Chapter 20: Devil Be Gone!

Kazuya couldn't quite believe it—Jun was there. He hadn't asked just why this was so if Jin, as far as he knew, had not told her where he had run off to. He didn't care either way. For one reason or another, she had decided to grace him with her presence. She didn't exactly seem pleased to see him even if she could force a smile or two in his direction. Kazuya knew from yesterday that she had not forgiven him, that even if he had apologized it would amount to nothing. She was here because she had to be. When he questioned her as to why that was so, she wouldn't divulge him. It had been more than he deserved. He tried not to capture her gaze as he was sure that she tried to do the same thing, but the room was so cursed small. Sure, it was bigger than the hotel had been, but this place seemed so much smaller. Her presence filled the room as it usually did—at least where he was concerned—it was difficult to avoid her completely.

But there was always Jin always wanting his attention and always with a question. Kazuya would look at him and see a near mirror reflection of himself. If he stared long enough, he could also see Jun's subtle features—the way that he smiled for one thing and he seemed to do that more often than not in his presence. And he was what Jun would call optimistic—what Kazuya would call naïve. Kazuya wondered if it was due to his upbringing or whether he was simply predisposed. There was no way to tell.

Jin usually sat near him, but Jun sat so far away and out of hand's reach. She didn't want to be touched. He could tell that instantly. Her expression when she wasn't trying to force a smile for Jin's benefit was guarded. He wondered how she would ever trust him again—she had no cause to. In fact, never in a million years did he think he'd have to see her again not after all he had done. It gave him comfort to think that she was alive somewhere perhaps even happy and that she wasn't alone. He had not planned to confront her about it nor even to see if she was doing alright. She was simply not in his life anymore and he expected to keep it that way. Not this. Was he expected to work things out with her? Kazuya glanced over at Jin. Of course, the brat thought it was possible, but it wasn't his forte. What was he to say? What could he really do? He couldn't take back his actions and really didn't feel like apologizing—that wasn't his way either. Then what? Romantic dinner? That would be trying too hard. He'd never done as much before. In fact, their entire relationship was untraditional. He supposed there had been dates, but he wasn't sure what they were. There were simply times that they connected at a deeper level. Such times couldn't exactly be planned even if he had tried to do as much in the beginning. Simply being in one's presence was enough. It was strange and not something that could be easily repeated or repaired for that matter.

Kazuya heard as Jin stood up from his chair perhaps to get some fresh air. This time, however, it was simply to use the bathroom. When Jin wasn't there to watch them, their expressions became far less practiced. Kazuya's neutral expression wasn't quite so neutral and Jun wore an openly irritated look.

"Kazuya, there's something I need to tell you. I suppose you're strong enough now," Jun said as she stood up and approached his bed.

She was closer than usual now and Kazuya looked up at her steadily.

"When you were revived, your soul was fractured as well. While Jin had run off on his ridiculous journey…"

Kazuya realized that he was no longer listening even as he looked at her. Her voice sounded strange and faraway as if he was listening to her across a loud stream. Not that he heard rushing water in his ears. He couldn't quite place what he heard, but it was draining out her voice and he soon wore a confused expression. Wrong move as her expression changed from annoyed to angry in a second. "Are you even listening?" he read from her lips—he couldn't make out what she was saying otherwise. And then there was that splitting headache, the one that he felt at that second, the very second where she spun on her heal and stormed out of the room. He did hear the door crashing shut like a deep and terrible thunder. BANG! He even flinched from the very sound—it did wonders for his headache. It was far more excruciating than he had expected, unnatural even. He placed the soft part of his hand on his forehead as if it would do anything—it was simply a force of habit. He clenched his eyes shut for good measure. Even the light began to bother him.

He heard as the door to the bathroom opened. Oh, yes, there was Jin and he must have heard the slamming door. He wondered if he had imagined it louder than it really was. He couldn't be sure.

"Dad! What happened? Why did she just—

"I don't feel like going through one of your childish interrogations. Leave me alone—go bother that mother of yours."

Jin must have been able to hear the underlying threat in his tone because he was instantly scrambling out the door. Kazuya was soon left to himself. It took a long while, but soon the headache subsided. He was able to open his eyes and the room wasn't so bright anymore.

He had been sitting up and was deliberating whether he should just lie back down or not when the door to his room opened. The first thing he saw was Jun and Jin tailed her.

"Sorry," Jun said quickly. He noticed as she gave Jin a side glance. They must have been discussing him again—it was quite obvious. Kazuya didn't even bother looking Jin's way. At the moment, only Jin could speak with Jun without her flying off the handle—he was just a little jealous of this fact. "I'll start over again. Your soul, Kazuya, it was fractured…"

The same phenomenon occurred again but this time the onset was instant. Jun must have known that he was no longer listening because she came quite close to him—he could practically feel her breathing—but she didn't seem to be looking at him but something else. He felt as she placed her hands on the sides of his face as if he needed to be forced to look at her. The lights overhead were distracting. He wanted to at least shield his eyes, but he couldn't quite do it at this point not in the position that Jun had him and he did not resist her. He ignored the headache since he had such a view of her face. She was just as lovely as she had been before. Sure, there may have been some stress lines, but that was to be expected.

"Kazuya!" he heard her shout from what sounded like across a baseball field.

Why did he have to concentrate so hard just to hear her? She was right there in front of him only inches away.

"Kazuya, I need you to answer this one question—that's all you have to do. I want to help you—will you accept my help?"

"Yes, of course," he said without hesitation. Saying no, seemed like a foolhardy thing to do. Besides he had said 'no' all those years ago and he hadn't gotten very far. He had solved nothing. Perhaps he might try something different now.

"Good," Jun replied with the beginnings of a smile—not a forced one, but one far more genuine. "Then brace yourself."

Her voice barely got through to him and he had no idea what she was talking about. He remembered she had spoken of a fractured soul, but could she really be talking of him? Was she being literal? He saw her looking at something, speaking to someone else, but it hadn't been Jin. Before he could question the scene before him, he began to feel as if he was sinking. It was that same sinking feeling he felt whenever Devil exerted its force over him. He didn't feel as if he was in a bed at all, but that somehow he was simply sinking into some dark abyss. He did close his eyes and bend over for good measure as the pain increased twofold and the lights began stinging his eye sockets. He couldn't see anything—he didn't want to see anything. He felt a hand, Jun's hand pressing against his chest indicating that he should sit back so he did. And then as if at the snap of a finger, his entire body felt like it was on fire so much so that he chanced opening his eyes. The stinging pain of the lights was the least of his problems as he peered down. Nothing out of the ordinary. There was just Jun beside his bed with her arms stretched out, the flat of her hand hovering above. Her eyes were closed deep in concentration. He had no idea what she was doing, but he was sure it was connected with the pain he felt then—the one he couldn't ignore, the very same one he cried out from. But he trusted her. If this was punishment, then so be it.

He hadn't realized that he had been crying out or thrashing about in his bed. His eyes were closed again—the lights becoming too much for him. He felt himself sinking further and further into oblivion. He knew that he could not have been—his mind knew that he was still in the hospital, but what he felt was completely different. As he usually did when he found himself in great pain—he would separate himself from it. He pretended as if he was somewhere else, anywhere else that wasn't here at this moment. But he was jolted away from his ruminations when he felt something that was akin to being ripped in half. It was a startling kind of pain—the kind that he didn't think existed. It wasn't just physical pain, it was something much deeper—a wound he hadn't known was there. Whatever Jun was doing he just wished it would be over soon. He wondered how much more of it he could bear. Then it no longer felt like ripping, more like a shovel digging into earth, himself being the earth. His mind couldn't even begin to comprehend what trauma he felt. All he could do was let it happen. He did not struggle against it, but his body reacted to it—thrashing and convulsing.

He thought he could hear Jun's voice so he concentrated on it. He didn't quite understand what she was saying but it was comforting nonetheless; like water to a thirsty man. He felt as slowly the agonizing pain began to subside. Little by little he began to regain his senses. That wound he hadn't known was there felt as if it was mending similar to a missing tooth growing back after it was snatched out. Her voice became clearer.

"It's over now, Kazuya. I'm so sorry. I wish I could have helped you sooner, but Devil put up quite a fight. I used some of your life energy—you'll be lethargic for quite some time because of it. But your immediate wounds will mend soon enough."

Kazuya took a chance and opened his eyes. The severity of the lights had died down once again and he could see Jun quite clearly looking down at him. She seemed relieved. He couldn't think of what to say at that moment; his mind completely numb. He couldn't think of anything meaningful and wind up replying simply: "Yeah, okay…" But it must have been the two magic words because her face brightened twofold into a smile—a real smile, the one that could brighten his day without any effort. It embarrassed him how easily she could affect him. She bent down, kissed him briefly on the forehead and gave him a warm embrace. When he tried to return it, he found that he couldn't move at all.

"You'll be alright, okay," she whispered in his ear. "Time heals all things."

/

Jin had watched the entire thing with shock, horror, and then relief. After Jun had stormed out the room, he had caught back up to her and pleaded that she reconsidered her actions. He reminded her of Devil's presence. He told her about the time he had questioned Kazuya about the tournament and how Kazuya couldn't quite figure out just who had called it—him or some other thing. The point being, Kazuya was far more confused than he was letting on. That had been enough. Jun knew Kazuya—he didn't like to admit things about himself that would make others think him weak. In fact, he'd die before doing as much. Jun had run back along with Jin chastising to herself out loud that she should have known better. She should have known that something was wrong.

Jun explained to Jin what she had to do. First she had to separate Kazuya and the invading spirit. Then she had to insert the two soul fragments, one at a time. All of it would be painful beyond belief, but there would be nothing she could do for it. She had to do it and Kazuya had to be able to handle it. Jin hadn't thought it would get as bad as it did. He could still hear his father's cries until his voice had become hoarse with overuse. Jun had locked the door to keep out the doctors and nurses. It was a good thing she had. Jin hadn't been able to see anything as his mother commented on her progress. He had seen no evil spirit or soul fragments. All he could see and hear was his father. He was glad when it was over.

As he looked down at his father, well-sweated, he saw that he had fallen asleep. He knew he was asleep and not unconscious as his breathing became deeper, not shallow as it had been before. Jin looked to his mother who had taken the seat that he usually sat in next to his father. For all that had taken place, it must not have taken much out of her. Jun looked up when she felt Jin's gaze.

"Sorry I put you through all of that. I probably should have told you to leave."

"No, it's fine," Jin said. "Just a bit…startling."

"Believe it or not, it was new for me as well. I've never…dealt with something at that caliber."

"You mean you do this kind of thing all the time?" Jin asked incredulously.

Jun shook her head. "No, I used to before, but I wanted to do something more with my life. I come from a family that's a bit…strange. We have a history of being 'highly spiritual'. We can see things that others can't. I'm just glad my abilities allowed me to do this. If only I had known sooner…but then, I wasn't especially open about myself when it came to these kinds of things. It's…well personal. He must have thought…there was nothing in this world that could really help him so he decided that isolation would be the lesser of the two evils. All of this, such a big misunderstanding." Jun found that she was rambling, but Jin didn't seem to mind. He seemed to be all ears. "Oh, nevermind all of that. Let's let those overanxious nurses in."

Jin had disregarded all the ruckus at the locked door, but he noticed it all again as Jun calmly opened the door to let them in. Jin glanced back at his father snoring lightly now—could this be the breakthrough he had been waiting for? Was it possible for his family to become whole once again? Jin had always thought the answer yes, but now he could be certain of it.

/

AN: A new beginning? Perhaps.