Chapter 36: Falling Down
This was not how Miwa expected the night to go.
She would have never thought that the night before the illumination event, she would be sitting across from Iizuna in a family restaurant thirty minutes to midnight. Their meals sat half-eaten and cold on the table, but they didn't come for the food, nor did they expect to find Rakuen here. At the hospital across the street, Negura was finishing her inspection of the comatose victim: an adult human male named Nobuo Tanabe.
Iizuna absentmindedly spun his fork in leftover pasta. "I've been talking to the police around here all afternoon, by myself." He lifted his fork and pointed it at her nose. "Waiting for you to finish playing schoolgirl and help me."
Miwa rolled her eyes, a bit annoyed at herself for not changing out of her uniform before coming here, but she resisted the urge to pull her coat over her skirt. "It's not 'playing' if I'm actually enrolled, and I'm only part-time."
"And I worked really hard to find housing for a part-timer like you."
"Yes, yes, thank you very much. What did the police say?"
"Aww, you actually thanked me!"
"Iizuna."
"Fine, fine!" He grabbed both their plates and slid them to the side. In their place, he unfolded a sheet of notebook paper and tossed it to her. Now that the dinner crowd was gone, talking about this in the open wouldn't be as suspicious. "The coma guy may not be the only human Rakuen attacked."
More than half of the page was scribbled with notes, which did not bode well for anyone. Iizuna created a list of four people reported missing and their last known whereabouts. Three men and one woman, last seen in roughly the same area where Miwa usually met with Rakuen.
"They went missing after my meeting with her," Miwa observed.
"Right when you said she was feeling aggressive towards humans."
"...I thought I talked her out of it."
"Maybe you did, at that moment. We won't know what happened until we find her."
Miwa's attention lingered on the missing woman's information: Tomomi Kubo, 48 years old, last seen working her bartending job the same night Miwa saw Rakuen. While the information was limited, this description could apply to the bartender from Rakuen's story. The one she wanted to befriend. Maybe the spider's attempt to reconcile went horribly wrong.
Miwa tossed the paper back to Iizuna. "I should have put a trace on her."
"Why didn't you?"
She folded her arms. "She would have noticed it eventually, and I couldn't afford losing her trust in me. I figured if she was still hostile the next time I saw her, I'd do it then…"
"Would've made tonight's job so much easier…"
"I'll make sure to have your convenience in mind next time."
Iizuna opened his mouth to make another stupid comment, but the front doors to the family restaurant opened and Negura strolled in. She was dressed in her business-best, as usual, but this was the first time Miwa ever saw stray blond hair sticking out of her tight bun. Iizuna quieted down upon seeing her, and their boss calmly sat at their table.
"Tanabe is alive, for now," Negura reported, "The coma was induced by the extreme fever from Rakuen's venom. His body is paralyzed, and his muscles are rigid. It was hard for the nurses to move his limbs to even change his clothes."
Iizuna whistled, and his nonchalance earned him sharp glares from his table mates. "What? The doctors got him. He'll survive!" he exclaimed defensively.
Negura sighed. "And how is the man who found Tanabe?"
Iizuna pouted, but he still reported properly. "He is fine, just a bit spooked." He flipped to the other side of the notebook paper he showed Miwa. "Toshiaki Hino. He was on his way back from a work lunch and looking for a quiet alley to make a phone call, but instead he witnessed a 'spider lady' biting Tanabe's shoulder. When Hino screamed, the spider dropped Tanabe and crawled up the wall to escape. No injuries."
Miwa clenched her fists. She and Iizuna interviewed Hino together, and she hadn't forgotten the fear in his eyes, or the shaking of his hands. "His description of the 'spider lady' matches Rakuen. We have to find her."
Iizuna and Negura first glanced at each other, and then as if some silent communication had passed, they looked at Miwa. After adjusting her glasses, Negura asked, "Miwa, what would you suggest as our best course of action?"
She blinked stupidly at her boss. "Me?"
"You're the ex-tracker, aren't you?" Iizuna said, resting his chin on his wrist, "Surely you could find one little jorougumo without your little traces."
Miwa glared at him. "...Start with her." She pointed at Iizuna's missing person's list, specifying the only woman and the first to go missing: Tomomi Kubo. "If she's the one Rakuen told me about, then something about this attack could have set Rakuen off. Even Rakuen couldn't carry victims too far away if they are paralyzed, so the nest must be somewhere near the bar and the alley where Tanabe was attacked."
Negura nodded. "Spider demons feed slowly over time, so there is also a chance they are still alive."
"If the fever didn't kill them first," Iizuna muttered, this time ignoring the sharp glares. "But how do we find the nest? Look for spider webs?"
Miwa waved her hand over their untouched drink glasses. The water inside swirled, clinking together the remaining ice. "I'll find it."
{00}
Their group split up. Although the hour was late, Negura went to search for more witnesses or friends/family to question. Miwa and Iizuna were the tracking team, searching the streets for the jorougumo nest. Unfortunately for them, Rakuen chose hunting grounds around a busy train station with an unusually friendly population. Their walk to Kubo's bar was constantly interrupted, getting called out by the evening drinking crowds wandering the streets. They often spoke to Iizuna first, who gave them much more time and attention than they really deserved, and the weasel found Miwa's annoyance to be hilarious. However, the ones who approached Miwa first asked if Iizuna was her boyfriend because she was "too pretty to be single," and they were too drunk to notice the flash of outrage on Miwa's face. Iizuna, thinking this was even more hilarious, would throw his arm around her shoulder and politely withdraw because they were looking for someplace more private. Then, he'd drag her away to the encouraging cheers from the drunk men left behind. On one hand, having the crowd cover made it less likely for Rakuen to realize they were coming, but it was an awful way to get to their destination, and Miwa hated every second.
After the extremely grueling walk, they reached the bar from Rakuen's story. It took up the basement floor of a small building and was closed until further notice, according to a hand-written sign taped to the door. Above the bar was a hair salon on the ground floor - also closed - and a fast-food chain on the second floor. This was the last place Tomomi Kubo was seen. Miwa and Iizuna could not get inside the bar without breaking trespassing laws, but they didn't need to. She searched for the fluids in human bodies, and she did not sense anyone down there. There were only twenty-three presumably healthy bodies in the restaurant upstairs; a surprising amount given that it was after midnight now, but one quick look at the sign showed it was open twenty-four hours.
"You sure the nest is gonna be around here?" Iizuna asked, tapping his foot.
"No." Miwa looked around, ignoring Iizuna's impatient glare. "In theory, Rakuen could have lured Kubo elsewhere, but this should be the most likely place for us to find something."
Iizuna shifted his attention to frowning at the street. "Kubo went missing around this time of night. There's still people around. Rakuen would've had to lure her down the alleyway if she wanted any privacy." Because of the upcoming weekend, it was possible the numbers tonight were higher than when Kubo disappeared. But within the two minutes they stood outside the bar, at least twenty people passed by on either side of the street. If this was a "busy" night, then a weeknight would still have plenty of potential witnesses, and Iizuna's investigation found nothing of the sort.
"At worst, Rakuen carried the bodies over the roofs to get farther away without being seen."
"That's just great," Iizuna exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "You only sense bodies, right? How are you gonna know if Kubo is here?"
"I won't know if any specific body is Kubo. I'm searching for people who are in places where they shouldn't be."
On the side of the bar's entrance, there was a tiny alleyway separating the building from a bank. Without waiting for Iizuna's opinion, Miwa sprinted into the dark alleyway and used water platforms to scale the wall. Ignoring Iizuna calling after her to wait up - although she did comply by leaving the platforms for him to follow - Miwa looked around the block. From up on the rooftop, the general areas of where their Tanabe was attacked and where the others were last seen were all in sight. With the nighttime lights, it was a beautiful view, almost blinding, but Miwa only wanted a better vantage point.
When Iizuna caught up, he let out another whistle. "We should have come up here sooner."
"That's not as easy when people keep chatting you up."
"What? They asked, I answered. We're out looking for clues, aren't we?"
"None of your little 'chats' would have helped us find anything…"
"Psh, says you."
From what she could see and sense, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The bodies she sensed were in places where one would expect to find them. Multiple restaurants, fast food chains, and bars housing almost a hundred people, a karaoke building servicing forty-three, five different convenience stores with one cashier each, a twenty-four-hour pharmacy with three workers behind the desk, and small offices where twelve unfortunate humans were probably working overtime. Making all those distinctions was mentally exhausting, and the number of people out so late only hindered their efforts.
"The way you search for bodies is so creepy," Iizuna said, shuddering. "I swear I can feel it in my blood."
"That's exactly how it works."
"It's creepy." He wiggled his arms. "If you can rip my fluids out, what else could you do to my body?"
"Iizuna, shut up."
…Wait.
Miwa spun around. One tiny shop with no lights on, but four motionless bodies waiting inside. She ran to the edge of the building and leaned over for a closer look. It was a boutique one block away from Tomomi's bar, but a "Closed for Renovations" sign hung from the door. Even at this distance, Miwa smelled the remnants of painted walls and new plaster, but an unfamiliar scent lingered underneath. A sour and earthy scent that seemed out of place in such an urban environment. No one should be in there this time of night, and there were no signs of a break in.
"There." She stood up and pointed. "Let's check that place out."
Iizuna shrugged. "Good enough for me."
They leapt across rooftops, landed in another alleyway, and found a side door to the boutique. Miwa formed a water key on her finger and picked the lock. But turning the knob was not enough to get inside, and it quickly became clear the lock was not necessary. She pushed the door, but it did not move. Something large and heavy was blocking it. Each push against the door sprayed out more of that sour, earthy scent outside, making Miwa and Iizuna gag. They both had to press their shoulders against the door to break through a barricade of sticky, white threads. The sour odor, mixed with the paint and plaster, wafted over them like a noxious cloud, and Iizuna gagged again. From the looks of things, the boutique had been closed for weeks, and the interior was full of exposed wall frames, portable worktables, and empty paint cans. It had the potential to become a lovely store as soon as the demon webs were removed. Thin, silky threads stretched from ceiling to wall, from support beam to support beam, covering the entire space in a dangerous web. One careless step could easily get them trapped. Three unconscious humans hung from the ceiling, stuck to the threads like the world's largest flies. In the corner, a woman sat unconscious, wrapped up to her shoulders in white webbing.
"It's Kubo."
Iizuna tip-toed to avoid the webs and leaned cautiously to the man stuck on the support beam. "Seems like they're still alive. For now."
Miwa kneeled and inspected Kubo's bindings. The webs pushed her knees up to her chest, and her fingers poked through the sides. Her face was free enough to breathe, but strands crossed over her cheeks and forehead. Kubo herself was middle-aged, and her hair was very well-kept, despite the bits of spider silk messing up her ponytail. A feverish red stained her cheeks, and she reeked of sweat. Miwa was certain; this was the bartender Rakuen had so badly wanted to befriend.
"Shall we cut them loose?" Iizuna asked. His fingernails extended into sharp claws, each curving into a sickle the size of his hand.
Miwa formed a small water blade. "Just don't get stuck."
"Of course I won't."
Slowly, carefully, Iizuna sliced away the layers of spider threads. A single strand was as wide as a pencil and as sturdy as solid wood, but even at its thinnest point, the layers were four inches thick. Iizuna retched the first time his claws touched one, complaining about the cold sliminess. That coldness was probably the only thing keeping these feverish humans alive, but Iizuna had to wipe his claws on a clean section of a support beam to scrape off the threads. Miwa's water streams didn't have that problem, so she focused on peeling the remaining silk threads off the victims' skin while Iizuna removed the larger chunks. Carefully cutting everyone out without harming them made the process take around fifteen minutes per person, and peeling away the silk left their skin inflamed and irritated. But once the bodies were freed, they were carried to a web-less corner by the door. However, removing the webs revealed bite marks at various stages of healing on their shoulders. The small punctures in Kubo's skin were covered in dried blood, pus, and the slimy remnants of webbing that once covered them like a bandage.
"Gross," Iizuna said, squinting at the scabs. "Someone's been enjoying the sweet taste of human life energy."
"Let's take them outside and anonymously call for an ambulance. No need to involve them with this demon stuff."
"Roger."
At first, Iizuna tried to possess them and walk their bodies out, but he could not move their limbs. Even though he was a demon, he was bound by the limitations of the bodies he possessed. Just like the comatose victim, the venom made their muscles stiff and rigid, and even if they could move, surviving the fevers took too much energy. In addition to suffering through the illness alongside the unconscious humans (which he vocally complained about), Iizuna could not get them to stand, let alone take a step outside, so he gave up and left their bodies. Instead, he and Miwa lifted the victims onto her water platforms and moved them like patients on a gurney to the alleyway outside. Kubo's body was laid flat on the platform, but her legs remained bent in the air, curled up in paralyzed suspension. Each victim was carried out like that, their positions unchanging, as if their bodies were frozen in invisible ice. Slowly, painfully slowly, gravity lowered their limbs to what were hopefully more comfortable angles, but Iizuna shivered every time he noticed their bodies in different positions, saying they looked like mannequins trying to come to life.
Once everyone was outside, Iizuna ran to the nearest public phone while Miwa returned to the nest. There wasn't time to remove the webs from the walls before paramedics arrived, which would certainly bring a lot of questions and confusion, but it was more important to save the lives of the victims. Miwa closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. Iizuna identified four missing persons that could be Rakuen's victims, and right away they found the same four persons in the nest. But that didn't mean they saved everyone. If they were wrong about the number of victims, then there may be people still hidden here, trapped in so much silk that Miwa couldn't sense them from across the street. But jorougumo silk did not contain water, so despite her best attempts, Miwa's senses could not breach through the thick, slimy clumps on the ground, and the foul odor hid any human scents that could narrow it down. However, just as she prepared to cut through a slimy clump barricading the main entrance, a quiet scuttle sent chills down her spine.
Upstairs. They hadn't been upstairs.
Miwa swore and turned around. The scuttle slowed to careful steps, and a familiar scent wafted down.
"I knew you would be the one to find them, Miwa."
The demon spider returned to her nest.
Rakuen, in her human disguise's full, ethereal beauty, smiled from the bottom of the stairwell, but her beauty was marred by garish blood stains on her blouse and skirt. Any human, be they adult or child, would have fled if they saw her. She looked around the room, taking in the noticeable absence of her prey. The blood stains had long since congealed, and Miwa couldn't sense any new bodies brought to the nest. Rakuen was only here to confront her pursuers. "If it means anything," the spider said, "I really did enjoy talking with you."
Despite her better instincts, Miwa threw her water away. De-escalate and capture; that was the mission now. "Rakuen, why did you do this?"
The spider's gaze shifted to the spot where Kubo's body once lay. "Because the King's idealism can't overwrite what I am made to do."
"You can sustain yourself without feeding on humans…"
Rakuen grinned, and her fangs grew down to her chin. "Haven't you ever wondered why some of us can look like humans? Even before your disguise," she said, eyeing Miwa's body up and down, "most of your features were the same as a human's. It allows us to get closer to our prey."
"...So you're saying this is your nature?"
"If you feed on the human spirit," Rakuen sneered, pointing an accusing finger, "it would sustain you far better than the food you eat. Demons like you and the King just like to pretend you're above all that!"
"That's not why we do this!" Miwa exclaimed, stepping closer. "What happened to becoming Kubo's friend?"
Beady black eyes opened beside her cold glare. "...I told you how they all saw me. Ask the man who caught me feeding today. He called me a 'monster' and ran away."
"...You made yourself the monster."
"And delusional demons like you convinced yourselves predator and prey can coexist."
Miwa didn't understand. This wasn't the same Rakuen she saw at the park. What happened to the Rakuen who wanted to learn the rules of Rock Paper Scissors? Or hear stories from Miwa's human school life? When they parted, she seemed so optimistic about either reconciling with the bartender or finding a new place to make human friends. They talked for thirty minutes about things Rakuen could say or do to explain accidentally revealing her jorougumo side. Yet Kubo went missing that very same night, and Miwa found her trapped in spider silk, paralyzed by venom, and with infected bite marks on her shoulder.
…How could she have gotten this so wrong?
"The King's rules were clear. No more mischief in the Living World." Miwa raised her hand, and a small orb of white light produced a water stream around her arm. "If you don't comply, Rakuen, then I have to stop you."
Beady spider eyes flashed red, and the skin of her thin legs bubbled. Its color darkened to a sickly yellow, and each human-shaped leg ripped apart in three directions. Scrawny, sectioned spider legs protruded below her human torso, but from the hips down, her body became a brown, fuzzy spider's abdomen. Her arms completed the spider's eight limbs, and her long, flowy hair turned thick and coarse. A milky, white fluid dribbled from her protruding fangs, which had grown so large that her lips were pushed aside into a grotesque smile. The beautiful human disguise Miwa had come to know was ripped away, covered up by the true form of Rakuen, the jorougumo.
The boutique was dark, only illuminated by the lights coming in through papered windows. But even light that dim shimmered off the spider silk covering the walls and floor. It made the already small shop more constricted. Fighting a spider was one thing, but subduing one while avoiding capture in its own nest was something else entirely. One wrong step, one miscalculated jump, and Miwa would be trapped in Rakuen's web. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to, as much as possible, keep this place intact. Demon fights causing property damage was not going to help their integration into the Living World any more than preying on humans.
A second water stream appeared, and they both melded around Miwa's arms, giving them the appearance of writhing snake tails. De-escalation failed. Capture was her only choice.
The silk clumps on the floor and walls wiggled. Miwa's streams circled around her body protectively, and Rakuen slowly stepped backward, her spider legs allowing her to climb the walls with ease. Then, the silk threads slid down the support beams and across the ground, moving with a life of their own and leaving behind a trail of shimmering slime. They encircled Miwa, pushing her closer and closer to the center of the room. Rakuen's Demon Energy flowed through the threads. They were manifestations of her energy and under as much control as Miwa's water streams. It was too dangerous for Miwa to take her eyes off them, and Rakuen climbed higher and higher, watching gleefully from the ceiling.
"Hunter and the hunted," Rakuen cooed, and then she lunged.
Her large body soared, legs outstretched and ready for capture. Miwa, seeing no other choice, leaped to the side and saved herself from landing on the web by creating a water platform. It gave a bit under her momentum, but the webs slid under her feet, bearing a disgusting resemblance to giant slugs. Rakuen landed with a loud thud, but she was immune to her silk's stickiness. Her cheeks bulged, and then she spit out a line of silk, quick as a cannonball. Miwa slammed her streams together, catching the webbing midair, and yanked it forward to pull Rakuen by the mouth. At the same time, the water streams crawled down the web's path and looped around Rakuen's nose and mouth. Rakuen gnashed her teeth together, cutting off her threads, and shook her head violently. Pointlessly. The water stream would never let go of her face. Rakuen's spider legs scuttled across the floor, looking for a more advantageous position, but Miwa tied them together with more streams. Rakuen tripped and fell, her scream forming bubbles in the water around her mouth. Miwa watched carefully; the more Rakuen struggled, the more oxygen she would use, and the sooner she would pass out.
"Oh hey, there's the spider lady."
Iizuna strolled in like a fight wasn't happening before his eyes. It was unclear whether he had been hiding until Rakuen was captured, but the spider turned sharply towards him, eyes flashing once again in an angry red.
"Can you do it or not?" Miwa demanded.
Iizuna carefully jumped over a writhing clump of silk on the ground. "Nope. She's still too agitated."
Then, as if to prove his words, Rakuen forced her mouth open and shot out another spider web. Somehow, it had enough force to break through Miwa's gag, and the water stream dissolved into a useless puddle on the floor. One angry screech, and Rakuen pulled her legs apart too. Miwa underestimated her strength.
"Wretched vermin," Rakuen spat, and from her mouth shot another blob of sticky silk.
Iizuna jumped out of the way, but he was no fighter. The weasel wasn't used to maneuvering himself safely in combat; that's why he was partnered with Miwa. Iizuna landed too close to the shaking silk clumps, and they grabbed his legs with predatory speed.
"Dammit!" Iizuna growled, but he did not have the strength to pull his leg free. The web consumed his entire left calf.
And the clumps did not stop there. More reached out, grabbed his other leg and wrists, dragged him to the wall, and slapped him against it. His bindings stuck him to the newly finished plaster like a prisoner in chains. He swore loudly, and Rakuen cackled.
"You are inside my nest, little one!"
Miwa hissed, formed large water spheres in her hands, and threw them to the ground. With two loud splashes, the spheres covered the silky floor, creating a barrier over the wretched stickiness. Water coated the entire room, from the floors to the walls, and even over Iizuna's bindings. It glowed white and shifted around his wrists and ankles, peeling Iizuna free just as Miwa had done for Kubo, until he could use his own claws to cut himself loose. Miwa stood on her water coating, now protected from getting stuck, and formed more streams. Rakuen only had one way to defend herself: distraction. The water coating over her floor webs was too focused on keeping them at bay, so before Miwa could capture her again, the spider lunged at Iizuna, fangs bared and dripping with venom. Grabbing Rakuen mid-jump with water streams wouldn't be enough. Her large body had too much momentum. Instead, Miwa sprinted to Iizuna and tackled him away, but Rakuen's huge body landed behind them, and she reached out with two of her long legs, grabbed Miwa by the stomach, and threw her down. Iizuna flew out of Miwa's grip and rolled across the water-coated floor. Miwa's chin hit the ground hard, and she immediately tasted blood, but then the real pain struck.
Rakuen's giant body landed by Miwa's right leg, two brown spider arms held down her body, and the jorougumo's fangs, salivating white venom, bit into her flesh.
The pain was immediate, like thousands of needles pressing outwards from inside her skin. A wet stickiness - blood - dribbled from the bite, funneling into Rakuen's mouth. She fed on the blood and demon energy, and the suction tore Miwa's skin. Her knee-high sock absorbed some of the blood, but Rakuen sucked on that too, like drinking from a sponge. Miwa tried to twist her body around to push herself up, but everytime she moved, Rakuen's many legs pulled her off balance and fed from the puncture wound at a different angle. Both of Miwa's legs were suspended in the air, held in place by spider legs and a mouth on her bloody calf, while the rest of Rakuen's legs held down Miwa's arms to keep her from twisting again. Immobilized, just like Iizuna had been.
Iizuna himself was dumbstruck; sitting there helplessly like he too was a paralyzed jorougumo victim. He watched as Miwa failed four times to twist herself free, and for a brief second, he locked eyes with her. Her lip dribbled blood up her cheek, but the whole room smelled like her blood now. It sickened him, and the nauseous feeling in his stomach snapped him out of the stupor. Standing up, Iizuna screamed, "Back off, bitch!" and lunged with raised claws. He approached from the side, but Rakuen kicked him in the stomach with a spare leg, knocking the wind out of him immediately. Iizuna skid across the floor, arms wrapped around his middle, and he was only saved from the webs on the ground because of Miwa's water. Rakuen didn't even lift her head from Miwa's leg, but Iiuzna was left coughing and heaving on the ground.
Miwa watched him fall, but the pain from her bite blurred her vision. Rakuen's giant body loomed over her, focused solely on feeding, so Miwa needed to end this now. Without using her arms, she formed dozens of small water droplets in the air, bobbing from side to side. Then, with a white flash, they all converged on Rakuen; bullets attacking point blank. The aim was off without arms to guide them, but the majority pierced her body; through shoulders, legs, torso, and one even went through her cheek. Some bullets dissolved midway through her large abdomen, while others blasted out of exit wounds and poked holes in the newly plastered walls. Rakuen shrieked. Brown blood splattered on the floor and blotched the front of Miwa's coat.
Miwa dropped, sending more jolts of pain throughout her body. Ignoring it, she screamed, "Now!"
Iizuna's body immediately glowed white, and the light shifted to an amorphous blob. Iizuna's new form shot forward, slamming into Rakuen's bleeding chest and forcing her to roll onto her back. Iizuna's white glow faded. Rakuen's body twitched, jerked, and then slowly relaxed. Miwa sat up, ignoring the hot pain from her leg, and prepared another water stream just in case.
But then, Rakuen heaved. "Ssssschhhhh dammit! That really hurts!"
The intonation was nothing like Miwa had ever heard from Rakuen's mouth. It worked. "You alright?"
Rakuen's head turned, but even the look in her many eyes changed. The look, the tone, and even the smell; Iizuna's possession succeeded. "I thought I told you to go easy when we found her," he whined, "I have to live with this pain until they take her into custody."
"I had to. I was bitten. Unless you wanted to fight her by yourself?"
"Nah, you're better at the hero crap." Iizuna lay his head on the floor, wincing at the pain striking his borrowed body. Slowly, the spider webs around them evaporated into a sour vapor, fading away like Rakuen's consciousness. He scrunched up his face, repulsed by the smell, but he managed to revert to Rakuen's human form. Of course, the bullet wounds remained, but the human shape wasn't as horrific as a bloody spider. Miwa was impressed that he grasped Rakuen's powers so quickly. "I got in touch with Negura before I came back," he said, changing the subject to distract from the pain. "She'll come soon, and we can get the hell out of here."
"Thank goodness."
"Thank me."
"No."
They both relaxed, waiting quietly on the floor for rescue as the adrenaline faded away. Iizuna closed his eyes, both to endure the pain of Rakuen's bullet wounds and to distract himself by sifting through her memories of the past few days. For Miwa, the spider bite throbbed, like a pulsing growth feeding venom and heat into her body, but other than remaining calm and keeping her chest elevated, there was little she could do to stop the venom spreading. The throbbing in her skin slowly creeped over her knees and to her toes, and she desperately wanted to lie down and rest. Even though the room was cool, beads of sweat formed on her forehead and dribbled down her back.
Jorougumo venom did not affect demons in the same way it did humans. On humans, venom is a tool for capture and ease of feeding. On demons, it's a method of both attack and defense. Typically, demons would grow numb over time - like the needles in Miwa's leg - their muscles lose strength, and demon energy is temporarily blocked. Through this, the jorougumo can either feed upon or safely escape a more powerful foe. This was the first time Miwa had ever been bitten by one, and powerful demons can stave off the worst of the symptoms. However, like humans, demons suffer from the venom's effects for a long time, enduring horrible fevers and pain while fighting off the infection. Without treatment, humans were likely to die, but if opportunistic enemies didn't take advantage, a demon would naturally recover within a few days.
But the illumination event…
Miwa looked at her leg. Scabs caked around the puncture wounds, but fresh blood still poured through. Blotches of white venom mixed with the bright red blood, ruining her right sock. She flexed a calf muscle, just as a test, but the numbness shot up more painful needles, and her whole body convulsed.
"You alright?" Iizuna asked.
She clenched her teeth. "I will be. Eventually…"
Before Iizuna could say more, Negura burst through the boutique's side door. She stared, first at Miwa's wounded leg and then Rakuen's bloody body, but she grasped the meaning of Iizuna's absence very quickly. "Are you two okay?"
With Rakuen's mouth, Iizuna grunted, "Peachy!"
Three demons followed Negura inside. Miwa didn't know who they were; her place of employment had more manpower than she expected. But the new arrivals - each very tall and muscular - cuffed Rakuen's wrists the moment Iizuna held them up. They paused so Iizuna could remove himself from the bullet-riddled jorougumo, and then they dragged her away. Rakuen remained unconscious post-possession, so compared to subduing her, removing her from the scene was frustratingly simple. Miwa couldn't dwell on that because the pain in her leg spread up to her hips.
Negura knelt to inspect the bite, offering a small first-aid kit. Now that Miwa wasn't carrying the water pouch on her back, she didn't have her usual supplies, so she was grateful for Negura's foresight. She held out a hand to clean the wound with her own water, but the venom finally reached her energy. Despite forming water bullets just ten minutes before, now she couldn't form anything - not a single drop - nor could she control the puddles on the ground. There was only a sharp jolt from her palm to her core, a dangerously familiar feeling.
"Fantastic…"
Instead, she took an antiseptic and a roll of cloth bandages from the kit, but even her fingers were stiff. Miwa ignored it and dressed her wounds before dexterity completely left her. Iizuna, whose medical knowledge began and ended with cheap bandages and swallowing painkillers dry, inspected the rest of the building alone while Negura kept watch for the coming ambulance. A siren blared in the distance, and they needed to be gone before it arrived. After Miwa finished and put the medical items away, Negura extended a hand to help her to her feet. The numbness in her wounded leg made it difficult to support her weight, and it was moving further up her waist and down the other leg, spreading like a drop of colored dye in clear water. Miwa did her best to stand regardless. She could only hope the dim light hid how much she was sweating.
"Have you found anything, Iizuna?" Negura called.
Immediately, his loud footsteps bound down the stairs. "Nope. Looks like we got everyone here."
"Then let's leave. The paramedics will take care of our victims." Slowly, her gaze drifted to the bloody floor. A mixture of both Rakuen and Miwa's blood. "...The police will do their own investigation on what they think happened here."
"Then a job well done, I say!" Iizuna exclaimed, puffing out his chest.
Miwa did not have the energy to chime in. Pain pulsed throughout her entire body, and Negura noticed. "Iizuna," she said, "please make sure Miwa gets home. I'll get started on Rakuen's capture report."
"Negura, I can get back on my-"
"No, you cannot," snapped her boss. "Even if you drag yourself home on public transportation, that blood would catch too much attention."
Miwa looked down. Her coat was originally light grey, but the brown stains all over her front were incredibly suspicious. Humans may not recognize it as blood, but the smell - a mixture of metallic iron and the sourness of Rakuen's silk - was rancid.
Iizuna snorted. "No one'll care. The only public transport running this late is taxis, and they can roll down a window."
"That would take too much time," Negura insisted. "Her strength can only slow the venom's effect for so long. Just carry her on your back."
Miwa and Iizuna grimaced in unison, but neither of them could refute her, both as her employees and because she was right. It was only a matter of time before Miwa couldn't support her own weight, and the taxi driver would call an ambulance instead. Heaving a blatantly anguished sigh, Iizuna kneeled and looked at her expectantly. Miwa, with equally blatant reluctance, took one step forward, and she needed all her focus and coordination to keep from falling over. Numbness completely covered both legs, but she didn't want them to know that. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on the perspective), recovering from kisuinou fatigue over the years gave her a lot of practice with this sort of thing, and all they saw was a slight wobble. She tightened her legs around Iizuna's waist, and she had enough strength in her arms - for the time being, at least - to keep hold on his shoulders. But she did not appreciate the physical proximity.
"You're heavier than you look."
Or his comments.
"And you smell like spider webs," Miwa snapped. "Looks like we're both suffering tonight."
"Please stop wasting time," Negura sighed, opening the side door for them. The ambulance siren blared, now only one block away.
"Fine, fine. I'll make a report on Rakuen's memories after I drop off the goldfish."
"Then I'll-"
"You aren't writing squat until you're venom-free," Iizuna said, strangely amused by all this, "and I'm not taking down dictations."
Miwa wanted to argue, but Negura urgently gestured out the door, and red ambulance light filtered through the window. So, Miwa bit her tongue and allowed Iizuna to carry her outside, up to the rooftops, and across the city in a rush of cold, night air. They were two stations away from Miwa's apartment, and it took fifteen minutes to travel that far by train. Plus, there was the additional fifteen minute walk from the station to her apartment. He wasn't as fast as Hiei, but even with her weighing him down, Iizuna would clear that entire distance in less than twenty minutes. It was commendable, and definitely beneficial for her. Within three minutes of clinging to his back, the numbness creeped up to her shoulders, and in spite of the night air rushing past, it was getting warmer inside her coat.
"Hey," Iizuna said, "don't let up on your grip. You'll fall."
She frowned and opened her mouth to deny his accusation, but a particularly strong leap made her torso lurch backward. Miwa squeezed her arms around him to keep from proving his point, but the lack of strength in her arms was shocking. It took everything she had just to hold on, which was a bad sign.
Iizuna glanced back, clearly wanting to say something else, but he held his tongue.
Thankfully, returning to the apartment well after midnight meant none of Miwa's neighbors saw her being carried up three flights of stairs on a man's back. She managed to fish out her key from her pocket without being set on the ground, but after nearly dropping it, Iizuna snatched it from her stiff fingers to open the door himself. It was becoming harder and harder to hide her symptoms. Iizuna kicked the door open and squeezed them through the frame. Without letting Miwa take off her shoes, he kicked off his own, strutted across the apartment, pinched his toes on her comforter with surprising dexterity, tossed it aside, and dropped her on the bed like a sack of potatoes.
"You gonna be okay on your own?" he asked.
On top of the pain flooding her entire body from being dropped, Miwa wasn't happy about him using his feet to move the comforter, but she wasn't in a chastising position after he went through all the effort to get her home. His implication was clear: "Get to bed, you silly goldfish." Miwa sat herself up, kicked off her shoes, and said, "Yeah, don't worry about me. Go back and make your report."
"Alrighty." He turned, casually walking away with his hands in his pockets. But just before he disappeared into the entry hall, he stopped. "...Thanks for getting me outta the spider web. I owe you one."
Miwa blinked stupidly at him. Thanks was the last thing she expected to hear from him. "Don't worry about it. You brought me back here."
Iizuna chuckled and flashed her a peace sign. "Just be a good goldfish and don't die while I'm gone."
"This isn't going to kill me."
He grinned. "Just covering my bases. You're antsy as hell, and you could trip over your own feet right after I-."
"Thank you for bringing me back, Iizuna."
"Aww, you're welcome. Feel better!"
He left, the door closed, and he used the key to lock it behind him. But instead of taking it with him, as Miwa initially feared, he slipped it through the mail slot, and the tiny metal dropped to the floor. As Iizuna's footsteps quickly disappeared, the silence that took over reminded her that there were still things to do. Miwa glanced down, taking in the dried spider blood on her coat to which she had unfortunately become nose blind. Dragging her hands up to fumble at the buttons, each attempt to undo them sent jolts of needle-pain through her fingers. Even with the excruciating effort to undo one simple button, she eventually peeled off the coat and left it on the floor. Her body temperature was increasingly warm after taking the coat off, another bad sign. She didn't need a thermometer to know the fever fully set in.
She wanted, oh so badly, to fall onto her pillow and sleep away the awfulness. Unconsciousness felt like the only way to dull the needle-pain poking through every inch of her skin. But a gentle lean closer to her bed was enough to send jolts through her arm, shoulder, and waist. Who knew what flopping down would do to her nerves? Alone in silence and solitude, the time for her recovery seemed unbearably long. It took days for demons to recover from jorougomo venom, but she was supposed to meet Kurama at the station in mere hours. Her alarm clock blared a bright red 1:57 AM at her face. …But how much had she been poisoned? What if she managed to get away with lighter symptoms? Miwa held out her hand, furrowed her eyebrows, and concentrated on her palm, ignoring the needle-pain in her skin. If she could just…
A new pain, this one burning hot, shot from her palm, through her veins, and to her core. Miwa let out an involuntary groan, and she couldn't keep herself upright. Her torso fell right into her mattress and pillow, just like she had wanted. And just as she predicted, more needle-pain stabbed her body, right alongside hot, burning jolts, and she convulsed violently like she had been electrocuted. It was worse than before. She couldn't summon her demon energy, let alone command any water. There was no avoiding it. The needle-pain, the fading strength, the fever, and now this: the venom reached her entire system.
…No.
She was stronger than this. She survived worse than this. Like hell she would let a measly spider bite keep her from going to that illumination event. Kurama suggested it because she had been working so hard starting her After. For the past month, through all the stress of moving and debating with Takeo about what she would take with her, after painstakingly having his memories rewritten, the illumination became the light at the end of a long, arduous tunnel. The first day she would allow herself to breathe and take in what she'd accomplished since returning to Living World.
Miwa turned to the closet. …She wanted to wear that sweater. She thought it would make him happy.
With another involuntary groan, Miwa forced herself upright and stretched out her legs. She needed to do something. Something simple. Anything simple, to overcome this terrible helplessness. The venom kept her from generating water, so she would just have to get it herself. A simple walk from her bed to the kitchen; roughly seven feet one way. This was a shorter walk than Takeo's apartment. Miwa had, on multiple occasions, stayed on her feet for longer walks than that after depleting her Life Energy. Something like this would be easy.
Easy…until she needed both arms on the mattress to hold herself up until her legs finally bore her weight. Standing upright nearly sent her into a pinwheel-arm spin, but she planted her feet hard and somehow kept from falling without looking too ridiculous. She stood, upright and still, for a whole minute to compose herself and catch her breath. Sweat dripped from the tip of her nose onto the ground. The venom was meant to completely incapacitate demons. It astounded her that her past recoveries from kisuinou fatigue were now helping her maintain balance, but that was not something to be proud of either. She took one step towards the kitchen, and then another, at this point accustomed to the needle-pain from her nerves. …It wasn't too bad. Each step sent more needle-pains up her legs and through her torso, and the effort made her so winded that it was embarrassing, but she could do it. She could walk. She even kicked aside her discarded shoes without falling over.
Easy.
She reached the kitchen, but while breathing heavily as if she sprinted there, Miwa suddenly realized how many steps were involved in getting a glass of water. Opening the cupboard, pulling out a cup, turning on the faucet, holding the cup steady under the water as it filled, turning off the faucet, and raising the cup to her mouth. All without dropping the cup as it took on the water's weight. Numerous acts she had done without even thinking suddenly became an endurance marathon. For the first time, she understood why Takeo and Shiori worried about her living alone. But she shook those thoughts away - a poor impulse-decision because she grabbed the sink to maintain her balance. The pain was making her dizzy.
One tiny glance at the alarm clock. This whole adventure to the sink took five minutes, and she hadn't even gotten a cup yet. Miwa clenched her teeth and pinched her fingers around the cupboard door. It was latched with magnets and opening them needed a bit of a tug. She could do this. She could ignore the burning muscles and the labored breathing. She could endure the fever and the constant focus to keep herself upright. All she had to do was get a drink of water, and she would have accomplished something.
Miwa pulled the cupboard open, but then the force tilted her backwards. Her burning legs could no longer support a body off-balance, and their strength faded completely. Miwa crumpled to the floor, failed to catch herself, and landed on her knees, elbows, and chin. Pain exploded through her body, and she could no longer tell what was from the venom or from the collision. She groaned involuntarily again, but she didn't even notice. Her feelings of shame and frustration overshadowed it all. Up above, the cabinet door swung itself closed, taunting her.
She didn't try to get up. She didn't have the strength to get up. She failed to get a simple drink of water. She failed, just like with Rakuen.
Her room was silent. The world outside was silent. And she, a fighter who survived several rounds of the Demon World Tournament, was stuck lying on the floor with only her thoughts to accompany her. How did this happen? How did a measly spider bite ruin her so completely? There she lay, in the middle of the entrance hall, immobilized by venom and pain; just as helpless as the victims trapped in the spider webs. On top of that, Miwa failed her first and only client, and she didn't know what could have been done differently. The reason Rakuen attacked Kubo was still unclear, and there were no known accomplices. Did someone say something to set her off? Or was the memory of being seen as a monster all it took to change her mind? Before they fought, Rakuen even mentioned Hino calling her a monster…
But…she was so excited to learn Rock Paper Scissors. Hearing stories of Miwa's school life made her so curious.
What happened to Rakuen?
Miwa pressed her cheek into the wood floor. For once, she did not mind the cold temperature as it cooled her fever. As long as she remained still, the needle-pain was minimal. She couldn't see the alarm clock from this position. How long had she been lying there? Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? With only her thoughts to keep her company, the passage of time was difficult to perceive. Maybe she was fortunate to have fallen inside her own apartment. Here, she would be much safer than most victims of jorougumo venom. Would she have to lay there until the venom passed through her system? It seemed fitting; she was the one who made the brilliant decision to leave the comfort of her bed…
Then there was a knock at the door.
Her head snapped up, strength fueled by pure shock. Who would be walking around at this ungodly hour of the morning?
"Miwa? Are you alright?"
It was Kurama. Why was he here? Her shock turned to curiosity, giving her another burst of energy. Once again ignoring the needle-pains, she reached out both arms and dragged herself forward by the elbows. She was still wearing her school uniform, and the long sleeves made for a terrible grip on the smooth flooring, but the washing machine was close by. Maybe she could use it to pull herself up.
"I'll be right there," she called.
She reached out and dragged herself forward again. But because of the poor grip and her lack of strength, she barely moved an inch. The sound of her body sliding on the wood was so loud in the silence of her room, and she couldn't hold back a tiny groan from the effort it all took. But if he saw her like this… If he saw how much one spider took her down…
"Miwa, I'm using your key."
Within seconds, as if he had it already prepared, the doorknob rattled and clacked as the lock turned over. Miwa, sprawled down like a corpse in the entrance hallway, could only look up when the door cracked open. From the ground, she watched his head of red hair peek inside, and he had to look down to see her pathetic form. When he did, he threw the door open, discarded a small backpack, and rushed over, even leaving his shoes on.
"What happened?" he asked, easily raising her into a seating position.
Being moved sent more needle-pains through her body, and she flinched in his arms. "...I tried to get some water, and I lost my balance." She looked up, forcing down more pain. "...Did Iizuna tell you?"
"He said you were bitten by a jorougumo and someone should keep an eye on you."
Miwa frowned. "…I told him he didn't owe me anything."
Kurama draped one of her arms over his shoulder. Miwa expected him to help her stand so she could walk, but instead, he scooped his other arm under her knees and lifted her up. The momentum threw her into his chest, and any strength she had left went into gripping his corduroy jacket. The sudden movement sent waves of pain through her limbs, but she hardly noticed it with the heat rushing to her face.
"Hey, w-wha-," she sputtered.
"This way is faster," he said simply, refusing to entertain any more of her sputtered hesitations.
After being stuck on the floor for so long, the ease with which he lifted her was astounding. She wasn't that much shorter, but somehow her sore, infected body fit so easily in his arms, and the faint smell of shampoo wafted down from his hair. His careful steps were less painful on her body, but Miwa could not bear to look up; even her ears were burning. Kurama set her down on the bed, letting her sit at its edge, but his arm stayed wrapped around her torso in case she fell over again. She did not, but the muscles in her back straining just to keep her upright was concerning. At least she wasn't sprawled on the ground like a pathetic weakling anymore, so Miwa paid more attention to Kurama's sudden arrival. He realized his shoes were still on, and he rushed back to the entrance to slip them off. Along the way, he pocketed the key Iizuna discarded to put it in a safer place later. His red hair stuck out in odd directions, like he only patted it down after getting out of bed. Under his jacket was just a cotton long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants.
He left in such a hurry that he didn't even change out of his sleeping clothes.
"I'm sorry that Iizuna bothered you." Miwa wanted to look him in the eye, but the shame made her head so heavy.
He took off his jacket, but his focus never left her leg. "...There are more pressing concerns."
While she was on the ground, Miwa's blood soaked through the fabric bandages, leaving a bright red spot for all to see. His stare was so intense that, without thinking, Miwa fidgeted. More needle-pains stabbed her skin, and her whole body jerked, causing even more pain. Kurama saw all of it. He pulled a glass bottle from his pocket and set it on the table. Small shreds of leaves and bark floated inside the amber liquid. Although the bottle was closed, Miwa smelled a sweet residue; a scent she hadn't come across for a long time.
He glanced around the room. This was only the second time he had been here. "Where did you put your medical supplies?"
"Um, the bathroom. Under the sink."
He nodded and stood up. Miwa watched him go, wanting to get it herself but knowing it would be impossible to get there first. The muscle strength needed to sit herself up made sweat drip down her spine, and she didn't want him to notice. Instead, she listened to the cupboard doors opening, items sliding around, and the doors closing again. He found them quickly. Once her water pouch became unnecessary, she placed her supplies in a small, clear bin, but they were hidden from Takeo while moving. The last thing she needed were questions about the unlabeled bottles inside; much like that bottle sitting on her floor table.
Kurama kneeled next to her leg and pulled the table closer. "How long has it been since you were bitten?"
She checked the clock. "...Almost an hour and a half. But I'm fi-" He silenced her by placing his palm on her forehead. It was cool against her skin, but the blush warming her face would make the fever seem worse. "...I'm fine."
"Miwa, don't pretend I didn't just find you on the ground." She bit her lip, but when he pulled his hand away, Kurama finally smiled. 'Please, just let me help you."
"..."
He said the same thing a week ago when he and Kuwabara appeared to help her unpack. And just like then, Miwa's will to resist disappeared. Slowly, carefully, Kurama peeled away her socks. Again, her cheeks burned. After being carried over to her bed like that, she was far more aware of the smell of his shampoo. his fingers brushing across her skin, and his mere presence in her room. He slowly rolled down her sock, taking care not to let the venom remnants touch his fingers. To make removing her sock easier, Miwa moved to lift her leg, but nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again, but the most she got was a pathetic (and painful) lurch, like huge weights were strapped to her thighs. Kurama noticed right away and lifted her foot himself. He quickly pulled the sock over her heel and kept her foot elevated on his knee. Without the sock, her bandages quickly unraveled; they probably weren't properly secured due to the stiffness in Miwa's fingers at the time. Sticky blood kept certain layers of fabric affixed to her skin. Removing them tugged at dried scabs, and their absence let the puncture holes bleed freely.
Miwa looked down and hissed. A grotesque conglomerate of blood, torn flesh, and blotches of venom surrounded the wound. It looked no different from when she was first bitten, so even her healing slowed down. Kurama inspected it, and then he used alcoholic wipes to clean the wound and dried blood. The alcohol stung; a very different pain from the needles pulsing through her muscles. Miwa grit her teeth to endure it, not wanting to flinch again while Kurama treated her.
He glanced up, noticing the tightness in her jaw. "...Can I ask what happened? Iizuna only told me that you were bitten."
Miwa inhaled slowly through her nose. Maybe this would distract her from the pain. "My client, Rakuen, was seen attacking a human, so Iizuna and I went to investigate."
"I thought things were going really well with her?"
"...Yeah, I thought so too."
Kurama glanced up again, but she didn't know what he was looking for. "Was anyone else hurt?"
"She captured four others, but we got them out of the nest. They should survive the venom, at least."
"Then, you were bitten when Rakuen returned to the nest," Kurama inferred.
"...I tried to talk her down, but she was so angry, and I don't even know why."
Rakuen blamed the humans for seeing her as a monster, but Miwa refused to believe that was the whole story. The Rakuen she knew was stressed and confused about the subtleties of everyday human life. Where did she get those ideas about demons being built to capture human prey? Or the effectiveness of feeding on Life Energy? That never came up in their talks. Iizuna sifted through the spider's memories for at least five minutes before Negura arrived, but he didn't mention anything about Rakuen's motives, even though they had time to talk as they rushed back to Miwa's apartment, mostly in silence.
At the same time, what did Miwa really know about Rakuen? They first met a month ago. Even if they had a hundred more sessions together, there could easily be things that neither of them would know about the other.
Hell, Miwa knew Kurama for decades and was completely oblivious to his feelings for her…
Kurama himself was still carefully cleaning her wound, but his pace slowed down, his mind occupied by other thoughts. "...Where is she now?"
"Iizuna possessed her after I got bitten, so she's in custody."
"That sounds like a successful mission to me. You saved the humans she captured."
"That wouldn't have been necessary if I kept her out of trouble in the first place…"
For the first time, Kurama fully looked away from his work. "Miwa, this wasn't your fault."
His green eyes bore into her, more paralyzing than the venom coursing through her system. Her thoughts had come spilling out of her mouth as she explained things, but that look in his eyes stopped her words completely. All she could do was stare right back at him, unable to respond. He was right. She knew he was right, but the pain pulsating in her leg was a constant reminder of her failure, and she felt no less pathetic than when Kurama found her on the ground.
When the silence held for too long, Kurama resumed cleaning her wound. Eventually, the surrounding skin had been sanitized, and the sting of alcohol faded into the numbing pain. Taking care to stop fresh blood from spilling onto her floor, he soaked a strip of gauze with the amber liquid from the bottle he brought. Its sweet, naturesque scent was strong, overtaking the smell of Miwa's own blood, and upon it being pressed to her wound, the simultaneously cool and warm sensation made the punctures tingle.
Miwa wrinkled her nose, but at least she could find words again. "You had yakuba extract lying around?"
"Because of the open passage, I thought it would be wise to prepare more Demon World remedies."
Her own leg was proof that he wasn't wrong, and whether by medicine or placebo, the throbbing in her leg faded a tiny bit. While not exactly an antivenom, yakuba extract should neutralize the effects more quickly. "So that explains what you've been doing in the biology lab."
He chuckled and wiped away excess residue. "I'm glad that I could be useful to you, for once."
Her blush intensified, and she could only hope he wasn't paying attention to her face. Having her own words thrown back at her was not something she expected. "You want to be useful?"
Kurama rewrapped Miwa's wound with far more dexterity than when she treated it herself. Just a couple loops of fabric felt more secure than before. "Miwa, in all the time I've known you, you've only let me help if it's something you absolutely couldn't do alone. When you were struggling over Takeo and his memories, I practically forced that powder into your hands."
"...I'm really stubborn, aren't I?"
"Yes, you are, but we all know that. That's why we showed up unannounced to help you move in." He finished wrapping her leg and put the medical supplies back in the box. Wanting to minimize any agitation, he slowly lifted her legs onto the bed and helped turn her torso so she could lie down. When he finished, there was a short pause. At first, Miwa thought he was ensuring everything was done properly. Instead, he scooted himself closer and said, "I know you're working hard for your After, but you don't have to force yourself to do everything on your own."
Miwa wanted to look away, but like before, the way he was looking at her made it impossible. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to push anyone away."
"I know, but you've already done so much for me. I want to help you, too."
He knew she was blushing. There was no way he couldn't see it.
"...You have helped me."
He blinked "With what?"
Somehow, she found the strength to smile. "Do you think I'd be here if you hadn't pushed so hard for me to give up my oath?"
His eyes averted for a moment. "...That wasn't just me."
"Maybe, but more than anyone, I really want to show you that I can do this."
He paused, and for once a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. He quickly collected himself, but he still looked pleased. "I know you can," he said, "and I'm proud of what you've accomplished already."
"...Even getting bitten by a jorougumo?"
He chuckled. "Even that. Now please get some rest."
As if to put a stop to their talk, he gently lowered her shoulders, pulled up the comforter, and promised she could change clothes once more of her strength came back. It felt warmer than usual because of the fever. Being in constant pain was exhausting, and allowing herself to lie down let the sleepiness come. Beside her, Kurama carefully picked up her coat and inspected the blood. His nose twitched from the smell, but none of that blood belonged to her; that would have surely made him worry even more. He took the coat to the bathroom and closed the door behind him, but Miwa heard the water running. She wished she could have washed it herself. It would have been easy if she could use her power. But Kurama came here to help her, to take care of the things she could not while venom disabled her body and blocked her Demon Energy. He brought yakuba extract to help her feel better sooner. He made that extract, without ever being asked, because he thought it would be useful. He did not say it, but surely, he was thinking of her when making it, knowing her new job would aim a fighter like Miwa at dangerous threats.
But really, he'd been helping her for much longer than this. Before the jorougumo bite, before moving into this apartment, and before they even met Hiei. Miwa had no choice but to rely on him to integrate as Himari Shimizu, and to let him teach her the school curriculum so she could be a believable middle schooler. They studied together to pass Meio's entrance exam, though teaching her surely got in the way of his own studies. And even outside of necessity, he took the time to ensure she was okay after dangerous fights. Despite how often she insisted she was fine, he watched over her as she recovered from kisuinou fatigue. When the truth of her oath came to light, he adamantly supported her endeavors to figure out what would become of them, even though she now knew he didn't want her to leave.
Most of all, he let her have a place by his side all this time, calling her his friend and waiting patiently until she was ready to renounce her oath herself.
…I need to give him my answer.
Miwa closed her eyes, focused on the sound of water coming from the bathroom faucet, and drifted off to sleep.
{00}
At eleven in the morning, another knock rapped Miwa's door.
Inside the apartment, its sleeping resident did not stir from the noise. Her body decided unconsciousness was the most effective way to heal. So, Kurama, who was quietly washing utensils he used to eat a store-bought lunch, answered the door. He knew who it was without checking the peephole, and he turned the deadbolt as slowly as he could, not wanting the metallic clack to wake Miwa up. When the door opened, instead of letting the visitor inside, he stepped out to the hall, forcing them both to talk on the balcony.
Iizuna expected that, and he waited while leaning casually on the railing, a thin manila envelope tucked in his elbow. "Hey," he said, waving. "Did you have fun playing nurse?"
Kurama joined him, noting Iizuna's more joking tone compared to when the weasel showed up at his family's house. Last night, Iizuna was all business. No teasing or silly comments. A huge contrast to now and the first time they met. "Her fever went down, and the bleeding stopped," Kurama explained. "She'll be fine in a few days."
"Good to know. I'll pass the news to Negura." Iizuna held out the envelope. "Can you give this to her for me? Negura gave her the next few days off, so she can finish her part of the report once she can hold a pen again."
Kurama took the envelope, slightly amused. This guy was more worried about Miwa than he tried to let on. "I'll let her know. Thank you, Iizuna."
One corner of the weasel's mouth perked up, shaking the cigarette balanced between his lips. "You've thanked me much faster than the little goldfish. This is, what, the third time we've ever met?"
To this day, Kurama had no idea why Iizuna called her a goldfish. "I'm grateful that you brought her home safely," he explained. "You even came to get me."
"Bah, don't thank me. I was told to bring her home, and somebody else would have told you eventually. She wrote your name as her emergency contact."
Kurama blinked. He wasn't aware of that, but it also made sense. Those who only knew her as "Himari" didn't know about the truth of her job, so calling them in an emergency was impractical. Regardless, this new fact made him happy. "I am still grateful," he said, deciding not to tell Iizuna he found Miwa collapsed on the floor when he arrived. She wouldn't appreciate that, so he changed the subject by asking something he wasn't sure would warrant an answer. "What happened to the jorougumo?"
Iizuna's lip twitched, contemplating whether he should speak. "...They're interrogating her now," he said, and his grin faded, almost looking serious, "and last I heard, she hasn't said anything about what set her off. I even poked around in her head, but I still have no idea why she suddenly decided to attack humans."
"Nobody spoke to her?"
"Nope. One moment she is excited about the plans she and the goldfish concocted, and the next she's pissed."
Kurama never met Rakuen, but he heard bits and pieces about her. Miwa sometimes recounted the things she taught the jorougumo about Living World, and she seemed really excited about her work. He thought things were going well, but then Iizuna came to his house in the middle of the night and said she was bitten by her client. Rather than giving more details, he asked Kurama whether he had something that would help her heal faster. Kurama said he did, and once the weasel was certain she would be taken care of, he left the Minamino house without any parting words. At that time, Kurama didn't care and focused solely on grabbing what he needed and getting to her apartment as soon as possible. He expected to find Miwa annoyed, or even angry, that her client turned their back on her efforts. But when he found her collapsed on the floor, Miwa's seemed more upset by the whole ordeal than anything else.
"Oh," Iizuna said, looking up. "We got the victims to the hospital in time, so tell the goldfish not to worry about them. She was pretty hung up about the bartender getting hurt."
"...Have any of your other clients attacked humans?"
"Not that I know of, but we're not looking after every single demon who comes to this side. …But outside of us, I've heard about some guys getting sent back for bad behavior."
Kurama frowned. This was news to him. "Who?"
"Before the barrier went down, it was usually dumbass weaklings who came to this side. They built up too much of an ego, and now they're getting into trouble with the higher-class guys who are coming in. It's mostly stupid crap, but enough to be in defiance of the King."
Kurama wondered whether Iizuna, who was also here before the barrier went down, classified himself as one of the weaklings. "I doubt anyone expected this transition would be easy. The power dynamics in both worlds are changing drastically."
Iizuna grinned. "That's why it's best to be in the good graces of strong guys like you and the goldfish."
Kurama laughed. "And here I thought you had a passion for your job."
"Psh, hardly. I just go where my skills earn me money. I've already integrated in this place, so as long as I'm not dead, I don't really care if other demons can't." He paused. The smoke he exhaled had a strong, lingering scent, but then he crushed the cigarette in a small, portable ashtray. "...Since you're still here," he said, pushing himself off the railing, "I'll assume the goldfish will be taken care of while we handle the spider. Probably best to keep them apart for now, anyway."
He was trying to excuse himself, just like the night before. "Iizuna," said Kurama, "Were you told to contact me about Miwa getting bitten?"
"Hm? Whaddya mean?"
"Earlier, you said not to thank you for bringing Miwa home because you were told to do it. Were you also told to get me?"
Iizuna's explanation of his actions was odd from the start. He said Miwa wrote Kurama's name as an emergency contact, and that "someone" would have contacted him since she was hurt, like that wasn't part of his job. If so, then there wasn't a need for Iizuna to risk being seen by his human family in the middle of the night on the off chance he had a remedy. Miwa was already safe in her apartment, and even though she'd be in pain, the venom wasn't going to kill her. It would have been less conspicuous for their company (and for Kurama) to reach out in the morning. But, because Iizuna appeared at his bedroom window at two in the morning, Kurama had to call his mother from a payphone down the street so they wouldn't think he disappeared, and he made up a fake story about Himari sending a message to his pager. What's more, Iizuna couldn't have possibly known Kurama had yakuba extract on hand, let alone any remedy for jorougumo venom. But he showed up anyway.
So why did this weasel, who openly admitted to not being passionate about his job, go out of his way on the off-chance Kurama had something that could help Miwa?
The weasel pursed his lips, pretending to think about it carefully. "Well, what do you know? I guess they didn't ask me." He laughed dismissively, like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "But it worked out in the end, didn't it? You were so eager to come and help her." He laughed again, this time turning his back to avoid Kurama's scrutinizing stare and walking away.
But, as he descended the stairwell, he had one last thing to say. "Besides, I don't like owing anyone for saving my ass, and you'd be better at helping her than someone like me."
And then he was gone.
{00}
When Miwa awoke, the room was alight with afternoon sun pouring through the window. The quiet space held a soft tranquility, the kind that made it difficult to get out of bed on a lazy holiday. The muffled sounds of human life in nearby units, the bustling world outside; it was meditative enough for Miwa to nearly fall asleep again. It took a moment for her groggy mind to notice the dull throb in her leg and Kurama's familiar scent in her room. She opened her eyes, habitually glanced at the clock to confirm it was, indeed, after noon, and saw Kurama silently reading a book at her floor table. She recognized the book from the small collection on her desk. His clothes were different. Instead of the sweatpants and white cotton shirt she saw before, he changed into a green button-up and jeans, looking far too casual for someone watching over an injured friend. But then she noticed the envelope, set carefully aside on her floor table's surface, next to where Kurama was sitting.
"...Where'd that envelope come from?"
He looked up, realizing she was awake, and set down the book without marking his place. "Iizuna dropped it off for you earlier." He reached out and pressed his hand on her forehead. "But that can wait. How are you feeling?"
His palm didn't feel as cool as she remembered; maybe the fever went down. She lifted her own hand out of the comforter and flexed her fingers. "Still a bit weak, but the numbness isn't as bad."
That eased his mind, and he removed his hand. "Can you sit up?"
Miwa tried, and it took more effort than she would have liked, but her back muscles didn't strain as much as before. She could maintain her posture well enough. Holding out her hand once more, she tested her powers. Kurama left a half-full cup of water on the table; Miwa could sense it there without even looking. She tried to summon it, but the most she could do was rock the cup until another sharp pain shot through her palm and to her core. She hissed, and the momentum of her attempt spilled the glass over the table. The envelope and Kurama's book were fortunately spared.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"Don't worry about it." He pulled the book and envelope further away to safety. "It's a good sign that you could move it at all."
He fetched a towel from the kitchen to clean up the spill. In the meantime, Miwa continued flexing her fingers and her other limbs to test her range of motion. Each flex and movement sent more numbing needles through her skin, but the pain was tolerable. The fever was most likely gone; Kurama didn't mention it and she didn't feel warm. The dull ache from the puncture wounds were painful, and small patches of blood soaked through her bandages again, but she had endured much worse. A new pain throbbed from her knees and elbows. They felt like bruises, either from Rakuen dropping her or her fall in the hallway. Definitely not a full recovery, but hopefully she wouldn't be falling over in the kitchen again. Miwa yanked the comforter away, the action still taking more strength than she would have liked, and looked down. She was still wearing her school uniform.
"If you have the strength to walk," Kurama said, watching her check for wrinkles, "you should shower and change. I'll rewrap your bandages after."
Miwa nodded, dragged her legs over the edge of her bed, and took a moment to prepare herself. A strange fear of falling made standing seem like such a daunting task. What if her legs buckled beneath her again? What if sitting was the best she could do? She clutched her sheets, but then she looked up. Kurama watched her carefully, and his legs were tense, prepared to move at a moment's notice. Miwa relaxed. He said he was here to help, so she had to let him help her. Throwing away all hesitation, Miwa pushed herself off the mattress. Her weak legs wobbled, like trying to use muscles that atrophied from disuse, but once again her frequent run-ins with kisuinou fatigue made it easy to adjust herself. She smiled, more confident, and took a few steps forward.
Her third step was poorly placed, and her ankle rolled. Kurama immediately caught her before she lost her balance.
"Sorry," she gasped. Adrenaline pulsed through her body from the near fall, and her ankle throbbed from misplaced weight.
"This is why I'm here," he assured, "Do you need to lie down again?"
"No, it's fine." Miwa took some of her weight off him and stood up. "I just need to be more careful. Your extract is pretty great."
Kurama chuckled. "Don't sell yourself short. A lesser demon would still be bedridden, with or without the yakuba."
He let her go. A second passed, and she took two more steps. Miwa inhaled slowly and turned around, this time staying upright. "Thank you," she said, "for coming to help me."
He smiled. "Any time. But…" he looked at the blood patch on her bandages and then the clock. "Going to the illumination might be too much for you right now."
It was nearly 2 PM. They were supposed to meet at the station in three hours for an event where a lot of walking would be necessary.
Miwa glanced at her closet. "...I'm still going."
Kurama frowned. "It's not your fault this happened, Miwa. I won't be disappointed if we don't go. It's better that you stay here and rest."
"Maybe that's true, but I…" She blushed again, but she was too stubborn to look away this time. "After rewriting Takeo's memories, and moving out to live on my own, I was really looking forward to it. To…" She bit her lip and swallowed. "...going there with you."
She wished she could blame the fever for her red face, but that was impossible. And the way he looked at her wasn't making that feeling go away. For once, he did not hide his emotions. He was conflicted, and his eyes narrowed while calculating the risks, but for the second time, a faint blush stained his cheeks too.
Miwa clenched her fists. "Tonight's the last day of the event. You can call me stubborn, but I'm going, even if I'm going alone with a walking stick. But…" She swallowed again; saying this kind of stuff was so hard. "But I would rather you be there to help me, in case I fall again."
He stared at her, and Miwa still refused to look away. Her blushing face was far darker than his, and she would have loved to hide it, but he needed to know how much she wanted to go with him. Her face was just as red when he invited her, and the idea of spending time alone together outside of their routine was a bit scary. The implication was clear from the start, whether or not Miwa gave him an answer. But even with the undeniable knowledge that this would be a date, she found herself looking forward to it all the same. She could guess where her excitement came from, and it far outweighed both the fear in her heart and the pain in her skin.
In the end, Kurama sighed in defeat. "Alright."
Notes: I had so much fun with Iizuna this chapter! Their interactions is probably the most sarcastic banter we will ever see from Miwa. And Miwa's feelings have definitely started to change. We're finally getting to their first date in the next chapter!
"Yakuba" is just "medicine" and "leaf" mashed together. I thought keeping the name Japanese would make it more "otherworldly" in this English-language story.