A/N: I'm sorry this is a little late guys, hopefully the update is well worth the wait to y'all! Thanks so much for all your support so far :D
The following morning is when things start getting interesting. It's a welcomed change for me since there's no way I can survive very long and boring days like yesterday for god knows how long.
It starts when I open my eyes to find that Yukio is already up. That in itself isn't surprising since he's always been a naturally early riser but this morning is different.
Yukio is propped up against his pillows fully dressed with damp hair from a shower but he's hunched over his open hands with the most broken expression I've ever seen. Disgust, anger, fear all play out across his features that aren't hidden behind his hair and glasses.
I don't have to wonder for long what's caused this because I notice Sheimi sitting at the end of his bed with Kuro curled up in her lap. For a moment I'm really excited to see her, I was really worried when she didn't come by yesterday despite what the others said. I look her over to try and find a reason for why she was gone but she looks fine save for a worried expression on her face and a hand gently rubbing her neck. She pulls her hand back a bit, revealing the colorful hand shaped bruise wrapping around her slender neck. The colors are more vibrant then I remember against her pale skin.
It takes me a second to realize what's going on. Oh, right, duh. I was wondering when this was going to happen.
Yukio hunches forward more and chokes out "I'm so sorry."
Sheimi heaves a sigh like he's said that many times already. She drops the hand on her neck and places it on his knee. "Yuki really, it's fine. It wasn't you that did it, I don't blame you at all. I was trying to bring you back and I got hurt because of what I did."
Yukio finally looks up at her. He's not crying or anything but I can see how hurt he is. "It doesn't matter!" He hisses. "If I'd been stronger this wouldn't have happened! None of this would have happened!" He throws his hands out and I'm pretty sure that last part is directed at me.
The following silence is only broken by the continuous soft beeping from the machines I'm attached to.
"Geeze will you give it a rest already?" Izumo's voice cuts through the room like a knife somewhere behind me. "It wasn't you that hurt her and you can keep going through ifs, ands, or buts all you want but in the end what happened, happened. Moriyama doesn't blame you or anything, just accept that already."
Good old Izumo, I really do like that bluntness.
"Izumo! You'll wake up Rin!" Sheimi whispers franticly.
"He's been up for a while." I hear her casually turn a page. How the heck did she know I'm awake? I have my back to her!
Yukio and Sheimi turn their gazes to me and all I can do is offer a weak smile to confirm that yes, I had been up for a while.
Sheimi moves like she's about to say something, probably ask for me to agree with her but the door opens. I look as best as I can but since the door is beyond the foot of my bed so it isn't much. Kuro jumps from Sheimi's lap to my bed and returns to his usual spot by my belly. He doesn't lay down all the way though, he keeps his head up and alert for the newcomers.
After a second two nurses that have come in several times before and someone new come into my line of sight. He stands out a lot simply because he's not wearing scrubs or even a white coat. Instead, he's dressed in sharply pressed black pants and a dark red button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The exposed skin is bronzed from what must be a lifetime out in the sun and stretched over enormous forearms. I examine him further and notice broad shoulders stretching his shirt. Is this guy a body builder or something in his free time? It sure seems that way since he's built like a tank. I look up at his face and feel a chill run down my spine. He's got shaggy blonde hair and a scruffy looking beard which ordinarily I'd attribute to a laid back dude, but the moment I study his face is when that thought goes out the window. His eyes are a bright, piercing, and calculating blue that make me feel small and exposed. The age lines and wrinkles around his eyes and forehead make him look like he's constantly scowling which does not ease that feeling. Kuro also growls softly next to me.
He takes a step in front of the two nurses and clasps his hands together. "Misters Okumura and friends I assume?"
He doesn't speak loudly but his deep baritone still seems to echo through the room. He doesn't give us a chance to respond either. "My name is Dr. Noah Thompson, I'm an Upper First Class Exorcist from the Queensland branch in Australia."
Well that explains the weird accent.
He holds out his hand to one of the nurses and she places a black binder in it. "I've been summoned here to oversee your care since there's such little understanding of demon biology. I run a research facility dedicated to that so I'm the most qualified for this."
Well that makes sense but this guy still creeps me out.
He flips open the binder and starts going through the pages. "I won't bother going over all of this with you but I will say I would like to start with an MRI. We'll do this without contrast since I've found that demon bodies metabolize the dye too fast but it'll still give us a better idea of what's going on with that kidney." He pulls a pen out of his breast pocket and starts writing in the binder.
…Huh? Most of that went right over my head, were those really words?
"Yukio Okumura, would you be willing to do an MRI as well for comparison?" Dr. Thompson doesn't look up from writing. "It may not be necessary but it would be for the best to be safe."
"Um, of course I don't mind."
Somehow it sounded like he wasn't really giving Yukio a choice.
"Very good." He clicks his pen closed before sticking it back in his pocket. He passes a paper to one of the nurses and the binder to the other before heading out the door. "One of you sheilas scrounge up a machine, I'll be back after bumming a fag."
Ok he's definitely speaking another language and judging by the confused look shared by the lingering nurses, no one understood that last bit.
"Well he was interesting." Izumo mutters after the door clicks shut behind the nurses. I can hear her typing out a text message on her phone.
"Yeah…interesting." Sheimi agrees.
I don't like him…Kuro's ears are pulled back and he's still glaring at the door. Well great, as if I didn't have enough to worry about.
The rest of the morning is not pleasant. The two nurses from earlier come to get me less than an hour later by wheeling my whole bed to a room on the first floor. This machine is a hulking beast that fills most of the space but that's not the worst part. This thing is LOUD.
They give me headphones to try and muffle the sounds but they don't do much. For an hour I lay in that thing just wanting all the knocking, buzzing, and beeping to stop. When they pull me out my ears are ringing and a migraine is starting. At least this can't get any worse, right?
Wrong.
Dr. Thompson doesn't even let me rest to alleviate the migraine before pushing me into an x-ray room. They take pictures of every square inch they can before pushing me into a lab. It just keeps going from there, room after room, test after test. Vision, dental, blood draws, cheek swabs, blood pressure, something with a million wires that examines my heart, every part of me imaginable gets tested before its even noon. When I'm finally taken back to the room I'm absolutely miserable and exhausted.
"MRI nearly kill you too?"
I crack an eye open and see Yukio kneeling next to my bed. It's hard to tell but I can see that he's feeling miserable too. He reaches over and puts his hand on top of my head, ruffling my hair but also lightly scratching my scalp. That helps the pain. I push into his hand to get him to keep doing it. He gives a soft huff but complies.
Kuro jumps back onto my bed and rubs his face against my shoulder. Poor guy did not want to get left behind during my tests no matter how many times Sheimi offered to pet him. I scratch his ears and the base of his horns eliciting a few purrs.
"I'm so sorry Rin…" Ugh, not again! I turn to glare at him, I am so not in the mood to fight his little pity party.
"How sweet."
I know that voice! I jerk my head over and sure enough Shura is leaning against the wall looking bored. She also has two guys on either side of her in exorcist uniforms.
"You could have knocked." Yukio glares over his shoulder.
"You should have been able to hear me approaching." She snaps back.
"What are you even doing here?"
"Taking witness statements and all that jazz. Unfortunately a lot happened and we need to get the facts straight. It also seems like we need to reopen the Yuri Egin case since a few people were less than honest 16 years ago." Shura shrugs, looking like she would much rather be doing anything else. "Anyways, we already got Suguro, Miwa, and Shima's last night. We still need both of yours, Kamiki's, and Moriyama's."
"Why did they assign you to do this?" I ask.
A smirk appears before she says "You seem to have forgotten how skilled my interviewing skills are."
I flinch at that and feel phantom pains from when I was "interviewed".
"Anyways, let's get this shit over with. They gave us one of the conference rooms on the first floor and the recording equipment is already down there." Shura stretches her arms up over her head as she pushes off from the wall. "Chicken, you're up first."
"We're being interviewed separately? Can't you just do that here with everyone?" Yukio's grip on my bed has tightened.
"Yeah, can't I listen in? I haven't even gotten the full story about mom yet." I feel slightly guilty having only just remembered that detail. I mean sure a lot has happened over the last few days and I've gotten a few bits and pieces, but it's not enough. I want to know who my mom was, what she was like. Do I look more like her or does Yukio? Was she reckless and loud-mouthed like me or calm and calculating like Yukio? Why did she willingly have children with Satan of all things? I know next to nothing about her and part of me is jealous that Yukio now has that intimate knowledge of our mother.
"Sorry kid, this is a messy situation." Shura takes a few steps towards us and crosses her arms. "People got hurt, some even died. There's a lot of damage not only to this school but the city. Our little organization isn't exactly public knowledge and people are wanting answers. We have people working on that but in the mean time we still need to put the pieces together on what happened."
Yukio looks back at me. I can tell he doesn't like it but agrees with Shura. He ruffles my hair a little more before standing up to go with her.
"Get some sleep Rin, I'm sure I'll be back when you get up."
"I'm not worried or anything. Go get this crap over with, Chicken." He gives me a glare at the use of Shura's nickname for him but before he can respond he's physically dragged out the door by her, the two lackeys right behind them.
My dreamless sleep that night is broken by the rough jostling of my shoulder. I'm so sick of being woken up all the time for these stupid vitals checks. Nothing has changed over the last few days and they never get anything more from waking me versus sleeping. What's the point other than me never getting a decent night's sleep? I roll my shoulder out from under their hand in an attempt to get them to leave me alone and go back to sleep.
"Damnit Okumura! Wake up already!"
That is not an annoying nurse.
I pry my eyes open as best I can while still being half asleep. The room is dark with only the orange glow of the street lights dimly illuminating the room since the curtains have been pulled open. I can't make out the time on the clock across the room but it has to be the early morning hours with how dark it is. I look around and see that Yukio is sitting up in his bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Shima is by his bedside with a hand on his shoulder, clearly the one who woke him.
"Suguro?" I can make out his hulking form and strip of blonde hair even with his back to the only light.
"Yeah it's me, now get your ass up already!" He hisses.
"Ouch!" I look over to see Yukio rubbing the side of his cheek and the duffle he packed days ago in his lap.
"Pack all the medical stuff, quick!" Shima whispers over his shoulder. He's digging through the pockets of various pants lumped in the corner. "Ugh, where is your wal-ah!" He holds up the cheap leather bifold in triumph, tossing the jeans back into the pile. "Which card is connected to the account your teaching salary goes into?"
"Erm…" Yukio's still sitting on the bed clutching the duffle, though now he seems wide awake and very confused. "The green one?"
"Got it!" He throws the wallet blindly behind him, hitting Yukio in the chest.
"Ow! Stop throwing things already!"
"There's only four nurses at the station, they should start rounds soon so probably only one will stay." Konekomaru slips into the room but keeps the door open a crack with his foot. I can't make out much in the dim light but I can see the outline of a giant backpack slung over his shoulders.
"Here Shima." He tosses something and it lands on the pile of clothes. Another backpack?
"Right, here's the card." Shima leans over and Konekomaru grabs it, stuffing the piece of plastic into his front pocket.
"Thanks." He turns back to look out the door.
"Um, guys what's going on?" If I wasn't nervous before I sure as hell am now.
"Later." Comes Suguro's rough voice. "Get up and get dressed." He leans down and wraps an arm around my shoulder from my left side.
Crud, this is going to hurt.
He pulls me up slowly and as gently as he can but my body still screams in agony. I feel the stitches pull and threaten to reopen, the already tender tissue begs me to cease, but I manage to keep from crying out. I get pulled into a sitting position with sweat running down my face and labored breathing on my part. Suguro keeps his arm around my shoulders to keep me from falling back.
"You ok?" He whispers.
I can't vocalize the words but I do manage to nod after a few moments.
He pats my shoulder and drops a shirt into my lap. "Good 'cause I'm not helping you change." A small laugh escapes between pants. Despite what he said I feel a tug on the back of my hospital gown and the material slides off my shoulders. I don't tease him about it though and carefully slip the thing off before grabbing the shirt.
"Shit, looks like they confiscated the key." I look over at Suguro and can make out Yukio's key ring in his hands.
"Well we figured they would." Shima says. He's shoving the pile of clothes he was digging through into the backpack. "Plan B it is. Koneko, can you text the girls to let them know?"
"Yeah no problem, I'll do that once I'm out."
Plan B? What the hell is going on?! Clearly everyone is in on whatever this is since Shima said "the girls", but what?
"Ok, three of the nurses just left to do rounds." Konekomaru looks over his shoulder at us. "They headed towards 301 and 302 so you guys only have about 40 minutes before they get here." He looks back out for a second before turning back to us. "It looks like the one left is just working on the computer, we should be able to slip out to the stairwell easily since he's got his back to this part of the hall."
"Okay. We're almost ready." Shima is trying to zip the backpack but it looks like the zipper is stuck. Yukio is buttoning up his shirt and a bulging duffle bag is on the bed. It looks like he took Shima's order to heart because hardly anything remains in the room. Hell, even the bulking thermometer and blood pressure thing were stuffed into the bag.
"Ready for WHAT?!" Yukio cries out just above a whisper as he gets the last button done. "Tell us what's going on already!" He throws his arms out in frustration.
"LATER!" Suguro hisses from across the room. I hear a loud crunch and pieces of glass skittering across the floor. "Shima!"
"Got it, here!" I see something black go flying across the room and Suguro catch it. He quickly puts it on the ground and I hear another loud crunch and even more pieces scattering.
"Did…did you just destroy my PHONE?!" Yukio looks shocked with his mouth hanging open at Suguro.
"Alright, I'm going to go." Shima and Suguro look over at Konekomaru. He takes a moment and looks at each of them for a second before taking a deep breath and slipping out the door, the click of the latch silent.
"Good luck Koneko…" Shima whispers. They stay quiet for a moment, just staring at the closed door. Shima's the first to move and closes the last zipper of the bag.
"Rin, can you walk?" I manage to pull the gray sweat pants up to my thighs. It's as far as I can go without getting up, plus my tail is still stuck underneath me. I try to ignore the discomfort of not wearing boxers.
"Not really, I've been helping him get to the bathroom since they took the catheter out after the MRI this morning." Yukio answers before I have a chance. Gee thanks bro…His tail is flicking angrily behind him and hits the shade of a lamp, causing it to jostle and threaten to fall over.
"Careful! And of course you still can't walk, that would make things easy." Suguro mutters the last part.
I don't have time to think about that because Suguro storms up to the left side of my bed and leans over. Fortunately I still have my hands on the sweat pants when he puts an arm under my knees and shoulders, scooping me up bridal style. I let out an undignified squeak but have some sense of mind to pull my pants the rest of the way up. My tail is bent awkwardly up my back so I fish it through the hole. He's holding me so my uninjured side is against his chest so I sling my arm around his neck, wincing only slightly in discomfort when I feel the stitches pull.
"Hold onto that thing, I do not want to trip on it!" I grab my tail without question, holding the fluffy bit against my chest.
Shima slings the backpack on and grabs the duffle only to put it on Yukio's shoulder a second later. He grabs my brother's wrist and pulls him to the door with him, standing just like Konekomaru had.
"Ok, ready!" Shima says over his shoulder after a minute.
"Now wait just a second!" Yukio yanks his wrist away. "Ready for what?! Tell us what's going on already!" Yukio huffs and crosses his arms, threatening to derail whatever it is they have planned.
"Fine!" Suguro looks at Shima who's shaking his head. I feel his shoulders heave and a heavy sigh escapes him. He looks me straight in the eye and I see an expression I've never seen before.
He looks absolutely terrified.
He hasn't even said what's going on and already I feel panic creeping up my spine. If this is scaring him it really must be bad. I can already feel my breathing pick up along with my pulse and my arm tightens its grip on his shoulders.
"The Grigori have ordered to have both of you executed."