself as he went. "And then check on Seiji, damn stubborn blond..."
Chuckling softly to himself, Shin settled back down into the couch and set the drugged cup of hot-chocolate on the floor. Closing his eyes, he released a soft breath and listened to the quiet sounds of Touma bustling about. The youth had Ryo settled on the pallet in front of his couch when Seiji returned; Touma's returned mutterings confirmed the brunette's guess. "If I've got to stay here then you had best stay put up there Seiji." Shin's voice was quiet but it carried and caused Touma to start in surprise.
Snorting, Seiji leaned against the railing, his foot still on the first step. With his first words he had both boys' undivided attention; and with the last, the other two felt themselves go cold. "The hospital's just called. Shu's been released and his father is bringing him back as we speak."
"Oh God," Touma breathed. His legs gave out beneath him and fell back onto his bum, the blankets Ryo was resting on not enough to cushion the throb in his tail-bone. "It's too dangerous..."
"A mortal?" Shin murmured, unaware of the look Seiji shot him from the top of the stairs. His breath caught as he pulled himself back up to lean against the couch back. "Touma's right, it's too dangerous with this unknown threat around. When he gets here, we can't let him stay." Shin shook his head. "But we can't tip him off either. If he suspects anything strange here, he'll insist on staying or sending us all on our way, especially after Shu's accident. And we've already learned the yoroi won't allow us to remain separated for long."
Here he ignored the twin looks the younger boys gave him. He and Shu had both explained the pull as best they could, but neither could truly express what it had felt like to them. Touma, Seiji and Ryo all knew and understood that even without them having to say as much. He knew it made the prospect more frightening to the youngers, but there wasn't much he could do to assure them; it had gotten worse the longer they resisted. He didn't want to know what would happen with a second attempt.
"Well," Touma spoke hesitantly, voice wavering as he put forth a speculation he'd had for a while. "Maybe that's just because of this threat. Maybe the yoroi knew it was coming, maybe that's why it didn't want us to be separated?"
Neither one of the others looked too keen on the idea, but Seiji seemed more inclined to accept it then Shin. "Maybe," the blond murmured.
Shin cleared his throat. "Regardless, you need to get back to bed Seiji. Touma still needs to look your leg over now that the swelling should be down." Ignoring the violet-eyed glare he could feel burning into him, Shin made a point of laying back down himself and pulling the blanket up. He waited until Touma had jumped up to continue. "When Faun-sama arrives, we will simply be a group of friends sleeping in after staying up late with movies, games and worrying about Shu. Touma," he opened his eyes to look over at the blue-haired boy and realized the youth was a little uncomfortable. "Put a movie on when you come back down. I'm afraid you'll have to play host while Seiji and I play possum."
Touma nodded, albeit hesitantly; he could pull the lie off easily enough, it was just a matter of self-confidence and mind-state. "'Kay. But um..." he trailed off and looked down when Shin quirked an eyebrow at him. "If it comes up again, it's Chan-sama. He married into the clan."
Shin's second eyebrow rose and he made a thoughtful sound as he nodded. "Very well. Go take care of Seiji Touma, we've got about an hour before they arrive."
"Right," Touma nodded once more and hurried up the stairs, taking two at a time. Unaware of the contemplative look Shin was giving Ryo, hidden from his and Seiji's view by the couch. "Come on blonde," he cajoled, then slipped an arm around the irritated blonde's waist. "It's back to bed with you."
Flipping his hair back with an almost arrogant expression, Seiji ruined the face by leaning gratefully into the taller boy. "You are finding far too much enjoyment in this." Touma just laughed at him.
Seiji leaned against the wall beside their door while he waited for Touma to open it and turn the light on. He frowned and lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck, feeling the small hairs there rise; a shiver shot down his spine as he did so. Violet orbs snapped up and to Ryo's door, the bit of wood cracked open still from the youth's departure. There was nothing there and the unease he realized he'd been feeling was already gone, leaving him the impression of brown and white, of something as old as nature herself if not close to it. He just prayed that whatever it was, took after her kinder side.
To Be Continued...
