A/N: Personally, I really loved writing this chapter, because there is a particular scene I was dying to write. It will be very important in the (much) later parts of this story, so I hope it's memorable enough, haha.
Thank you to everyone who is reading/favouriting/following/reviewing this fic! :)
April 16, 2013
Beep... Beep... Beep...
That was the first thing Souji and Yosuke heard upon reaching Mika's ward located on the third floor in Ikebukuro Hospital.
While hearing such a stable heart rate was comforting, seeing the state the brunette was in was a completely different matter.
Her neck was elaborately wrapped with a bandage, which must've had been changed recently as blood was beginning to seep through and stain the white fabric. The blood loss from the Slasher attack had left Mika deathly pale; her lips were parched and cracked; her fingernails, chipped; and her hair, dishevelled.
There was an oxygen mask strapped over the lower half of her face, which was slightly contorted in pain from the wound she had received. Mika's breaths were also short and irregular, as though she were clinging onto the very last bit of her life remaining in her fragile body.
Yosuke squirmed. "Is...is she even conscious right now...?" He directed his attention to the ground. "I mean, that...that wound looks brutal. A-and dude, she's so pale if I compare it to a blank piece of paper I can't tell the difference."
Souji could only nod stiffly. While he, along with Yosuke, had grown used to seeing a wide spectrum of injuries thanks to his experience in the TV world, it was still unsettling to see someone wounded this badly. Additionally, wounds that were inflicted in the Shadows' realm could be healed instantly using the power of Personas. The same, however, could not be said of those inflicted while in the human world.
And unfortunately, Mika's slashed throat belonged to the latter.
"...Ngh...!"
Mika's heart rate suddenly flew into a frenzy.
Souji and Yosuke quickly went to her bedside and called for the nurse, but could otherwise do nothing except watch the brunette gasp for air and writhe in pain. They heard the door behind them slide open and the footsteps of the nurse rushing in. Stepping aside, the pair kept on looking as the nurse tended to the patient.
"I'm sorry, please leave the room for now." They did just that without any hesitation.
The moment they left the ward, they noticed a familiar bespectacled girl sitting right outside the room with her hands folded in her lap. She seemed to have heard the door being closed as she glanced up, and was mildly surprised to see the two of them.
"Um... Seta-san and Hanamura-san...right?" the girl asked as she rose from her seat, her voice barely above a whisper. With the corridor being fairly empty save for the three of them, Souji and Yosuke could hear her clearly.
"Oh, yeah," Yosuke responded. "We seem to bump into each other a lot, huh? Come to think of it...we never did ask for your name, did we?"
Although Yosuke had turned to Souji for an answer, the girl shook her head. "Um, it's...Sonohara Anri."
"Ah, thanks. So, erm, is it okay if to call you Sonohara-chan?"
Anri nodded silently.
"You're Harima-chan's friend, right? Did you come visit her?"
"Y-yes..." Anri replied shakily, but didn't reveal much more, leaving Souji and Yosuke to wonder which question she intended to answer. "And, um, Seta-san and Hanamura-san came here to visit Harima-san, too?"
"Oh, yeah," said Yosuke. "Actually, I was thinking about apologising to her tomorrow for what happened earlier, but then I heard she got attacked by the Slasher, so..."
"Oh... W-where did you hear it from?"
"Uh..." Yosuke had considered telling the shy girl about Naoto, but he didn't want to complicate matters for the detective since she wasn't supposed to disclose information so casually. So instead, he said, "A friend told us about it."
It wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't close enough to the truth, either. Sonohara probably realised that somehow, because she didn't look too convinced by his vague answer. "A...'friend'...?"
"Yes, a friend." Souji decided to play along. "She knows quite a bit about what's going on in Ikebukuro."
"Kinda like a rumourmonger! Yup!" Yosuke nearly winced at his own blatant lie. He could imagine Naoto, looking none too pleased, checking the barrel of her gun, if she were to ever hear him call her that, and fervently hoped that she would never have to find out.
The pleasant smile on Souji's face was both reassuring and frightening at the same time.
"I see..." Sonohara trailed off, looking lost in her own thoughts. Then, she suddenly lifted her head up, making eye contact with the two older males. "Um, in any case, thank you for coming to visit Harima-san. A-and to apologise to her. I...I think she understands."
"It's no problem, Sonohara-chan." Yosuke paused. "I'm actually thinking about coming again on another day... You know, to apologise to her properly in person. I don't think she's in any condition right now to get pissed just at the sight of me, huh?"
"That's..." Anri tore her eyes away and stared at the ground again.
It didn't take long for Yosuke to fully register the implications of what he just said.
'...Oh shit.'
"I-I didn't mean anything bad by that! I mean, I'm sure Harima-chan is perfectly fine! Right, Souji?"
The silver-haired adolescent nodded readily. "It's just as Yosuke said, Sonohara. I'm certain that Harima is going to be all right."
"Y-yeah, exactly! Sorry for making you worried for no reason."
"It's okay..." Still, she did not lift her eyes from the floor.
Yosuke winced, and decided to leave the talking to Souji instead. "Well," the silver-haired undergraduate said, "I think it's best if we don't see Harima today and come back when Harima is more comfortable with our presence. But, are you gonna be okay by yourself here? It's really late now, I don't think you should stay here alone."
"I'll be fine," Anri answered softly. The pair casted her looks of disbelief. Sensing their doubt, she glanced up to face them directly. "R...really. Um, a friend will be coming to send me home, so..."
"I see... Alright then. Take care, Sonohara."
"Y...yeah, take care, Sonohara-chan."
Souji and Yosuke bid their farewells, then turned in the direction of the elevator. They walked off, leaving the shy girl standing alone in the corridor.
When they reached the parking area of the hospital, Souji and Yosuke noticed a motorcycle parked near their own bikes.
It was sleek and beautiful, painted in nothing but black, barely noticeable against the night backdrop. What stood out more, though, had been the lack of headlights and a licence plate.
Not having either was already a violation of traffic regulations. Not having both was worse.
Not wanting to be mistaken as its owner, the pair hastily rode their bikes and left the area.
The late, rainy Ikebukuro night had little cars and just as many people wandering around. It made travelling on the road much easier, but still, as they departed from the hospital, Souji and Yosuke kept at a steady pace with each other on the road.
They travelled deeper into the night, their surroundings slowly dimming as they passed by South Ikebukuro Park and reached an empty road junction where the traffic light flashed red. The pair stopped, and waited.
Suddenly the hairs on the back of Souji's neck were raised. Warily he stole a glance at the window attached to his scooter, but saw not a single soul behind them. It did nothing to tone down his now alert senses and the plethora of voices starting to murmur in the recesses of his mind, however.
"Yosuke," he whispered, knowing that even with his scooter's engine running, the brunet could still hear him. "No, don't turn to face me. Just listen."
Yosuke silently obeyed.
"We're being followed." His best friend took a sharp breath, but did not forget the warning, and focused on looking ahead. "I don't see anyone behind us, but I can't ignore this feeling... So we're not going back to the apartment, just to be safe. When the light turns green, follow my lead. I'll try to shake them off."
The brunet resisted the urge to nod, and remained perfectly still. Souji said nothing more about the visibly non-existent stalker behind them, and waited patiently for the signal to move on ahead.
When the signal finally came, Souji drove off. Yosuke trailed behind him. Neither could hear if there was indeed another vehicle following them, but the ominous feeling of being watched lingered in Souji's senses.
They kept moving further and further away from their apartment, going in all sorts of directions so as to throw their pursuer off. Even when they reached the more crowded roads of Ikebukuro, however, they still couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that someone was hot on their trail.
It was like encountering the Shadows that flashed crimson, the sort that screamed "I'll haunt you wherever you go". Sometimes the team might be strong enough to face these Shadows head-on; other times, they had to run away from the monstrosities as if evading a plague.
Those Shadows were as every bit as dangerous and ferocious as they seemed. They wouldn't give up once they landed their glowing scarlet eyes on a potential prey, and keep pursuing, and pursuing...
Yosuke shuddered at the thought. He hoped that whatever was following them would be different and give up soon; the tendons and muscles in his legs were beginning to protest after pedalling for a distance that they were not conditioned for.
Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky.
That was when the pair was reminded of the fact that time was inching closer towards midnight.
Souji quickly glanced at his wristwatch. It read 9.50pm. His eyes narrowed slightly.
While there was still some time left before midnight, Souji knew that it wouldn't do either of them any good to stay out in the rain for too long. He had to get this invisible stalker off their trail as soon as possible.
They reached yet another traffic light junction, at the transition from the dull yellow light to the red one. With no other way to avoid it, they stopped where they were, making sure not to look over their shoulders.
Yosuke took this moment to switch his riding hand, the umbrella clumsily rocking back and forth as he did so.
"Hey, Souji," the brunet started while he steadied himself on his bicycle. Souji stayed still and listened intently. "We can't keep up like this. At this rate, we won't be able to make it back home at all unless we pass out on the street from exhaustion."
"I know," Souji whispered back. "But I can't find a way to shake them off."
Yosuke groaned. "There has to be something-ohh, wait... We can stop by a convenience store, right? I mean, whoever is following us just wants to know where we live, right? Or attack us in our apartment... A-anyway, they're following us for some whacky reason. So maybe if we buy some stuff and make it look like there're people other than us in the apartment..."
"...Ahh." Souji gave it some consideration. Yosuke's suggestion did make sense. If they could give their pursuer the impression that they had people over, or the idea that they were going to somebody else's apartment for a gathering, that would defeat the pursuer's purpose for following them around. "You're right. Let's head over to the nearest convenience store, then."
The moment the traffic light turned green, Souji led the way to the nearest convenience store, ready to put Yosuke's plan in action. They parked their bikes in the designated lots and entered the brightly-lit store, where they were greeted by an array of goods and an enthusiastic, long brown-haired cashier standing behind the cash register.
They spent a few minutes pretending that they were choosing between particular snacks and drinks while eyeing the entrance of the store. The feeling that they were being watched gradually died away.
Holding onto a bunch of snacks, Yosuke leaned sideways, closer towards Souji, and asked in a low murmur, "Doesn't seem like that guy's around anymore."
"Yeah..." came the soft reply from the silver-haired adolescent looking between the two different types of drinks in his hands. "But we still have to be careful. Let's wait for a while longer first."
They remained in the store for a few more minutes. Souji periodically checked his watch. He felt his body relaxing as time went by, and the voices of his Personas had quietened down, too.
Concluding that their stalker had given up, the pair heaved a sigh of relief. Yosuke placed the snacks back in their original positions, and Souji then handed him one of the drinks he was holding onto, which Yosuke accepted with a thanks. They headed towards the cashier to pay for their respective purchase.
"That will be 160 yen, please!" the cashier chimed.
Souji reached into his pocket to grab his wallet, and opened it up to take out some coins. He mentally calculated the sum of the coins' value. When it was just right, he flashed a smile of gratitude at the cashier for her patience and laid the coins down onto the small blue tray at the counter. As he was about to withdraw his hand, fingers that were not his own wrapped around his wrist.
'-Eh?'
"You..."
The silver-haired adolescent looked up sharply. It had been the cashier's hand grasping his in a death grip, and the cashier's voice he just heard. Her eyes were glowing red, and the edges of her lips had curled into a deranged smile.
"You...you're them..."
Souji struggled to get himself free with Yosuke's aid, but to no avail.
The cashier giggled, removing a penknife from the stationery holder behind her.
"I won't let you get away..."
"What the hell is-"
She made a clean slice across Yosuke's left arm.
"Yosuke!" Souji cried out, watching helplessly as his best friend gave a yelp and cradled his arm. Crimson liquid trickled down his arm and dripped onto the tiled flooring. Souji glared at the cashier.
"I won't let you get away," the lady repeated, continuously rocking her head side-to-side as if she were in a trance. She raised the penknife, its blade stained with Yosuke's fresh blood, and brought it down.
Souji made a quick leap backwards, and the cashier accidentally cut herself instead. Surprised at the younger male's swift movements, she released her grip. Souji didn't waste any time in sprinting out of the store, making sure that Yosuke was following him.
"Wha-what the hell was that?!" Yosuke gasped, bringing his injured arm closer to his chest. "Shit, there's no way I can ride my bike like this...!"
"You'll have to sit with me," Souji said firmly as he handed his friend a spare helmet. The brunet was about to protest but Souji didn't give him that luxury. "No, Yosuke. I know it's illegal, but we don't have a choice."
Before Yosuke could reply, unfamiliar voices cut in. The words they spoke sent chills down Souji and Yosuke's spines.
"It's them...it's them..."
"Yes, it's them..."
"We must not let them get away..."
"Cut them...cut cut cut..."
The pair whipped around, and saw, to their horror, people whose eyes flashed crimson slowly being drawn to them like moths to a flame. There were people from all walks of life - students, businessmen, office ladies, even housewives - beginning to surround them. Psychotic grins were plastered on the strangers' faces as they inched closer.
Souji inwardly reminded himself to stay calm. "Yosuke, come on, we can-"
He was suddenly shoved onto the middle of the road, his scooter kicked away and far from his reach.
Yosuke, too, was forced to join him there not long after.
They were completely surrounded, with no possible path for them to escape.
"Cannot run away..."
"Now we can cut..."
"Cut until there's nothing left..."
With a violent shiver, Yosuke crumpled onto the ground. Souji instantly knelt down beside him. "P...partner...what should we do...?"
The silver-haired adolescent looked up, staring into the gleaming scarlet orbs that were dancing in delight. Determinedly, he raised himself to his feet, standing firm before the bloodthirsty crowd. "Who exactly are you?"
The entranced people refused to answer.
Souji frowned. "Why are you after us?"
He heard zombie-like groans, but no clear reply.
The leader of the Investigation Team remained unperturbed. "All this talk about us being 'them'... What do you mean by that?"
The people surrounding them suddenly stiffened. Then, the entire crowd drawled, "You are them... They are you... That is why we must cut..."
"...I'm afraid I don't-urgh!"
"Souji!"
Souji immediately placed a hand on his back, cringing as he made a swift turn to face his attacker who stared at him blankly with those hollow crimson eyes. It was the cashier from earlier, swaying as if she were listening to the beat of a silent song, seemingly unaffected by the stab wound in her arm.
Despite applying pressure to his wound, Souji could feel the warm liquid flowing out from his back. Still, he kept his gaze on the red-eyed crowd.
Yosuke brought himself to his feet shakily. "Are...are you okay, partner?"
"I'm fine... How about you?"
"Ugh...just swell." The brunet was still cradling his arm, though not as tightly as he did before.
The hypnotised crowd started to cause an uproar.
"They are still here..."
"Monsters...inhuman..."
"Don't get in the way of our love..."
They closed in on the injured pair, holding up all of the weapons they had in their possession. Most of them were fruit knives, some had kitchen knives, scissors, even pens and pencils...anything sharp and capable of cutting through human flesh was there.
And they were out for Souji and Yosuke's blood.
The brunet couldn't help but gulp. "S...Souji..."
The silver-haired adolescent closed his eyes. He hadn't realised that he was breathing heavily from the stinging pain his back had to endure. "We...need to...get away from here..."
"B-but how? Fight our way out? Dude, these aren't Shadows, we can't just-oh crap!"
Just as the blades were about to rain upon them, Yosuke pushed Souji down, away from the impact, while he himself barely dodged by falling to the ground. It resulted in the knives, coming from all directions, slicing through air instead.
While Yosuke's quick instincts had saved Souji from being ripped apart, shoving him down had caused an even deeper tear in his wound. The grey-haired adolescent bit back a groan as he applied more pressure to his wound.
"Sh-shit, shit, I'm sorry, Souji, I-I didn't mean to, I was just-"
The brunet felt his heart twist into a knot when he saw Souji's blood dye the rainwater a dull shade of red; against the road surface, it looked like a thin layer of maroon oil that had formed where Souji lied. Yosuke bit his lower lip, clutching onto his injured arm more tightly than before.
Moaning, the crowd raised their knives again, the gleam of the blades catching Yosuke's attention. He took in a sharp breath, watching the people around them bring the knives down, and then he closed his eyes, expecting a world of pain and blood the next time he opened them.
-Clang!...
Then all was silent.
Not a single person in the crowd spoke. The sound of the rain descending from the skies had been muted. Not even the sound of Souji's strained breaths reached his ears.
It was cold and quiet, yet there was this strange feeling of familiar warmth wrapped around him. And even though everything before him was dark, somehow Yosuke could see a dim, blue light. He briefly wondered if that was people normally called "the light at the end of a tunnel", the sure sign that a person was about to step over a line they could never cross again.
'...Ahh, I must have died already... Quick and painless, huh? Heh...'
Yosuke slowly let out the breath he had been holding in.
"..."
'Wait did I just-'
Without any second thoughts, Yosuke inhaled. The smell of rain and iron filled his nostrils.
His eyes snapped open, and his arms fell to his sides.
The rain was getting heavier steadily; a flash of lightning, and a clap of thunder followed. It pelted against the ground like hailstones in the harshest of winters.
The crowd was still there, their eyes still glazed over and glowing scarlet. Souji was still lying next to him and pressing onto his wound, though no longer panting like before.
"Yosuke..." Souji muttered, pushing himself with one hand to sit upright. "Look...above us..."
Dazed, Yosuke tilted his head back. Immediately he understood what Souji had meant, and his eyes widened at the sight.
Hovering above him was Susano-O, using the blades protruding from his neck and the large disc spinning around him to block the incoming attack. Next to him was Izanagi, who was using his naginata to protect the pair from the knives, which looked miniscule compared to the Personas' weapons.
"H...how? Why? This..."
"...I don't know." Despite sounding composed, Souji himself was just as astounded and confused as Yosuke was.
The people around them released a feral growl, and started to murmur among themselves.
"It's them, it's them...!"
"Kill them...kill them now!"
Detecting their animosity, Susano-O spun around and snapped his fingers, letting loose a gust of wind strong enough to blow the crowd off their feet. Izanagi took this opportunity to strike at them with his naginata, making neat slices across their bodies. They drew no blood.
Then, as if knowing that their job was done, the Personas faded away, the pale blue glow emanating from their bodies disappearing along with them.
Trembling, Yosuke got up to his feet, and looked around him. The people who desperately tried to cut them earlier were all strewn around the street, unconscious but clearly alive. "Our Personas...attacked them without us telling them to...? And...they're not hurt...? What the hell is going on?"
"I wish I-ngh..."
"Whoa, take it easy, partner!" The brunet knelt down beside his friend, who had tried to stand but ended up falling back to the ground when the pain erupted from the laceration on his back. "Okay hold on, I'll get Susano-O out here to heal you."
Wincing, Souji nodded. Yosuke then closed his eyes, his expression peaceful as he nudged his other self. The apparition once again manifested itself before the pair and held out a gloved hand directly above Souji's wound, pouring life into it.
But the god of storms that resided in Yosuke's heart was not Amaterasu or Kamui; all he had at his disposal was a Diarama, and there was only so much he could do with a less effective healing spell. Still, it did its job nicely.
"At least the bleeding's stopped," Yosuke commented while Susano-O faded away after healing up his own wound. "But we should get you to a doctor, just in case. Can't risk it tearing apart again."
"...Yeah..." Souji quietly sighed as he slowly got to his feet with Yosuke's support.
"Um, what do we do about...?"
The silver-haired adolescent glanced at his surroundings. "Call the ambulance, perhaps?"
Yosuke held back a laugh. "Man, they're gonna flip. I mean, this looks like some kind of mass fainting phenomenon or something."
Souji smiled at that. It did have a rather amusing ring to it.
With his friend's arm draped over his shoulder - their positions now a complete reversal of the incident at lunch two days prior - Yosuke took out his phone and keyed in the number for the ambulance. Just as he was about to dial the number, something that vaguely sounded like a horse's neigh from the distance distracted him.
She was sending Anri home when the girl suddenly gasped and nearly fell off her motorcycle.
The dangerous movement had caused the rider to panic and stop by the pavement. She asked after the girl's well-being, to which Anri insisted that she was perfectly fine. But something still seemed off, so the woman tried again, and Anri finally admitted it.
"...Something's wrong with Saika." That was what the bespectacled Raira Academy student had said.
After dropping Anri off at her apartment, Celty went in the direction of where a group of Saika's children had supposedly gathered. Anri said, a bit fearfully, that when she was still waiting outside Mika's ward, she had requested for them to keep an eye on two young men who just left the hospital, but for some reason, they suddenly started attacking them instead and weren't responding for her calls to stop.
That came as a shock to the Dullahan. Something like that had never happened before. She couldn't even begin to imagine just how terrifying it must be for Anri; first the Slasher slitting Mika's throat, and now Saika's children wouldn't listen to Anri's orders? It was frightening. Horrifying, even.
A flash of light interrupted her thoughts. Celty pulled her motorbike to a stop, and turned to face where the light had come from.
'...? That's the place Anri-chan...'
Without further contemplation, the Headless Rider took off, her motorcycle letting out a ghostly neigh as she drove towards her destination.
Upon her arrival, what she saw completely took her by surprise.
She had to twist and turn in order to avoid the people lying scattered all over the place before she could finally reach the two young men standing near the pavement. One was wearing a black jacket over a white turtleneck; the other had a pale pink shirt and a white coat on.
As she approached them, Celty noticed that the one in the black jacket had his arm over his companion's shoulder, and said companion's coat sleeve was ripped and stained with blood. She tensed at the sight, and hurriedly moved closer before she stopped right in front of them.
The brown-haired one jumped a little, which caused the grey-haired one to flinch.
Quickly she removed her PDA from her rider suit sleeve. [Are you two all right? Are you hurt anywhere?]
When neither gave her a reply - instead they settled for a perplexed expression - Celty erased the previous message and she tapped on the screen again before she showed it to the boys. [Sorry, I heard about what happened and I was worried that someone got hurt, so I came here to take a look...] Tap tap tap. [I don't mean any harm.]
That didn't stop them from staring, though.
Celty's shoulders sunk. What could she be doing wrong?
She typed out another message. [Um, it looks like you got caught up in that mess, so if you'd like, I can take you to the hospital to have your wounds treated.]
The brown-haired boy's eyes sparkled when he saw that. "Woah, for reals?"
Celty nearly heaved a sigh of relief, but the other boy was whispering something into his friend's ear; maybe he was still suspicious of her. But to her surprise, once he was done, the silver-haired boy flashed her a small, trusting smile, while the brown-haired one's jaw dropped.
"Thank you very much for the kind offer," the smiling boy said, "but we don't want to trouble you. Our injuries really aren't that major."
Celty would have none of that. [Oh, no, it's okay, really.]
He didn't seem willing to comply, however, and insisted that they could make it to the hospital by themselves. But the Dullahan didn't quite like the idea of leaving two injured boys alone by themselves in the depths of the night, especially when it was storming out, so she quickly thought of an alternative.
[No, it just doesn't feel right to leave you like this... How about I take you to a doctor I know instead? He's not too far from here, just along the Kawagoe Highway.] As she held up the device to display the text, Celty pointed to her right. After a moment, she returned to tapping on the screen. [Really, it's no trouble at all.]
The grey-haired one really was quite obstinate, Celty had to admit, but after a bit more coaxing on her end, he finally relented and took up on her offer. Part of her wanted to leap into the air in joy at her success.
"Uh," the one in the white coat spoke, "what about the people lying around here? Should I still call the ambulance?"
The empty helmet nodded.
"R-right, so, um..." He got down to dialling the number, fumbling with his phone while he did so. It was strange to see him so nervous all of a sudden.
Then she heard the grey-haired one chuckle. "Please don't take it to heart. He's just surprised to see you for the first time since moving here."
Celty couldn't help but tilt her helmet to one side innocently.
"Ah, well... You're the Headless Rider, after all...right?"
He was sitting by himself on the couch, watching the Ikebukuro Night Special when he heard the door click open.
Immediately the man in the lab coat hopped to his feet and skipped towards the entrance where a woman in a black rider suit was standing.
"Celty~ You're home~ Ohh, it was so cold and lonely by myself on the bed without you there to warm it u-ow ow ow that hurts, Celty, ow!"
Despite being in pain, the man was still wearing an affectionate smile on his face as he addressed his beloved and rubbed the area on his stomach that met with Celty's fist.
"...Hm?" He readjusted his glasses as he looked over the Dullahan's shoulder. There were two people by the doorway, one person's arm over another's shoulder, struggling with the simple act of removing their shoes. "Why are there two young men behind you, Celty?"
[They're injured. I brought them here for you to treat them.]
"Oh, how kind and compassionate you are, my dear!" Celty did not seem to be in the mood for his usual compliments, so he cleared his throat and continued, "But, well...wouldn't it be better for them to go to a hospital for that?"
[Huh? Don't you treat injuries?]
"No, no, it's not that... Ah, well. Since they're here anyway, I guess I'll take a look at them."
As if on cue, the two adolescents stepped onto the raised platform and entered the doctor's apartment. The man gave them a welcoming gesture as they slowly made their way towards him. "Come in, come in," he said, showing them the way to the couch in his living room. "I'm Kishitani Shinra. Oh, do have a seat."
"Thanks..." the brown-haired adolescent replied, carefully setting his companion down on the couch before he sat down himself.
The other looked like he was wincing, but the moment his facial features showed the slightest bit of discomfort, it was gone as quickly as it came. Shinra had seen many patients like him in his years of experience as an underground doctor, but to have someone that young...
"Sorry for intruding," the grey-haired teen added, breaking Shinra's chain of thought.
The doctor smiled. "Not at all, not at all. So, where exactly are you injured?"
"Oh, actually he's the one who needs it more than I do-what?" The brunet had muttered the last word rather harshly when his friend elbowed him in the side. Then they engaged in some sort of whispered bickering which Shinra thought was rather endearing.
"Yeah, well, anyway." The brunet had the last word in that short-lived argument, it seemed. "Sorry about that, um... Could you have a look at this guy's back? We got ambushed by some people with knives and one of them cut it open."
"Hmm..."
Shinra put on his surgical gloves as he walked to the rear of the sofa. He requested for the silver-haired adolescent to remove his turtleneck and bend forward, and carefully analysed the slash wound on the younger male's back when he did.
'Ahh, interesting... Very interesting indeed...'
"Okay," the underground doctor announced while the teen sat back upright, "thankfully it's not too bad, but you'll need some stitches to close it up. Just need to ask some questions before we go into that. Are you allergic to anaesthesia?" His patient shook his head. "And your last tetanus shot? When was it?"
"Two years ago," the adolescent replied readily.
"Alright then. I'll go prepare the room for you, so in the meantime, try not to move around too much lest you end up aggravating your wound."
The pair thanked him, and then Shinra turned towards the room which served as a makeshift OR. He saw Celty waiting for him at its entrance. "Ohh Celty! Are you that raring to go? Just a moment, dear, we'll have the whole apartment to ourselves soon!"
Instead of responding to that, Celty dragged him to the adjacent room and closed the door, then typed out a message using the laptop she had brought in. [Those boys were attacked by people who are possessed by Saika. But I asked them about it and they said they didn't hear a voice when they got cut.]
"...Huh." That certainly made the entire premise even more interesting.
[Are you sure they're all right? This is Saika, after all.]
"Oh, they're perfectly fine. Both physically and mentally," Shinra said reassuringly. "Though that's exactly why I'm surprised."
[What do you mean?]
"Well, most people would be shaken up after such an ordeal, right? But neither of them is showing any signs of that. I also noticed that the one with brown hair had his arm slashed, but he doesn't seem to be in pain at all. And the one with a slashed back is recovering extremely well... A little too well, if you ask me. Lacerations like that don't heal so quickly, after all."
Celty mulled over his words for a moment before she typed out her response. [Are you saying that they're not...]
"Who knows? But from what I've seen and what you've told me, that does seem very likely."
[I don't sense anything peculiar about them, though.]
Shinra hummed thoughtfully. "Then, maybe they're just like Shizuo...kun..." As if he had just made a ground-breaking discovery, Shinra flapped his arms around gleefully. "That's it! They must be just like Shizuo-kun! Humans with extraordinary bodies! Yes! Oh Celty, you're amazing!"
[H-huh? But, I didn't do anything...]
"No, no, your observations were what helped me form my hypothesis! You deserve all the credit, my dear!" Then his eyes softened, his demeanour calm and composed, and said wholeheartedly, "I mean it, Celty. You really are amazing."
The Dullahan looked away and raised her hand to the side of the helmet, as if feeling her missing head blush in response to her beloved's praises.
Perhaps she might have been imagining it, but her helmet felt warm to the touch.
Shinra smiled knowingly.