Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Tangled Webs We Weave ❯ A Deeper Darkness ( Chapter 5 )

Curling up even further on the bed edge, Ryo groaned through his tears. He willed everything to just go away, to leave him drifting in the void he’d been walking in for the past few weeks. But the pain wouldn’t release him and the stench of bile was as bad as the taste still on his throat and tongue. ‘Why won’t you stop it? I didn’t ask for this!’

Sobbing, Ryo shoved himself from the bed and landed with a scream that echoed off the empty walls of the Koji Manner. ‘Just leave me alone!’ Crawling away from the bed, dragging himself with his right arm, he collapsed once more as a red glow slowly grew on his brow. “Go away!” ooOooOooOoo

“Shin!” Touma yelled as he hauled himself up. Shin had shoved him away and he suspected Seiji as well to summon his armor. Whatever was stalking them was still playing with them, toying with them really; they’d all felt the air from it’s last passage as it brushed against their backs.

Touma almost jumped when he felt a touch to his shoulder from behind. Spinning, he stepped back when he got a face-full of Shin’s helmet. “Shit! Don’t do that!” He clutched his chest.

“Grab hold,” Shin commanded. He turned his back to Touma and knelt down, mindful of Seiji in his arms.

Hesitating a moment, Touma could practically feel Shin preparing to snap at him and so climbed on carefully. Slipping his arms around Shin’s neck, he shifted his legs around the boy’s armored waist. “Shin…” He could see Seiji now and would have laughed at the sight of the blond trying to keep his legs spread around Shin’s spiked gauntlet if the situation wasn’t so serious.

Blinking as the brunette stood, Touma shook his head and tightened his hold. “Shin, you don’t have the strength for this!” With as much blood as he knew the boy had lost, he was amazed Shin was moving around with such ease. The armor always did give them a boost in strength, but the cost for that was equal if not greater.

“Shut up,” Shin snapped, voice too thick to be sharp. Testing his balance and the weight he carried, he tightened his hold on Seiji and took off at a run for the manner. His only goal to get the two boys back to their home and to their orbs. Even Seiji with his busted (though adamantly not broken) leg would be of more help in a fight then himself presently. ‘And Ryo’s there. …Assuming this thing’s alone, and that he’s not come out looking for us himself. Or it.’

All three could feel the thing’s attention on them still as they retreated. It wasn’t until Shin reached the top steps of the porch when the thing’s presence vanished completely from their awareness. Even so though, Touma jumped off of Shin as soon as they were inside and ran up the stairs for his orb. Unable to do the same, Seiji had to wait for Shin to put him down.

Standing unsteadily, Seiji didn’t miss the fact that he had more balance then Shin. “Off,” he ordered, hand tugging on the shoulder part of Suiko. He wasn’t going to even wait for the boy to get closer to the couch, unwilling to let the boy wear the armor for longer then absolutely necessary.

Shin didn’t argue. Everything went black on him and the world twisted out from beneath him. He was vaguely aware of a grunt, no doubt Seiji’s, then nothing else.

Muttering to himself, Seiji hauled Shin’s slumped form up enough to get one of the boy’s arms over his shoulders again. Dragging his left leg behind him and both of Shin’s, he was relieved when Touma jumped back down the stairs. “Gimme a hand,” he groused even as the blue-haired archer slipped beneath Shin’s other side.

“Worse then I thought,” Touma muttered, getting a better look at Shin in the light of the still playing television. Once they got him on the couch, he went to turn the light on while Seiji took a heavy seat at Shin’s legs.

“Much worse,” Seiji agreed, squinting in the sudden flood of artificial light. Then he frowned at the older boy. “What was that Shin?”

“Ryo,” the young man whispered and shifted with a groan. He didn’t seem completely aware and was held in place with ease.

Seiji snapped his attention up to Touma. “Find him,” was all he said before the blue-haired boy was gone, and Seiji’s fingers curled around the warmth of his own orb suddenly placed into his hand. With a quick flash of light, he was left kneeling beside Shin in his own green and white sub-armor. But still whatever had chased them home had yet to return. ooOooOooOoo

While he ran up the stairs and down the hall, Touma could feel the gentle tugging in the back of his mind that was Korin and Seiji working together to heal Shin. ‘No doubt slow the bleeding, since he’s not cleaned him yet.’ Keeping those thoughts to the back of his mind along with the impression, Touma turned most of his attention to outside the manner and any creatures near to their home. He couldn’t find anything.

“Ryo?” he called out, running into the room. He frowned when he didn’t see the boy on the obviously mussed bed, but running further into the room found the boy on the second bed, Ryo’s usual one. ‘Why’d he…? Oh yeah,’ he answered his own question when the stench of the boy’s earlier illness assaulted him. ‘Shit, forgot about that. Wonderful. But at least he’s still here.’

Reluctant to banish the sub-armor, Touma still did so and with a silent groan he set about cleaning the room. But not until he checked Ryo over to make certain he wasn’t bleeding beneath those blankets. Touma damn near screamed when he realized the dark-haired boy was. “SEIJI!!!”

Touma swore he could hear the blonde’s swearing over his own from down the stairs, and certainly the order towards Shin to stay put. Banishing his own armor so he could feel the warmth of Ryo’s skin, he whimpered at how cold the older boy felt. “Come on Ryo,” he growled, drawing in a deep breath. “You’re better then this. Wake up!”

“Touma!” Seiji called, swinging into the room, sub-armor catching the gleam of artificial light when he flipped the switch.

“Nothing, but he’s bleeding and freezing.” Touma stepped out of the way, pulling Ryo’s shirt up as he did so.

Taking the archer’s place beside the bed, Seiji’s ice-blue eyes narrowed on the apparent damage, the stench of blood hitting him with a heady, almost dizzying sensation. “As bad as Shin,” he muttered, running his fingers down Ryo’s ribs down to his hips, white armor quickly stained red. “Deep.” Tugging Ryo’s pants down to ride low on his hips, Seiji made a sound and pulled them the rest of the way off.

“Get the kit from under the sink, a wet cloth and some towels. We have to get this blood cleaned away.” Touma was almost to the door before he’d even finished.

‘Twin incision on his leg, lower side punctured just beneath the ribs, and dark bruising on his other leg, both lower and on the outer hip.’ Looking up, Seiji slowly carefully scanned the room while he waited for Touma. ‘No sign of intrusion. What the hell happened to you Ryo?’ Lowering his gaze back to the younger boy, he took the towel suddenly thrust at him and started cleaning.

‘It never struck us, we only felt its presence and the movement of air from attempted strikes. It vanished when we got to the manner. A creature couldn’t have done this, nor would, could one just up and vanish from our awareness like that. It’s not a soldier like from the Youjakai or anything like that did this, we would have sensed that much, or at the very lest have seen or heard something! There’d be some trace. A spirit then? But how could one of such ill intent get into the manner uninvited? Or have we attracted the attention of something even higher?’

Blinking, Seiji’s thoughts quieted and he realized together he and Touma had already cleaned and wrapped Ryo up. He shook his head at the blue-haired boy’s questioning look, and knew from Touma’s own expression that the younger boy hadn’t had any more luck in coming to a conclusion. Sighing, Seiji moved his hands to hover over Ryo’s side bellow his ribs only to look up with a start when Touma laid his own hands over his. He looked up to see the blue-haired boy wearing a bemused expression.

“You’ve already sped the healing up Seiji,” Touma murmured softly, lips twitching at the irritated twitch to the blonde’s eye. He knew it was directed just as much at him as it was to Seiji himself. “Alright Blondie,” he sounded far too chipper even to his own ears. “Let’s get you to your own bed and have your leg looked at.”

Standing, Touma dragged Seiji up and gave the white, red and green sub-armor a pointed look. His lips twitched when he heard the older boy’s irritated breath, but smoothed his expression when the armor vanished. Wrapping his arm around Seiji’s waist, neither said anything as Touma helped him to their shared room. Touma waited until he had Seiji on the bed and his pants off before opening his mouth.

“What’s Shin’s condition?” He asked, running long, nimble fingers along Seiji’s injured leg, catching every restrained wince, grimace and bitten off groan.

“Since he’s not shown up, he should be sleeping,” Seiji’s voice was just a bit more terse then it should have been, giving evidence to his tight control. Touma just snorted.

“Doubtful. Not until he knows what the hell that was all about, don’t matter how bad he is.” He heard something akin to a laugh from Seiji and let a small smirk pull at his own lips.

“Too true,” Seiji found himself agreeing. “There was more blood then damage done, he’ll be fine with a couple days true rest. Still need to wrap his chest.”

“I’ll do it when I’m done with you. You are going to get some rest yourself.” They both knew Seiji hated being ordered around, but Touma wasn’t in the mood to deal with an argument and too many of their own were already injured. ‘Yeah, all but me. I wonder if it’s all a coincidence, or if something‘s trying to pick us off one at a time?’ Something in Seiji’s expression led Touma to believe the older boy was thinking something along the same lines.

“It’s late,” Touma stated as he straightened, then grabbed the sheets from the foot of the bed. “Doesn’t feel like you broke anything, and I didn’t feel any cracks. I’ll bring some ice up after I get Shin settled.” Draping the sheets over Seiji, having no intention of returning the blonde’s pants, Touma turned to go. “We’ll see how it looks in the morning. Wake me up if it starts to throb, ach or anything understand? Don’t grit and bear.”

Seiji mock-saluted him, and they both laughed. Tension easing between his shoulders, Touma grinned. Twisting in the doorway with a remark on his lips, Touma swallowed his breath and watched as Seiji closed his eyes, either to sleep or meditate. ‘Happy birthday Seiji,’ he wished with just a touch of remorse. ‘We’ll just have to make it up once we’re all together again, whole and healthy.’ He smirked. ‘Don’t think you’ll get out of it so easily.’ ooOooOooOoo

Come noon the following day found Touma to be the first and only one awake. The fact that he made it downstairs, fully dressed and showered without waking anyone was a point of worry for him. It made it painfully clear just how bad a spot everyone was in, and once more forced the consideration that they were being set up. It made him very nervous about Shu being by himself, hospital or not.