Kida didn't have to be told twice as he immediately sat down and dug into the food provided while Aoba looked at the smiling man distrustfully. Kuronuma had met a man by the name of Shinra who acted similarly to the scientist and that man loved a corpse and was, not to mention, also borderline psychotic. The scientist noticed the shorter's reluctance and while giving his biggest smile said, "I had it made to give you some strength for the operation, please eat."
The younger was still hesitant and it took an insistent look from the blonde to finally get him to sit down. With a hateful look in his eyes, Aoba picked his meat up with his fingers and ate without even bothering to use any of the silverware that was set out for them. Kida nudged the shorter under the table for trying to cause unnecessary trouble, but apparently Dr. Demyan was more amused by this than disgusted.
"Nice to meet you two! I'm Dr. Demyan, or Professor Demyan if you so please. It's good to see that you guys are still so lively! I was wondering whether you two had collapsed of dehydration yet.", the doctor/scientist said as he folded his hands on the table excitedly while Masaomi paid only half attention and Kuronuma looked at him with disdain.
Evidently, the greying brunette wasn't expecting a reply to that as he continued on.
"I am thrilled to have the chance to attempt to make shifter hybrids! You will be my very first ones, but don't worry. I have been studying the art of splicing since as soon as I could read!"
Aoba raised a brow at this as he nibbled on a piece of steak. They have known how to do things like this for that long? His brown eyes looked to his left to catch Kida's own brown orbs, but the blonde was now completely occupied with his food. With an irritated huff, the younger looked back towards the still babbling man.
"-and oh! I was wondering whether or not you two were a couple. We could set the foundation of the pack we're going to make early! Two alphas among a pack of betas and omegas! Imagine that! An effective and organized group of specialized killers all pulled together by the command of the alpha pair! It would be a-"
"There is no pack. Just me and Masaomi." , The shortest of the two said as he stabbed his fork into the salad in the bowl beside his plate. "I won't work with anyone else."
The man looked to Kida to see the older had a fixed look as if telling the scientist that that was final. There would be no one else, but him and Aoba.
"But that's-"
"Let me put it this way. Kuronuma does not play well with others and hardly plays well with me. He's extremely infuriating and there's more than a one hundred percent chance someone would try to rip his head off. If that happened I wouldn't waste one second in killing that someone.", Masaomi said with a silent danger lingering behind his eyes.
Dr. Demyan felt himself wanting to look away from the hard glare and eventually gave in for a moment as he allowed the tension in the room to die down a little bit.
"Understood. A lot of the hybrids at the camp are like you. Groups that have survived together become very attached to one another and often don't want to work with anyone outside of it."
Aoba almost scoffed at the sympathy in the man's voice as if he understood what they were going through. He had no clue at all and it was angering that he thought he did. Noticing the teen's glares, the man let his smile fall until his face took a more serious look.
"The operation is going to be done in a facility in the outskirts of the city that we port in." Cutting to the chase "I need to look you guys over so I can be sure that you guys will survive it."
"I thought it was going to be done at the camp!", Kida suddenly yelled as he bristled, causing the bodies waiting outside the door to shift in preparation to rush in if things went bad."
"It was originally scheduled to be done in the camp, but there's no time. It would take too long and we have to have you two healed, tested, trained, and ready for the battlefield as soon as possible. Russia needs reinforcement on the Chinese border. Their forces are pushing through and they aim to conquer the Siberian wilderness for resources."
Kuronuma was silent as he felt himself begin to tremble slightly. Even if they survived the operation, they were just going to be thrown into battle to die there.
"Will we be going into the operation as soon as we get there or will we be given a little time to regain our strength?", the teen asked evenly, but with much effort.
"I fought extremely hard to give you at least the rest of today to do that. I tried to give you a full day, but they wouldn't allow it. They are pushing the other future hybrids this way too and trying to double the speed in which we can get them out into the playing field.", Dr. Demyan sighed as he folded his hands and brought them to his lips. "The good news is that you won't be moving from the base until you are completely recovered from the operation and we know that your shifting abilities aren't flawed."
Masaomi pushed away his empty plate as he felt his stomach flop. The teen prayed he could hold his meal in as he tried to keep his breath steady.
"What are our chances of making it through the procedure?"
"Well we can figure that out as soon as you let me have a look at you.", the man said simply as he stood up. "It should only take a second to tell."
The blonde immediately felt intimidated by the man standing so suddenly, so he stood too. Dr. Demyan was quick in his evaluation of him, lifting up his shirt to see how much meat he had on him, prodding at his stomach for abnormalities, and pulling at loose skin to see how dehydrated he was. Kuronuma was silent during this as he sat tense in his chair, watching and dreading his turn. When it was time for him to be looked over as well, Aoba stood slowly; not wanting to be touched in the least.
Masaomi noticed the other's clear unease, but stayed where he was. This was entirely necessary no matter how much they both disliked it. The raven gasped when a hand found his stomach and began to press lightly. The man's hand was intensely cold and Aoba had to wrench his eyes away from the man in order to keep himself from slapping his hand away. Dr. Demyan spent a longer time looking him over than he did Kida. Making him open his mouth, looking at his very visibly bruised throat, and even checking his wrist.
"Your neck should heal in a week, but no doubt it's hard to swallow. Your wrist should heal in six and since you will be a four-legged animal when in combat, you can't fight until it has fully healed. You two will have more time to adjust to the change since he's hurt and you'll only work with one another.", the man said to the blonde as he took a step back.
"What about our chances?", Kida asked anxiously.
"Nearly a ninety three percent chance of survival for the small one and a ninety six percent chance for you."
"Why are his chances better?", Kuronuma asked as he felt his stomach convulse.
"He's older and his body isn't so small. I have no doubt that you'll survive though if you drink more fluids and eat more while you still have the chance. For the time being, you will be moved to a more suitable quarters after this so you can rest."
Before Aoba or Kida could bombard the man with any more questions, the door to the room burst open.
"Dr. Demyan, an order has come in. Everything is nearly prepared, but you have to tell the other scientists exactly how the equipment must be set up.", an unknown man said in English.
"Well, that is all I wanted to say to you. I have business elsewhere.", the scientist said to the teens as he walked towards the door before turning to the man who'd walked in. "Take them to my quarters, they can have it for the rest of the journey."
Aoba and Kida exchanged a look and followed the man that was to escort them back down the deck without having to be told to. Putting up any sort of a fight right now would land them back in the cargo area with no food or water. If they wanted to survive this, they needed to cooperate for the time being. Kuronuma was extremely troubled about the current turn of events. Originally they were going to have plenty of time to accept what was happening before they had to undergo the change, but now that time was cut down to hardly any time at all. On top of it all, the smaller had a lower chance at surviving than the blonde did.
"Hey.", Kida said as he bumped his side against the raven's own. "Don't shut down yet. There's still a chance."
The younger's eyebrows furrowed as he turned his head away. The blonde's optimism was starting to get on his nerves.
"Even if I don't wind up dying here, I'll just die on the battlefield. I'm starting to think that dying while down under would be better than dying with a bullet in my chest!"
"I told you not to talk like that!", Kida yelled in response, the smaller not even bothering to look at him.
An irritated sigh came from the man escorting them.
"You guys couldn't wait until you got inside Dr. Demyan's room to quarrel?", the soldier said as he pulled out a key to unlock the door to the doctor's quarters.
If looks could kill, then Masaomi would have brutally murdered the taller man in front of him. Usually Aoba would have helped glare at the escort, but he just wanted to get inside as quickly as possible.
"Well. Here you are. We'll be porting in two hours, so don't get too comfortable.", the man said coldly as he pushed the two teens in and quickly shut and locked the door.
Kida scowled hard at the door behind them once he regained his bearings as Kuronuma walked over to the bed to the left of them and fell onto it. The blonde heard the sound of the raven's body hitting the sheets and looked over with a softened look.
"Aoba… I-"
"I don't want to hear it, Masaomi.", The raven's muffled voice said weakly.
"I promised you, didn't I? Sticking by you means more than just hanging around, doesn't it? I won't let anything bad happen to the only person I have left."
Kuronuma chuckled bitterly as he lifted his head a bit, finding a dry humor in the situation.
"You'll have no control over what's going to happen, stupid. You'll be under too."
The older was silent as he watched the the smaller's head fall back into the sheets. His black hair reminded him a little of Mikado sometimes and he found himself wondering where the other teen had wound up. Was he with Sonohara? Had he died in the initial terrorist attack? Now that he thought about it, he hadn't come across or heard about the pure-hearted boy even once during the time he'd spent in Ikebukuro. A guilt surged over the blonde at not having even thought to look for him before, but he pushed it away. It didn't matter anymore. He had to stay in the present; he'd promised.
"Masaomi?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you not fear death at all?", the teen asked as Kida gravitated towards the bed.
"Of course I do. Every living thing fears death in one small part of their mind.", Masaomi said as he plopped onto the bed face up and hands behind his head beside the self-pitying raven.
The warmth and presence of the taller teen was instantly calming as Aoba felt exhaustion wash over him. It felt like it had been years since he'd last been able to lay down on something so comfortable. The bed was mediocre at best, but to Kuronuma it was the most luxurious bed he'd ever had the chance to lay upon. Folding his arms in front of him, the teen laid his head on them; his face facing towards Kida as he pressed his nose into the crook of his elbow. He was about to close his eyes when he noticed that Masaomi was looking down at him with a slight frown on his face.
"What?"
"I wish we had more time until we ported, you seriously look like shit."
Aoba glared at the older teen.
"Gee, thanks."
"You know what I mean, Idiot.", the blonde said as he focused his gaze up on the ceiling. "You look like you haven't slept well in a year."
"You don't look too good yourself.", Aoba stated with closed eyes.
"Only because making sure you don't get murdered by either Egor or Varona is exhausting work.", Kida retorted, only earning a scoff in response.
After that, there was an easy silence. The rocking of the ship was pulling the teens into a deep sleep, one that Kida tried desperately to fight. He couldn't afford to let his guard down when their operation was a few hours away from happening. The older teen sighed and moved his eyes towards the other again. He was already almost out judging by how his face was beginning to slowly relax. The blonde wondered for a moment whether or not he should stay up and keep watch, but decided against it. God knew he needed the rest just as much as Aoba did. With his mind made up, Masaomi let his eyes slowly fall closed.
"Wake up! It's time to get off now!", the gruff voice of the captain yelled as he burst inside the room.
Kuronuma let out a long whine as Kida hissed at his muscle's screaming protest at any sort of movement. Aoba rose slowly and stretched his aching muscles as he looked at the blonde to see that he was getting up as well.
"Masaomi, it's time to go.", The raven said tiredly as he lightly shook the taller.
The blonde groaned and turned his head over to the other side. With an irritated sigh, Aoba took hold of one of Kida's sleeves and tugged him forward with all the effort of a demanding dog. The taller was heavy and the smaller wasn't able to pull him completely into a sitting position, but the rough jostling of the action was enough to get his point across.
"Mmkay, Aoba! I'm getting up."
Masaomi stood on stiff legs as his squinting eyes looked over to the door to find, in place of the captain, a tall and lanky figure standing there patiently. The little raven had just noticed the man too and was staring at the figure with a faltering glare. He was still extremely wary of the assassin that could have easily taken his life only a day before.
"It's been awhile, eh Volk?", the man said as his eyes squinted slightly with a smile behind his bandages.
Kida was silent as Aoba felt the hair on the back of his neck rise when blue eyes rested on him.
"I heard you and pipsqueak over here were pretty stifling at the meeting.", the Russian said as his eyes drifted away and to the world outside of the quarters.
Kuronuma bristled at the pet name he'd been given, but didn't voice his agitation.
"He needed to be shut down before he got any weird ideas.", Masaomi said simply as he walked towards the door, followed closely by the raven.
"What did he suggest that set you two off?", the assassin asked as he walked with them towards solid land.
"He wanted us to be an alpha pair for a future wolf pack fighting unit.", Aoba spat with disgust as the man looked over to him curiously.
It was the first time the raven had spoken directly to him.
"Alpha?", the Russian responded without missing a beat "That would not have worked out anyways since you are no alpha, Pipsqueak, that is certain."
"You just pull the strings from behind the scenes while you play the part of the wolf in sheep's clothing, like the man named Orihara Izaya."
Kuronuma huffed irritatedly as he walked past them and onto the beach at a brisk pace.
"Don't compare me to him.", Aoba said lowly as he walked towards where was beckoning them to.
Kida watched him go silently, his eyes taking in his disheveled, horrible bed hair.
"You sure have your hands full. He does not look easy to keep under control.", Egor commented as he watched the raven in question move away from the doctor's arms whom was attempting to give him one last look over.
"I don't ever control him. He listens only because he wants to.", the blonde shrugged as both males reached within earshot distance of Dr. Demyan and Aoba.
"-check your condition one more time! It's crucial!"
"You've checked me already and only about two hours ago.", Aoba coolly stated as he turned to look at Egor.0 Masaomi immediately came to the raven's side as the assassin walked towards the professor.
"When will the jeep be arriving?", the Russian asked as his eyes scanned the horizon.
"Any moment now.", the doctor replied. "Are you still acting as an escort and chaperone for these two?"
There was a nod of affirmative from the taller man as the sound of footsteps approached the group.
"Egor."
The man turned to see Dennis and Simon standing behind him.
"We are being moved to the guard unit and Varona to the infiltration unit."
"I see. Go well, brothers.", the bandaged man said with a quick duck of his head.
"Likewise, Brother, Go well.", Dennis responded as both him and Simon ducked their heads in answer.
After the quick exchange of words, the pair turned and walked towards a waiting jeep. Varona was watching them leave as well as she stood among a group of people who looked to be waiting for a different jeep to turn up. Turning back to their small group, Egor let his eyes rest on the two teens. They were standing side by side, Kida looking off towards where kept staring while Kuronuma observed Russian assassin carefully.
"You seem to have your eyes on me a lot, pipsqueak.", the man said with a bored tone.
"I could say the same to you.", the raven answered in reply.
Three sharp beeps from an approaching vehicle pulled both male's attention from one another. The greyish-green jeep that was speeding towards them stopped just in front of them as Professor Demyan moved to go climb into the front seat.
"You're late!", the man exclaimed as he sat down. "We still have to get them washed up and sedated!"
The assassin beside the pair moved to get into the back, placing himself smack dab in the middle of the backseat. He had purposely made it so that the two had to sit away from each other, most likely so that they didn't correlate with one another to jump from the open-door vehicle or something.
"Get in.", the Russian ordered as both teens reluctantly did as they were told.
With Aoba to the man's right and Kida to the man's left, the vehicle sped away from the ship and toward the tree line of a green forest. They both hoped that they didn't have to go too far and that terrain wouldn't be too uneven, so they wouldn't fall out. It occurred to the teens that Egor may have situated himself in the middle only so he was the least at risk of the three of them. Kuronuma rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the man's presence, but irritatingly, with every movement, the bandaged man beside him bumped against his side.
"How long will it take to reach the base?", Aoba asked the bandaged man beside him.
"Only about ten minutes.", the Russian replied as he tugged at the bandages wrapped around his face.
"Can I ask you a question?", Kuronuma asked, making the assassin turn his attention to him.
"Depends on what you are asking."
"...Why are you wearing bandages?"
The Russian man paused for a moment and averted his eyes in thought.
"I was injured very badly and I had to keep them on for awhile. I think I should be fine now, but I am not sure what my face looks like at the moment."
"Just take them off then. It's irritating how secretive you're being.", the Raven stated as he looked out of the open door and at the trees whizzing by.
There was a long pause, before slight shuffling could be heard. Both Masaomi and Aoba turned quickly to see that the man was beginning to remove his bandages. The teen's exchanged a quick look of surprise and shock as they waited with baited breath to see how mauled the Russian's face was. When the white strips were peeled away, there was another bout of shock. There were no scars or bruises anywhere in sight.
His skin looked smooth, soft, and fair as if he'd never even had a blemish there at any point in his life. He had a very defined chin and jaw along with strong cheek bones. His nose was small and refined, and his eyebrows were hidden under his dirty blonde hair. Intense blue eyes looked at the two curiously as they gawked at him.
"Is it bad?", he chuckled flashing a half-smile that showed white teeth.
"No. I'm disappointed.", Aoba grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest and glared pointedly out the door.
"You're face looks fine, more than fine. You don't even have any chipped teeth!", Masaomi ranted irritatedly. "I thought that at least you'd be hideous and old if anything!"
"I guess I should have kept the bandages on, seeing that you two won't even look me in the face anymore.", the man said with his half-smile still in place.
Kida rolled his eyes. The Russian seemed like a cocky asshole now that they could see that when he teased them or said something smart, he had that devilish smile on his face.
"So much for being scary and mysterious. Now that you took the bandages off, you don't have the power to invoke nightmares. Well maybe you do, but not the kind you want.", Kuronuma said coldly. "Don't try to put them back on now though, the effect is long gone."
The assassin sighed deeply. He'd managed to make the pair despise him even more just by taking his itchy bandages off. He'd been hoping that they'd relax more around him and even be a little trusting, but it had the complete opposite effect. The Russian had been assigned just last night by the higher-ups to train them. It was not something he really wanted to do since both of them were so difficult, but he needed to get paid. Now he was faced with the task of getting in their good graces or else teaching them anything would be impossible.
"Look! You can see the facility in the distance!", suddenly exclaimed from the front seat as he pointed at a hill they were racing towards.
Masaomi and Kuronuma's eyes flicked upwards to see a large, dull-looking building at the top of a large hill with winding roads leading up to it. Kida swallowed. This was really happening. They were closing in on their last few moments of either being alive or being normals. Brown eyes sought out for the raven's own as they used each other for strength. The chance that one of them could die was scarier than the chance that both of them would. One would be left alone with no one else to trust or confide in and it would most likely destroy them.
"Have more faith. Nothing is written in stone yet.", Egor said as he leaned back in the seat, attracting the teens's attention for a moment.
Kuronuma forced himself to relax after that. He was wearing his emotions on his face a little too clearly for comfort. The teen needed to pull himself together enough to put up a front because he sure as hell wasn't going to go out looking like a sniveling kid in his last moments. Kida was taken aback at first when Aoba's demeanor changed from completely terrified to an eerie calm, but he knew the raven well enough to know he was simply trying to hold himself together and hide his fear.
The assassin noticed the teen's calm and also noticed how his facade served to calm Masaomi down as well. As the Russian looked at the raven, he vaguely thought that maybe Kuronuma would be a good alpha. The teen certainly had the ability to dictate people's moods, which would be helpful in stressful or tight situations. Though that might not matter a few hours from now, Egor found it hard to believe that the smaller might not make it through this. The pipsqueak had an air about him that made him seem like he could survive anything, like he could find a way to quickly adjust and keep moving forward.
"When we get there, you guys need to hurry and hop in the shower. Everything is already set up.", Professor Demyan said as he turned to look at them for a moment.
The doctor locked eyes with each teen in turn, trying to stress that he had their best interest in mind and that they shouldn't worry. This did nothing to ease Kuronuma's nerves in the least. Aoba was having a literal panic attack on the inside and he felt just about close to tears. Of course he wouldn't allow himself such weakness, especially since their captors were in the jeep and it wasn't just him and Masaomi. Because his body had no other way to let some of the tension out, the little teen was becoming so tight strung that he was shaking violently and uncontrollably. The tremors had not slipped past the Russian assassin and Kuronuma cursed his body for such a betrayal on its part. The man looked at him intensely as the raven refused to look back up at him. He must look like a kicked puppy and that was the most pathetic thing he could imagine. A little pup with a defeated look on its face and its tail between its legs huddled in the corner and hoping that nothing more would happen to him.
As they turned in to the winding roads leading up to the facility, the teen would have just gone ahead and acted like the cornered little animal he was just then if it weren't for Masaomi's presence. Oh how he would've kicked and fought and screamed and cried and punched and scratched and bit and pinched. He would have fought tooth and nail to get away, but abandoning Kida was something he couldn't do. He couldn't stand the thought of being completely alone, out in the forest with no way home. Still, that didn't stop his anxiety and fear from growing. Even if he wasn't alone, his heart still thrummed against his chest so hard he thought it'd eventually burst. Shaking hands gripped the seat to steady the raven's body as his breath came out in short inaudible huffs that eventually escalated to very audible gasps. Aoba's vision blurred as he felt himself teetering from side to side, his breathing had already alerted everyone in the jeep and he could feel everyone's eyes on him.
He vaguely heard distant voices talking to him in panicky voices, but he paid them no mind. The raven was already lost in his whirling thoughts as the edges of his eyes began to turn a dark black. Soon the beautiful black nothingness would consume him and that would most likely be the last thing he'd see. Surprisingly, he was okay with that. Kuronuma was okay with the thought of going out without seeing any of the horrors that were sure to come. As he felt himself slowly began to fade further and further into his own mind, Aoba felt hands on his shoulders, shaking him insistently and making his head jerk back and forth roughly. The white noise that had surrounded him was slowly falling away as the voices in the jeep began to fade in before it hit him at a blaring volume.
"-ba! Aoba! Look at me, you asshole!"
The raven looked at the blonde wearily as his breath began to slowly steady. The taller teen had switched places with Egor and was now seated beside the smaller with his intense eyes looking straight into his own.
"Just calm down…Breathe. It'll be okay, Aoba.", Kida murmured softly as he tried to rub some warmth into the smaller's arms.
Kuronuma slowly felt his breath return to normal as his grip on the seat loosened. His shaking refused to cease though as he felt so out of it that he let Masaomi continue to coddle him.
"Thank god…", said with a relieved sigh as they pulled up to the big building.
Aoba felt completely exhausted at this point. He had no more energy at all and he felt as though he were about to lose the rich meal he'd had only two and a half hours before. He was dead to what was happening around him and hardly registered the assassin and doctor getting out of the jeep.
"Can you walk, Aoba?", Kida asked as he looked at the daunting building.
Kuronuma nodded, not trusting his own voice as he slid out of the jeep on wobbly legs. Masaomi followed after him closely, ready to offer a shoulder if it was needed as led the way to the entrance. The man was already blabbing away as he quickly showed his identification card to the guards and was allowed to walk right in.
"I'll show you to the showers, but mind you, you need to be VERY quick!", the man exclaimed as his uppity voice echoed down the white halls. "Oh, I'm just so ecstatic!"
Kida felt disgust wash over him at that as he minded the teen beside him who was slowly but surely finding his feet again. The blonde already didn't like the look of the place, it was so..well white. The floors were white tile, the walls were painted eggshell white, and the majority of the furniture was white as well. By the look of distaste on Egor's face, Masaomi was able to deduct that the assassin wasn't a fan of all the white either.
"The shower room is thankfully on the first floor and just down the hall.", the professor continued as he led them down said long hallway that branched out to many others.
The place was a damn labyrinth and Masaomi saw that there was no chance of them making it far if they did ever decide to make a run for it. Beside him, Aoba was finally back from the dead as he began to take in the details of the place. His eyes darted around quickly as if taking note and filing all the information he'd gathered so far into a neat file. Kida wished he could have some faith in the fact that Kuronuma was an escape artist, but they wouldn't be here long enough for the teen to find out key things like guard changes and secret passageways.
"In here.", said as he opened a door to the right of them. "Once you guys are done washing up, you'll be taken to the third floor for the operation."
With that said, the professor nodded to the Russian assassin and walked briskly towards the elevator at the end of the hall. Both teen's watched as the man pressed the button up and the elevator door open immediately. They would have probably watched said doors close had Egor not said anything.
"You heard him before, didn't you? Be quick.", the dirty blonde man said as he opened up the shower room door wider. "The scientists have many other things to do today and being behind even one minute is a major drawback."
Masaomi and Kuronuma didn't have to be told twice. God knew when the last time they had access to a warm shower was. Kida stripped quickly as he threw his clothes into the corner of the white room and walked over to one of the shower heads that were lined up on the wall. The blonde shuddered when the warm water spurted out of the shower head and onto his back, the heat loosening his tight muscles in just seconds. Meanwhile, Aoba stood awkwardly to the side, his eyes averted from the other out of courtesy as the taller ran his hands through his hair.
"Are you going to get in, or what?", Kida asked as he looked at the raven with a slight frown.
The teen nodded, still not in the mood to speak as he slowly undressed himself. Masaomi turned back to the direction he was facing before as to not be seen as a pervert or something. When he was stark naked, Kuronuma walked to the showerhead beside Kida. He turned on the water and hoped that the blonde wouldn't look too closely at him. Kuronuma hadn't showered or changed in front of anyone since he was around four or five because of certain circumstances. Because he led such a secretive life, he avoided undressing in front of other people. People tended to be nosy or ask too many questions about something they had no business poking their nose into.
Dirt and grime fell away as both boys diligently washed themselves clean. It felt as though pounds upon pounds of dirt were being washed down the drain. The teens were almost finished now and Masaomi was busy washing between his legs while Aoba struggled to wash his back. He tried and tried to reach on his own, but without a shower sponge it was a useless battle. The blonde didn't notice his struggles at first, but he did notice when the smaller let out a frustrated huff.
"Here, I'll help.", Kida said as he moved to go give the raven a hand.
"No!", Kuronuma said too quickly and too loudly as he took a step back. "...It's fine. I can do it on my own."
Masaomi blinked in surprise at the small outburst as a look of confusion crossed his features.
"Aoba, there's no way you can do it on your own.", the blonde finally sighed irritatedly, " Stop being stubborn and let me help."
Without waiting for the other to reply, Kida turned the smaller's body so that his back was facing him and grabbed the soap bar from the other's hands. Masaomi quickly soaped up the expanse of Kuronuma's back as the teen stood where he was, tense and silent. The blonde assumed that the smaller was feeling agitated and indignant, so he didn't speak on it. He was not in the mood to play petty games with Aoba at the moment. Once he'd finished washing the younger's back, he pushed the raven forward so that the water would run down and wash the suds away. And that's when he saw them. Light, long scars ran down the expanse of Aoba's back; crisscrossing in some areas and zig zagging in others due to the scars overlapping. Kuronuma remained silent as Masaomi pursed his lips into a thin line. So many questions were lingering on the end of the blonde's tongue, but this wasn't the time to ask them.
"Done.", Kida said simply as he stepped back and walked towards the table behind them containing towels and pale blue clothes. "We need to hurry up and get back out before Egor comes in to get us."
"Yeah.", Kuronuma murmured as he turned off both his and Masaomi's showerheads.
Aoba then turned and walked over cautiously, expecting the other to throw some questions at him. Instead of what he was expecting, the raven got a towel thrown at him as Kida moved the towel in his blonde locks to dry them. Kuronuma frowned as he stood there with the white towel in his arms.
"You're not going to ask?", the underclassmen asked as he began to dry himself off.
"About what?", the blonde responded as he dried off his back.
"Don't play stupid with me, Masaomi.", Aoba hissed. "You know what I'm talking about."
"No.", Kida replied as he threw his towel to the side. " I figured that if you wanted me to know about it, you'd tell me."
Kuronuma went silent after that as he threw his towel to the side too and walked over to put on the thin cotton pants and shirt that they'd been provided with. Masaomi had finished dressing already, but waited until the smaller was finished before he pushed open the door to leave.
"What do we do with our clothes?", the blonde asked the assassin once he'd stepped out.
"Leave them.", the Russian said simply. "The maids will come by, clean them, and then return them to you."
Without another word the man turned and walked towards the elevator, the teens following behind a bit. This time, when the button up was pressed, the elevator took longer to open than it had when had pressed it. Kida began to get antsy after waiting for a minute or so and had just started shifting foot to foot when the elevator door opened. The Russian assassin quickly stepped in and Kida and Aoba piled in quickly, sensing the urgency in the taller's demeanor. The ride up was dead silent, as was the trek to the lab. Kuronuma felt close to another panic attack as he began to feel cagey and this time he wasn't alone in this feeling. Masaomi was feeling the same as they reached a door at the end of the hall on the third floor. The dirty blonde escorting them knocked on the door with three sharp raps, resulting in the door flinging open as if it had been kicked inwards.
A man speaking fast Russian literally jumped out at them, talking in a loud tone as he spoke quickly to Egor and then herded the two confused teens inside. The assassin let out a sigh as he followed after the two he was now responsible for until their training was complete. The Russian scientist was currently getting short with the two Japanese boys as they tried their hardest to understand what it was that he was asking them. The dirty blonde cleared his throat to earn the man's attention as he said a few quick words to him, explaining that they didn't speak any Russian. The scientist nodded and rudely demanded that Egor quickly translate for them. The assassin had worked with enough irritating clients to not be fazed by this in the least.
"He wants you to step on the scale. One at a time.", the man explained to the still confused teens.
Both nodded as Kida, being the bolder of the two, stepped forward to allow the man to take down his weight. The scientist quickly shooed Masaomi off afterwards as he then pointed to Kuronuma to come up and let him take down his weight. Next, they were ushered towards a wall with a tick marked sheet on it. The man took down their height and then they were collected by a man who spoke Korean. This time Egor could do nothing to help them as the man led them to another room and gave them a standard checkup, ending with him drawing blood from them. They knew bits and pieces of what the man had told them, so they got along well enough without the assassin's help. Now, the three of them sat in silence again after the dizzying events that had taken place. They thought that they'd be sitting there for a good hour or so like they usually had to when they went to the doctors' office, but they weren't left alone for longer than five minutes before a familiar face arrived with two needles filled with a clear liquid and another two filled with a green see-through liquid.
"Hello again!", greeted as he saw the exhausted looks on the two teen's faces. "You two got the 'all clear' from , so now we're all set to put you two to sleep."
They hadn't really had a chance to think about what was happening what with how fast everything was moving, but now their fear and anxiety hit them like a ton of bricks. Professor Demyan was oblivious to this as he continued talking as always.
"The team had a major breakthrough in my absence! They figured out how to transfer the artificial dna into your own without causing any major problems to arise!", the man exclaimed while Aoba and Kida looked at the man in confusion.
"You see…", the man said as he put down the needles. " It is important that we replace dna that accounts for the presence of, let's say blonde hair, with artificial dna that accounts for the same thing or else problems could occur. It's a whole lot of mixing and matching with the artificial wolf dna and human dna."
"Before we had to do this manually, which was dangerous and required us to open you up and operate for extended periods of time, but now we have something that will make your chance of survival up to nearly a one hundred percent chance! One of the scientists got their hands on a way to make an artificial RNA polymerase to do the transcriptions for us!"
The teen's eyes widened to the size of dish plates as they looked at the man in shock. They were going to be able to walk out of this alive! They didn't have to worry about the chance that one or both of them wouldn't make it! Sensing the relief in the air, the man added one last important key thing.
"Ah, but let's not get carried away. There's still a chance that your body will reject the artificial dna and enzymes.", the man said with a serious frown.
Aoba and Kida's bright smiles fell immediately as despair filled their very beings.
"Why wouldn't you just tell us the bad news first and then the good news?", Kuromuna said irritatedly as the emotional rollercoaster he was going on continued.
"I was sandwiching it. Good news, bad news, and then good news again.", the scientist replied.
"So then, what's the good news?", Masaomi asked as his eyes showed just how extremely hopeful he was.
"Well, I'm glad you asked! The good news is that the chances of that happening is extremely slim! Also we don't have to operate!", exclaimed.
Kida's smile fell back into place as Aoba was still guarded.
"Then why are you putting us to sleep?", the raven asked.
The scientist turned to get the first needle and then walked over to the demanding, small teen.
"We are putting you to sleep because as the dna is slowly put into place, your body goes into it's first shift from human to wolf. The first time is slow and agonizing, so it's better that you're asleep for this part.", said as he brought the needle up to the small teen's arm and pushed the liquid in before he could protest.
"What's that green stuff?", Kida asked curiously as the doctor moved on to him and pushed liquid into him too.
"The artificial dna and enzymes.", replied, "I'll give them to you as soon as you two are under."
Masaomi nodded dumbly as he felt Aoba slump onto him; out cold. Kida was about to move him to a better position when sleep overtook him as well. As the edges of the taller teen's eyes went black, he made sure to fall back onto the patient's bed so that the two wouldn't plummet to the floor. Egor watched the two silently as the doctor turned and then injected them with the artificial dna.
"How long will the process take?", the assassin asked curiously as he saw the teen's begin to jerk a bit already even though they'd just been given the artificial dna.
"All night.", the doctor replied as he disposed of the needles, "Help me move them to another room, would you?"
-Prologue For Next Chapter-
Izaya woke with a start as he sat up in his sleeping bag. It was night now and nighttime noises could be heard outside of the tent he was sharing with both Kazuki, to his left, and Shizou, to his right. The light stirring of the horses calmed the raven as he let out a shuddery breath and recalled the dream he had just had.
In the beginning of the dream, Orihara had been tied up and in a dark place where he couldn't see anything. Nothing above him and nothing below him. It was dead silent where he was and all that was, was a constant rocking back and forth and the sound of creaking. Then, suddenly, his binds loosened and he ascended up, out of the darkness and into the air where he found himself flying at an extremely fast speed above the sea. The sky was dark and moody and an upcoming storm could be tasted on the wind, but luckily Izaya was moving fast enough to outrun it.
Then, only after a few moments, the raven reached dry land. His flight ended there as he landed facing a tree line that ran along the coast. Tracks from tires littered the sand and led out into the forest. Orihara didn't investigate for long before he teleported to somewhere up high. The coast he'd been on only a split second ago was then behind him and he quickly deducted that he was on a hill. Out of the corner of his eye, the raven saw a sign next to the road leading to where he was. The sign was in Russian, but that wasn't a problem for him since he was fluent in it. Izaya squinted as he read the words "Annuska Research Facility". The name didn't ring any bells for Orihara, so he simply thought to turn away. Before he could get a glimpse of what exactly he was standing in front of, Izaya had woken up.
"What a weird dream…", Izaya sighed as he got up to get some fresh air.
Leaving the tent behind, Orihara walked over to where the horses were tied. Sukeban let out a soft whinny as he approached, alerting the other two that someone was approaching. The palomino mare was more low-energy than usual along with the other two since they were tired. They had travelled nearly all day and had stopped just outside of Toyama. Since both Sukeban and Raiju were Anglos with lots of stamina, they didn't feel the effects of the distance as much as Hizoku did.
"How are you three holding up?", the informant asked in a murmur as he reached out a hand for the mare to push her nose into.
The raven didn't get an answering noise, which he'd somewhat expected, but he did see that Raiju was reaching out for him; which was something he hadn't expected.
"Finally ready to say 'hello'?", Izaya asked as he allowed the powerful stallion to sniff at him curiously.
The raven didn't reach out a hand to pet him, but instead moved to Hizoku to inspect the braids he'd put there at the beginning of the day. Surprisingly, they were still intact. Orihara reached up and began to undo his work, since he'd forgotten to once they'd stopped.
"What are you doing out here, flea?", a deep voice asked tiredly as footsteps approached the four.
"I couldn't sleep.", the informant stated as he didn't bother to turn around to look at Shizou. "Why are you out here?"
"You woke me up and then I couldn't go back to sleep.", Heiwajima said easily as he walked towards Raiju, who was beckoning him over with a toss of his majestic head.
"I would say sorry, but I live to be an inconvenience to you.", Orihara chuckled as he watched the bartender scratch the coal black stallion between his ears.
"I know.", the blonde said as he continued to pet the horse. "I already accepted that your only purpose in life is to destroy mine the day I met you."
Orihara hummed at that as they stood in silence for a long moment. The moon was shining down brightly as a cold chill ran through them. Winter was on the brink of being here and they could feel it hanging heavily in the air.
"Do you know what happened to my brother and Tom-san?", Shizou asked suddenly, breaking the easy silence.
Izaya sighed as he leaned his head back to look up at the stars. The bright lights from far above seemed to show brighter among all the destruction going on.
"I don't even know what happened to Namie.", the informant said distantly as he was brought back to earth by his insistent horse nibbling at his fingers.
Shizou nodded as he thought deeply for a moment. Orihara watched as his hair tossed in the wind. His brown roots were starting to grow in.
"I think we should look for them… or at least find out what happened to them. And Shinra and Celty too.", the bartender said firmly as if hardening his resolve.
"We can't, Shizu-chan.", Izaya said in a firm tone of his own. "We can't go back to look for clues and chances are that the people who DID have any clues as to what had become of them are all gone now."
Heiwajima scowled at the informant as he turned to fully face him.
"So that's it?", he growled. "You're not even going to try!?"
The raven sent the taller man the dirtiest glare he could possibly muster as he stepped back away from Sukeban, who neighed in protest.
"No. I'm not, Shizu-chan. There's a slim to zero chance that we'd be able to find out anything if we went back. The whole city of Ikebukuro is destroyed! Rubble!", Izaya hissed.
"It's better to just leave the past behind and just keep moving forward while we still can instead of going back, pinning on the small chance there is of finding anyone we knew from the city again."
Shizou looked as if he had plenty more to say about the subject, but Izaya turned away from him and away from the campsite.
"Hey! Where are you going?", the blonde asked, not finished with the conversation.
"Away!", the raven replied as he slipped into the darkness of the trees.