Takumi stood transfixed on the edge of the rooftop, attempting to digest what had just happened right before his shocked eyes. Several seconds passed before he even realized that Shinji was beside him.
"Do you think…" Shinji's voice trembled.
Takumi shifted nervously from one foot to the other. "We need to find a way over to that building."
"But…someone could have heard. Perhaps we should go while we have the chance."
Takumi shook his head sharply at his companion. "We cannot abandon Daichi-san, Shinji. We have sworn to follow his lead. We must go after him."
Shinji grunted a curse under his breath. "All right, but I am not going back to that American jail for anyone."
The shadowy figures had to circle two other rooftops to reach the darkened apartment building into which Daichi and the Shitenno had crashed. Takumi had a strong feeling that the structure wasn't inhabited, based on the fact that he couldn't see a single source of light.
But that does not mean that no one nearby heard the commotion. I doubt that we have much time to escape without being seen.
Takumi took the lead scaling down the roof to an overlook, and carefully leaped from one balcony to another. His heart was racing by the time he reached the apartment where the wall had been shattered. Tempered glass crunched under his feet as Takumi hovered at the opening, watching for the other warrior. Shinji was further behind him, and the man looked like he didn't want to take another step.
"Shinji, come," Takumi urged him.
"I don't know, Takumi. That demon is dangerous! You and I are not equipped to deal with it alone."
"You saw what just happened to them!" Takumi was losing patience fast. "The thing is not invincible."
"Nor is Daichi-san," Shinji said tightly. "Takumi, look!"
Takumi turned toward the apartment, following Shinji's gaze to see Daichi's still form lying motionless on the hardwood, adjacent to a large crate. He held his breath as he ventured inside the building, and crouched near the floor to check Daichi's pulse.
"He is alive!" Takumi announced. "Alive, but injured."
Shinji took a few reluctant steps to join him. "What of the demon? I cannot see it."
Takumi rose to his feet slowly, fear surging through his veins. The prospect of facing the enraged demon wasn't something to which he looked forward, but now that they were here, they had little choice. He drew a katana from his side, berating himself as he crept further into the room.
I will be no match for the creature by myself, not unless it is injured like Daichi-san. I can only hope as much.
A brief circuit of the living room revealed nothing, and Takumi found himself wondering if the demon had already fled the scene. Or maybe it waited for us. Perhaps it's preparing to pounce, even as we linger.
Takumi shook off a tremor and forced himself to put one leg in front of the other. He was beginning to wish that he'd never been part of the retrieval team to begin with.
But chasing down Shitenno was not in the job description, he thought inwardly. Daichi-san did not expect such an opportunity, or he would have come more prepared. This does not seem like a fortunate turn from where I am standing. I hope that Daichi-san was not injured too badly. He is all that remains of our connection to Okinawa and what is left of the Akiudo.
The living room led straight into an open kitchen area that faced the same large pane of glass that had been broken. His eyes traveled across the unfinished space, and were drawn to a small island that marked the separation between the rooms.
In the dim light that penetrated the shadows from outdoors, Takumi realized there was a dark stain on the stone surface of the counter. He reached to touch the discoloration curiously, and realized that the substance was still wet.
Blood, no doubt. It was here – it had to be. The question is, did it remain behind?
Takumi gripped the hilt of his blade more tightly as he peered around the island, half expecting the thing to appear out of nowhere to attack him. He only hoped that death at the hands of the Shitenno would come quickly.
Takumi gasped as he located the creature, sprawled on his side upon the kitchen floor, in between the island and the stove. He stared at the demon dully for a few moments, wanting to do nothing more than run away before the thing miraculously recovered.
"Takumi, what are you doing?" Shinji's voice startled him out of his daze.
"I found it!" he answered.
"Does it live?"
Takumi was nervous to find out. He nudged the prone figure lightly with his foot. When the demon didn't respond, he kicked the creature's leg harder. He waited, but when nothing happened, Takumi bent over the demon, his breath hitching from fear.
He could hear the Shitenno breathing, and took silent stock of the nature of the creature's injuries. The man stretched a hand toward the demon's head, raising its chin to get a better look at it.
The sight of the blood trailing from the right side of its head confirmed that the creature wasn't indestructible. Takumi couldn't see very much in the low lighting, but he suspected that the demon had suffered a hard blow from the island.
This does not look good. Daichi-san wanted the creature in one piece, but then he goes and does something like that? How could he have assumed that the cable would support his weight? I have told the others that Daichi-san has some shrewdness, but now I feel like I need to take back my argument.
"Takumi!" Shinji's voice cut in once more. "Does it live, or not?"
Takumi straightened upright. "It lives, Shinji. It is injured too, but I cannot say how badly."
"What are you waiting for? Kill that thing before it kills us!"
Takumi hesitated with his katana, as he considered the action of cutting the creature's throat. His nerves screamed at him to do as his companion had instructed, but still he didn't move.
"I dare not, Shinji," he finally said. "Takashi-sama believes that these demons are possessed by the Shitenno, the Guardian spirits of the Earth. What is going to become of that spirit should I murder his host? We don't even know if the creatures can be killed."
"If it can be injured, surely it can be killed! Stop being superstitious and finish this!"
"Come do it yourself then, if you want it done so badly!" Takumi challenged.
The other man folded his arms angrily, but Takumi noted that he had not moved.
"You are no less afraid of this thing than I am," Takumi proclaimed boldly. There, I said it. Neither of us wants to be anywhere near this demon without Daichi-san to back us up.
"What do you suggest we do?" Shinji demanded.
"I don't know. Daichi-san would wish for us to capture it—" Takumi's statement was cut short by a blaring alarm, which sounded as if it had come from the very next room.
He backpedaled out of the kitchen into the living room with his sword raised defensively, nearly running straight into Shinji.
"What did you do?" Shinji's voice instantly went higher.
"I did nothing! I was only standing there!" Takumi insisted.
The siren faded for a few moments, and he swore he could hear a muffled voice speaking. Takumi backed nearer to the shattered wall. "We must go, now. They know;, someone has to know we are here."
He looked down at Daichi, who had yet to stir. "Shinji, help me with Daichi-san! Neither one of us can carry him far alone."
"What about the demon, Takumi?"
"We cannot concern ourselves with both of them, Shinji! It is one or the other!"
His companion took a shaky breath. "We could not control it. It is too violent—"
"We dare not linger!" Takumi interrupted. "We must flee while there is time. Help me, Shinji!"
The two men lifted Daichi's large form between them, crunching hastily over tempered glass as they hurried outside. Takumi felt a pang of guilt for leaving his leader's prize behind, but he felt a sense of relief too.
He wasn't interested in trying to leap rooftops with the heavy burden in between him and Shinji, so he motioned for the other man to descend. They worked their way down toward the street in silence, but Takumi's mind was reeling.
The demons are too dangerous to take captive. What good has capturing any of them ever done for the Akiudo? We were defeated in their territory, and the gang was defeated once again in Okinawa. Why would Daichi-san expect this time to be any different? All are cursed who touch the Shitenno. It seems Daichi has learned nothing whatsoever from the previous encounters. Takashi-sama's obsession with the demons has nearly driven Daichi-san mad in his quest to catch one.
Takumi had been there the day that Yukiko had proudly returned to their American headquarters with the orange-masked demon, and he'd had his doubts over Takashi's grandiose theories over the strange creatures. He'd been skeptical to see the demons as anything other than animals, until he caught one of them deactivating the detonator that had been set to destroy the Akiudo's compound along with all evidence of their presence.
I knew then that they were more intelligent than I had assumed. The demon did not kill me that day, and I did not kill it tonight. Perhaps the Heavenly Kings will look favorably on me after all.
The sound of sirens in the distance sent chills down Takumi's spine. "Hurry, Shinji!"
They cut through the shadows around the side alley of the building, stopping on the edge of the next street. There were still cars driving by despite the late hour, and Takumi was loathe to allow anyone to see them carrying an injured Daichi. Light rain dotted Takumi's forehead as they considered their next move.
"We cannot stay here," Shinji muttered.
"We cannot risk being seen either," Takumi returned. "We must do our best to hide Daichi-san, at all costs. We had better call for a ride."
"I cannot hear the sirens as well," Shinji noted.
"That is true, but we know an alarm was activated upstairs. Even one patrolman seeing us could prove disastrous," Takumi reminded him.
Shinji examined the building that bordered the other side of the alleyway, and disappeared down a couple of steps that led to another entrance. He reappeared a moment later, pulling himself over the railing.
"We could get into this building, Takumi. There is nothing more than a padlock keeping us from the basement. You could easily pick it without being forced to destroy it."
His gift of breaking and entering quietly had been the reason Takumi had been asked to join the retrieval team to begin with. He left Daichi leaning against the apartment building on the ground, and hurried down the small stairwell to see the situation for himself. He considered the basement door to the attached business, and shook his head.
"We could set off another alarm, Shinji. I think we need to try—"
Takumi's phone buzzed, and he didn't bother finishing what he was going to say.
"Where are you?" Ryozo demanded on the other end. "Daichi-san gave us explicit directions, and now we cannot raise him—"
"Things changed," Takumi snapped. "We need to be picked up at another location. I am sending you the coordinates through my phone. You must hurry – Daichi-san is hurt, and we are in danger of discovery."
Takumi hung up the phone, and found Shinji staring in another direction.
"I think he moved, Takumi!"
Takumi strode up the steps in time to see Daichi raise his head. The stubborn ox of a man appeared determined to get up immediately, and Takumi rushed to his aid.
"Easy, Daichi-san, you are hurt!"
"I can get up," he growled in response. "What happened? Where are we?"
"We are trying to escape," Takumi replied. "There was an alarm after you came through the window of that building. The authorities will be coming!"
Daichi took another moment to breathe deeply, before standing on his own. Aside from several small gashes from the tempered glass and an obvious bump on his head, it didn't appear that his movement was greatly hindered. Taking a step proved more problematic. Daichi swayed dangerously.
"You are going to have to help me," he told the others. "What of the demon?"
"He got away," Takumi lied quickly, giving Shinji an imperceptible nod. "By the time we reached you, the demon was gone."
Daichi's cry of indignation was too loud for Takumi's comfort level.
I am becoming less fond of this man by the second.
"How could you let him get away? He must have been injured too. And why is it raining? All the reports said the bad weather was supposed to stay to our North." Daichi fumed.
I suppose he wants to blame us for the weather too, Takumi thought bitterly. "We had to find another way over to the building, Daichi-san, there was not direct access…"
"Excuses. We had the demon, I was so close!"
At Shinji's nervous look, Takumi nodded again. "We need to move, Daichi-san."
"We must go before Takashi-sama learns of my failure," Daichi slurred.
"Takashi-sama does not know of the demon," Takumi reminded the dazed man. "We may have lost the Shitenno, but we still have Brandon James."
A wicked smile appeared on Daichi's face. "We do," he said with satisfaction. "The plan can still proceed. All is not lost."
Takumi shook his head as they supported Daichi out of the alley. The man could almost stand alone, but appeared drunk when he tried to walk.
"Keep your head down, Daichi-san," Takumi told him. With any luck, no one will have reason to suspect he is anything but intoxicated, he added inwardly.
"The others are coming to get us," he informed Daichi.
"They should be here already; I should not have to wait for them."
"No, Daichi-san," Takumi said, more patiently than he really felt. I don't believe I agreed to follow this buffoon of a man. Yukiko-san and Takashi-sama cannot come soon enough.
*HA! You thought you knew where I was going with Donny, didn't you? Even if you have past experience with the Akiudo, it's not going to help you this time. Though, all things considered...Donatello might have been better off if those idiots had taken him. I realize that makes no sense now, but it will.