InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Fruition ❯ Choices ( Chapter 50 )

Gritting his teeth, pacing the floor near Manami's bed, Ben reminded himself yet again that he didn't want to try to wake her, didn't want her to feel the overwhelming pain that was the only thing waiting for her on this side of consciousness.  He had too many questions, though, and just listening to the various machines was nearly enough to drive him mad.

He'd lost track of time at some point.  Every minute that passed felt more like an hour as he waited and hoped and struggled to believe that it would all be fine in the end.  Left alone in the room, he heaved a sigh, kept moving restlessly, almost anxiously, absently noting that the sun had disappeared hours ago.

He felt so completely powerless.

He'd wanted to head out, to go confront his mother, to demand the antidote that he knew she'd have made.  After all, the woman was methodical to a fault.  It was in her nature, he supposed, and maybe he'd even gotten his own fair share of that, courtesy of her.

He stifled a growl, wondering for the thousandth time. what was taking so long, hoping beyond hope that Charity would be able to help, after all . . .

"I can't promise anything," she said as she eyed the results in her hand.  "But I can tell you a number of plants that could have comprised the poison—and I can tell you the ones that have the power to counteract them, too."

And they'd been closed in one of the labs for God only knew how long . . .

Manami uttered a half-groan, half-whimper, and Ben hurried over to hunker down so that she'd see him if she opened her eyes.  She did slowly, and through a haze of absolute misery, she met his gaze.  "Hey, Nami . . ." he said quietly as he reached up and pressed the button on the side of the railing that automatically paged the nurse.  "Do you need more pain meds?  Anything?"

"W-Water," she rasped out.  "So . . . thirsty . . ."

"Okay," he said, pushing himself to his feet to fill a cup with water from the insulated pitcher on the bedside table.   "Here," he said when he knelt back down, gently slipping the straw between her cracked lips.

A nurse hurried into the room, fussed with the IV drip.  "I'll call Izayoi-sensei," she said as she hurried out again.

She drank slow sips for a minute, her eyes fluttering closed at the welcome relief.  When she finally pushed the straw out of her mouth with her tongue, she looked a little less ashen in the face, though her coloring was still peaked and pale.  The dark smudges under her eyes . . . The entirely sunken in way that her cheeks looked a little too gaunt . . . "They held me . . . prisoner for almost . . . a week," she said, her voice still paper-thin.

"Don't think about it," he told her.  "Just worry about getting better, and you can tell me about it later."

She stared at him, blinking slowly, for a long moment.  He thought she might have gone back to sleep, but she opened her eyes again.  "Kyouhei-san . . ." she murmured.  "Hidekea-sama will . . . kill him . . . if he . . . finds out . . ."

"Kyouhei will be fine," he assured her, reaching up, stroking her cheek with the back of his crooked index finger.  "Don't worry about him, all right?  Just . . . Just concentrate on getting better."

She winced as she sucked in a sharp breath.  Slowly, though, her features smoothed out as the wave of pain passed.  "Your parents . . . They're not the same," she told him, her expression taking on a certain sadness.  "I saw it . . . in Yukina-sama's eyes.  She enjoys hurting others . . . Your father, too . . ."

Kichiro strode into the room, checking his watch as he set the tablet that held patients' files aside.  He knelt beside Ben and smiled at Manami.   "How are you feeling, Manami-san?"

"I'm all right," she said.  "I mean, I've had better days, but . . . I've had worse ones, too . . ."

He chuckled at her attempt to make light of the situation.  "I'm going to give you some more medicine to help you sleep so you can heal better, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

He stood up again and motioned for Ben to follow.  "I'll send a nurse in with your meds, but you don't have to worry.  They'll just go into your IV line."

"Get some rest, Nami," Ben said as he rose to stride out of the room behind Kichiro.  "Any progress?"

Kichiro nodded.  "We think so.  Charity was able to create an antidote that seemed to work on the tissue sample we took from Manami earlier, and she's waiting for the treated sample to be finished in the Krenfelt—" Intercepting the trace irritation on Ben's face, Kichiro shrugged.  "It ages samples, basically," he explained.  "We just want to make sure that there aren't any unforeseen side effects from the antidote.  There shouldn't be since it's entirely organic, but you can never be too sure."

"And if it works?  How long would it take to get the poison out of her system?"

Kichiro rubbed his forehead.  "It really isn't possible to predict.  It depends on how thoroughly the poison has spread through her system, but it shouldn’t take too long—maybe a day or two to get her out of the woods, but we're pretty sure that Manami-san will require a series of treatments to remove it all.  The nature of that poison is ugly.  Even the smallest amount of it will multiply, so, it needs to be completely eradicated.  In theory, though, the antidote shouldn't have any adverse effects, even if we end up giving Manami-san more than she might need.  It's all plant based, so it should neutralize the poison, and if there's too much in her system, her body should filter it out of her easily enough."  He sighed.  "In this case, I'd rather over-treat it than under-treat it."

Ben nodded as he considered what Kichiro had said.  "Me, too."

Kichiro finally broke into a wan smile.  "If it weren't for Charity . . . That girl knows more about plants than anyone I've ever met, even Mama, which I guess isn't really too surprising, given her choice of careers, but if she hadn't been here, I don't know if we would have been able to get this far this quickly."

Ben couldn't help but to smile, despite his bleak thoughts.

"Look," Kichiro said, clapping a hand on Ben's arm, "Why don't you take Charity home?  We're going to keep Manami-san sedated, at least until the antidote has a chance to work so that her body can start healing on its own.  There's nothing you can do here right now, and if there's a change, I promise you, I'll call you immediately."

He wanted to argue with Kichiro, but he nodded instead.  As much as he'd like to remain here to make sure that she was all right, she needed rest far worse, and there wasn't anything he could do for her now.

However, there was something he could do, but first, he needed to talk to Sesshoumaru . . .

Ben strode into Sesshoumaru's office without stopping to knock.  Both Ryomaru and InuYasha glanced at the interruption, but quickly shifted their combined attention back to Sesshoumaru and Toga.  Toga was sitting at the hulking desk while his father stood, staring out the windows, his arms crossed over his chest.  The Japanese tai-youkai glanced at Ben before looking over the paper before him and rising to hand it to Ryomaru.  Before he did, however, he stopped, shaking his head slightly as his gaze shifted once more to Ben.  "Uh, Ben, can you give us a minute?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you," Ben replied tightly.  "All of you."

Toga let out a deep breath and stepped around the desk.  "I was about to send them on a hunt," he explained.  "I was going to talk to you about it, but you were at the hospital, and it needs to be taken care of as soon as possible . . ." He trailed off, staring at Ben in an entirely inscrutable kind of way.

"Since when would you need to talk to me about a hunt order?" Ben countered slowly.

"Your mother attacked one of our hunters, Benjiro," Sesshoumaru said without turning away from the window.

"I know she's your mother," Toga continued, "but I cannot . . . As tai-youkai, I cannot ignore what she's done . . ."

Ben snatched the paper out of Toga's hand and glanced at it: an official hunt order.  He made a face as he crumpled it up and tossed it aside.  "You cannot do that," he growled.  "She's pregnant."

"Ben, I cannot show leniency with someone who—"

"I know what she's done, Toga," Ben insisted.  "What I'm saying is, at least let her have the cub.  She's due to give birth in a month or so."

"And in that time, she could flee," Toga argued.  "I understand your position here, Ben, and that's why I wanted to talk to you, but surely you can also understand mine.  You work closely with Zelig-san, and—"

"I'm not asking you not to have her hunted," Ben ground out.  "I'm asking you to confine her until she has the baby.  After that?”  He steeled his resolve.  “After that, then you can do what you need to do.  That's all."

"And do what with her in the meantime?  Bring her here?"

"Surely you have somewhere that you could confine her for a month or so?"

Toga sighed.  "Ben, our resources are stretched as it is.  With the extra security detail in the forest and here, not to mention the ones I've had to send out on reconnaissance, you must realize that—"

"I'll watch her."

Toga crossed his arms over his chest as he stared hard at Ben.  "It's not practical—"

"And costing an unborn child its chance at life?  That is?" Ben countered.

He didn't miss the look that passed between Toga and Sesshoumaru, and he narrowed his gaze.  "Do you honestly think I'd let her go?  After all of this, you think that?" he demanded, unable to keep the absolute incredulity out of his tone.  "Do you think I am too compassionate to realize that she has trespassed one time too many and one time too deeply?  I am not a fool!"

"It's not that," Toga assured him.  "But . . . But if something were to happen—if she somehow did manage to escape—even if it wasn't your fault, surely you can understand exactly how that would look.  It's for your protection, too.  You have to know that."

Ben shook his head.  "And Kyouhei?  After everything he's done for you—for the entire house of Inutaisho—does it matter what he would want, too?"

"It has nothing to do with him, either," Toga insisted.

"It has everything to do with him!" Ben growled, struggling for a calm that he simply didn't feel.  "Do you have any idea at all, just what kind of struggle it was for him?  To choose to help you, to turn traitor against his own family?  For that matter, have you stopped to consider just how much danger he could be in right now if they figured out the part he played in getting Manami out of there?  This child belongs as much to Kyouhei as it does to chichiue and hahaue—and to me."

Toga rubbed his forehead and slowly shook his head.  "I'm sorry, Ben, but I cannot—"

Ben snorted indelicately, grabbing Toga by the front of his shirt, ignoring the ones who stood, hands on the hilts of their swords as Ben dealt the tai-youkai a solid yank to bring him to his feet and to pull him a little closer.  Toga didn't flinch, and he didn't look like he was ready to back down, either.  "You can, Toga.  You just don't want to, but you can.  Stop thinking like a youkai and start thinking like a man, will you?  Someone with spiritual powers would be able to confine her easily enough with just a barrier.  Kagome or Kurt . . . It's not that difficult to do, and before you say that you can't do that, either, then you need to remember: you're the reason Manami is in the hospital now.  You're the reason why she went there, in the first place: because you asked her to.  You . . . You had to know that she would be easily recognizable to the wrong people, and the wrong people got their hands on her, so what happened to her?  That's on you—on your office . . ."  Letting go of Toga with a harsh push, Ben turned away, glowered at the ceiling as he tried to rein in his spiraling emotions.  "So, I'm asking you, Toga, man to man . . . Just . . . Just let us have the cub.  Please."

Charity sat in the shade of a large sakura tree while the babies crawled around her, giggling at the butterflies that flitted around them, lighting on the spring flowers in bloom around the base of the old tree as they tried their hardest to catch them.  Captain, the dog that InuYasha had brought back with him from Maine, was laying in the grass nearby, calmly keeping an eye on the girls since InuYasha had told him to do so before he went inside, Kagome had told her.  He seemed a lot calmer than he had been, and, though Charity didn't know exactly what kind of rehabilitation InuYasha was using with him, it seemed like it just might be working . . .

"Dada," Nadia said, sitting down hard and clapping her hands before lifting her arms.

Charity turned her head, craned her neck to look up as Ben wandered over, hands deep in his trouser pockets, slightly rumpled white dress shirt tucked in, sleeves rolled up a couple times.  He looked like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night, and when she'd gotten up an hour ago, he was already in the office as the men held one of their meetings behind closed doors.

He'd told her last night that Toga had issued a hunt for his mother, that he'd wanted to have her silenced, regardless of the fact that she was heavily pregnant.  Ben had been able to talk Toga down, at least, overnight while he weighed his options, but it hadn't helped the anger that she'd sensed in Ben, and the strain in the mansion was a palpable thing.

"Hi," she greeted, patting the blanket beside her.  He sank down, pulling Nadia into his lap, kissing her downy cheek.  "Did you talk to Papa again?" she asked when he said nothing.

He frowned as Nadia crawled off his lap to go explore some more.  "I . . . I did," he replied, accompanied by a long, drawn-out sigh.  "He agreed to hold off on issuing the hunt until after hahaue has the baby, under the condition of absolute secrecy, which isn't really a problem.  He's afraid that if they catch wind of it, they'll seek refuge in Europe."

"Who was in on the first meeting?"

He shrugged.  "Just your father, grandfather, great-uncle, and Ryomaru.  Secrecy isn't going to be an issue."

She stared at him for a long minute, her amber eyes, solemn and sad.  "Are you okay with this?"

He rasped out a wry chuckle that was sadder than a sound like that should have been.  "I'd be lying if I said I was okay with it," he admitted.  "But she's made her choices . . ."

Charity nodded slowly.  "Okay . . . Then tell me: what's really bothering you?  Besides Manami-san—I already know about that."

Ben reached out, caught Emmeline and kissed her cheek.  The seven-month-old baby smashed her hands against Ben's face and pushed.  "Dada, no!" she chastised.

He laughed softly at the baby's words and kissed her again for good measure before letting her down to play some more.  "Did you teach her that word?"

Charity smiled.  "I most certainly did not," she argued.  "I have a feeling that we're going to hear that one a lot, though, so you might as well get used to it . . ."

Ben heaved a sigh.  "Figures," he muttered.  "I saw Hecht.  They've got him working with one of the other hunters, patrolling around the grounds."

"I saw him earlier, too.  He seems a lot happier, doesn't he?  He can't believe how much the babies have grown just since December . . ." Her smile faded as she reached out, brushed his hair back out of his face.  He usually wore it clubbed back low, much like Cain did.  Today, however, he hadn't had time to do so.  "Is something else bothering you?  I . . . I'd be happy to listen, even if I can't do much about it . . ."

He made a face.  "Just . . . Just worried about Kyouhei.  He hasn't called, and I can't help but to wonder . . ." He snorted, scowling at the blanket.  "If chichiue finds out about Kyouhei's involvement . . ."

She winced as she laid her hand on his, gave him a reassuring squeeze.  "He'll be fine, Ben.  Kyouhei-san's smart.  He'll be all right . . ."

He didn't look like he believed her, but he met her gaze with an attempt at a smile.  It looked more like a grimace.  "Any word on Nami?"

"Kichiro-oji-chan said that the antidote was working, and that her body is showing signs that it's finally beginning to heal itself."  Her smile faltered as she gathered her hair to pull it over her shoulder.  "It's too soon to tell if her wings will heal themselves, though . . ."

Ben nodded.  "Her wings are beautiful," he murmured, letting his head fall back as he glanced up at the sky through the tangle of branches and leaves.  "If you had seen them before, you'd understand . . . There's just something majestic about them, and Nami . . ." Trailing off with a sigh, he clenched his teeth together so tightly that his jaw twitched.

Charity opened her mouth to try to assure him that Manami would be okay, but she peered over his shoulder as a group of four of the youkai who were set to patrol the grounds walked up the path with another youkai—a young woman—in tow.  The girl kept frantically looking from one to another, talking rapidly, gesturing with her hands, though, from the distance, Charity couldn't hear what was being said.  "Do you have any idea who that is?" she asked, nodding at the group.

Ben turned to look as he slowly got to his feet.  Charity did, too, though she didn't follow Ben as he strode away.

"What's going on?" Ben asked as he approached the youkai guards.

One of them—an eel-youkai that Ben thought was named Yoshiki—stopped, but didn't let go of the girl.  "We caught her trying to get through the front gates," he said.

The girl glanced at Ben, her eyes widening as the color drained out of her cheeks.  "You . . . You are kin to Hidekea-sama!" she blurted, trying to turn toward Ben.  The guards must have thought that she was trying to resist, and they yanked her back a little rougher than they needed to.  The girl stumbled, and Ben shoved Yoshiki aside to catch her by the arm, to steady her on her feet.  "How do you know my father?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on her.

She uttered a sound that existed somewhere between a gasp and a sob as tears sprang into her eyes, as she quickly shook her head.  "Oh, please, can you help?  Kyouhei-sama—"

"Let go of her," Ben demanded, pulling her away from the other men.  "I'll take responsibility for her.  Go get Toga."

They didn't look like they wanted to comply, but they did as he commanded, hurrying away toward the mansion.

"What about Kyouhei?" Ben asked as he turned his attention back to the girl.  "Where is he?  What's going on?"

She choked back a sob.  "Hidekea-sama overheard us," she admitted.  "I think he knows that Kyouhei-sama helped the prisoner escape . . . He led Kyouhei-sama away, and I . . . I didn't know what to do, so I came here . . ."

"Kyouhei . . ."  Digging his cell phone out of his pocket, he dialed his brother's number.  It went straight to voicemail, and he grimaced as he ended the connection and put it away again.  "Damn it . . . And you came straight here?  How long ago did you leave?  How long?"

The girl shook her head miserably.  "It was yesterday morning," she mumbled.  "Can you help him?  Please, will you?"

"What's going on?  Who's this?" Toga demanded as he strode toward them.  The guards followed Sesshoumaru and InuYasha, who were right behind the tai-youkai.

"H-Hajimemashite," the girl hurriedly blurted as she made Toga a low bow.  "I am Hana.  I work for Muira Hidekea and his mate, Yukina . . ."

At the mention of those names, Toga stopped abruptly, shot Ben a questioning glance.

"Kyouhei's been discovered," Ben said.  "Chichiue knows that he's the one who helped Manami escape.  He's in trouble . . . and I'm going to get him out of there."