Spiral Suiri No Kizuna Fan Fiction ❯ The Epic ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Chapter: 2/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

 

Author's Notes: The story continues! Concrit appreciated, no flames. We're entitled to abuse our creative license. ^_^ Please enjoy!

 

~*~

 

Kousuke hummed a random tune as he wandered down the street near Sayoko's home. He was making a point of simply being there, not hiding anything at all. He knew the Hunter was out there, even if he hadn't seen him yet. He could feel eyes on him, and a slight prickle between his shoulder blades that rather felt like he was being targeted. Well, that was all to the good. He'd just wander into the nearby park, which he already knew was empty this late in the afternoon, and deal with the problem. Then he'd go home, reassure Eyes, and argue over pizza toppings with Rio.
*~*
Ayumu circled the block yet one more time. Things had seemed quiet since the moment he'd gotten to Sayoko's home, but that nagging little feeling in the back of his head made it so that he couldn't leave just yet. He had to check one more time.
The brunette wasn't usually one to question things unless something gave him good reason. And for the time being, he didn't really have a reason. The fact that there hadn't been any breaking news from Hiyono, and the Blade Children were lying low gave him plenty of reason to sit back and enjoy the lull in the action.
Except for that feeling.
So he'd made sure Madoka's dinner would be waiting for her, warming in the oven, and headed out, going to the first place that came to mind. And it was there that he had stalked for the last hour, trying to figure out what that thought was and why it wouldn't go away even after checking out the grounds. Sighing, he rounded the corner and caught the sound of a familiar tune.
"...kira kira kira...ki..." He groaned at recognizing Hiyono's weird song, but it wasn't coming from the rambunctious girl. He sought to find who was humming it.
Just as he finished turning the corner, he caught sight of the hummer, who was entering the park down the block. There was a flash of bright red hair, and then it was gone amidst the greenery.
Ayumu frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets and pursuing the direction that color went. He was pretty sure he knew exactly who that shock of crimson belonged to, and he wanted to know why Kousuke was snooping around here too.
*~*
Kousuke continued to hum for a few minutes longer as he made his way towards the center of the park, where the trees were thickest. While he didn't care about such things, Eyes would be annoyed if Kousuke left the aftermath of a bloody massacre right out in plain sight for people to find. The Hunter had his trail now, abandoning Sayoko's, which was all to the good. While the redhead was a self-proclaimed sick bastard, he didn't see where anyone could get off on hunting down a helpless amnesiac. He absently patted at his various pockets, reaffirming that he had all his knives and his gun at hand. While everything was going to plan, he was sure that the Hunter wouldn't go down without a fight.
Ayumu waited until he was sure they were alone before approaching Kousuke. "You do realize that Hiyono would consider it some kind of personal victory if she knew you were humming that song, right?"
Kousuke gave a yelp and a small start, spinning to stare at his unexpected visitor. It took a few minutes for Ayumu's words to penetrate past the shock as his brain separated itself from the game he was playing with the Hunter, but when it did, he grimaced. "I shall have to cut out my tongue in penance. What the fuck are you doing here, Narumi-ototou?"
"I should ask you the same thing. Technically, we're both trespassing, and without a good reason to be here, we could possibly be arrested. I thought you liked to keep yourself away from the authorities, Asazuki." Ayumu didn't look fazed by the Blade Child, actually inwardly smug that he'd, yet again, caught the other by surprise.
The redhead gave a sardonic snort. "I have it on damn good authority that the other authorities don't even bother patrolling this park, because they got sick of reading rights to squirrels. No one's coming here who doesn't plan to. Speaking of, I have business. Get lost, Narumi-chan."
"You're expecting someone to go after Sayoko-chan, aren't you?" Ayumu asked, his features darkening a little. That must have been what that strange premonition was about. Given that the poor girl barely remembered a thing about her past, the brunette couldn't help but be slightly more protective. The other Blade Children had seemed quite adept at taking care of themselves in one way or another.
Kousuke gave an annoyed huff, one hand resting on his hip while the other adjusted his shades. "It's really none of your business, what I do or think. Look, under any other circumstance, I would be overjoyed to play mind games with you until we both passed out cold. But right now, I've got things to do. And you're distracting me from them. Go home. Eat supper. Go make out with Hiyono." He paused, turned a little green, and shook his head. "On second thought, scratch that last one. Bad mental images."
Even Ayumu had to make a face at such a thought. She was a nice girl, but in that sisterly kind of way that made the thought of kissing her just a bit nauseating. He shrugged. "Well then, if you've got it covered..." He wouldn't waste his time where he wasn't wanted. It went against his nature. "I'll be on my way."
Kousuke nodded, looking satisfied. Behind him, Ayumu could see the dying rays of the sun glint off something metallic, and pointed at the redhead's back...
That didn't look good. His eyes widened, and he moved forward. "Asazuki!" The words to explain why wouldn't come fast enough. He reacted first, reaching to grab the other boy.
Kousuke, startled at Ayumu's sudden approach, flinched back, and that was all that saved his life. There was the sharp crack of a gunshot, and the bullet sailed through the space where the redhead had just been, tearing a sleeve instead of drilling through his chest.
"K'so!" the Blade child hissed, kicking himself for getting so distracted by Ayumu that he had lost track of the Hunter. He pulled out his own gun and moved for the nearest cover. "Narumi, get out of here!"
Something about just leaving Kousuke here with the Hunter conflicted with his gut, and he hesitated, stepping back as the redhead drew his own gun. He had no fighting skills, no weapon except his mind... he felt useless, but still didn't think it was right to leave the other alone. He did follow Kousuke's lead, however, moving to the nearest cover.
The Hunter stepped out of the trees, revealing herself to be a tall blonde woman. She was wearing a business suit so as to have blended in with the general area, but the cruelly amused expression on her face was by no means normal. "Concern for innocents, little freak? I'm surprised. Living weapons don't need such things."
"Ah, stuff it." Kousuke growled. He was not happy. The last thing he had wanted was for anyone to be caught in the middle of this, especially Ayumu. What was it with that guy that he always turned up when it was the most inconvenient? Eyes is gonna skin me...
"Living weapons?" Ayumu murmured confusedly, pressing his back up against the tree he'd chosen to hide behind, the bark digging in, even through his jacket. His dark eyes sought out Kousuke, trying to pinpoint where he was in relation to this crazy bitch. "You're the only one who's using a weapon that I can see, lady," he called back. The park had a decent amount of greenery, but not enough to cover him if he made a run for it. He knew that he wasn't faster than a bullet.
The Hunter's hard gray eyes flickered over to where Ayumu was hiding, and she smirked. "Hm. Dark hair and gold eyes, about fifteen...well, well, well. If it isn't Kiyotaka's little brother."
Kousuke stiffened. What was a Hunter doing, knowing about the Narumi brothers? So far as he knew, the Hunters only cared about exterminating Blade Children.
A rough sigh of annoyance left the brunette's lips, and his fingers curled against the bark, the scraping against his skin grounding his temper to something more tolerable. He didn't want to do something stupid, and holding his ground was the safest action. "You know, that introduction line is getting old really fast."
Kousuke had to bite down on a snicker and force his mind to return to business. If he could shoot her while Ayumu distracted her...
The woman laughed. "Oh? Well, I suppose you wouldn't have to worry about it much anymore. After all, Kiyotaka's hardly going to return to you. Not after what the Hunters did to stop his nosing about."
Pain shot up Ayumu's arms, and he realized that his nails were digging so hard into the trunk that anymore pressure would make the bark cut into him. His eyes were clenched shut as he forced himself not to rise to the bait. The other Hunter had tried to do that to Eyes, and the musician had stayed alive because he kept a level head. He couldn't lose it to yet someone else who had a steel grip on his heart thanks to Kiyotaka. "I don't even care," he said, his tone like all the other times he'd protested the impact of his brother, cold and seemingly indifferent. "After two years, I stopped waiting."
The woman sniffed, absently firing a shot at Kousuke when he tried to aim at her, smirking at the muffled curse he let out. "You're just as good at the poker face as he was, at least. But it hardly makes any difference. And once he could no longer scream, all the fun was gone. At least my pets benefited from the extra meat."
Kousuke went cold. He was pretty sure she was lying, but that was just because he was more familiar with how both the Knights and the Blade Children worked. Ayumu would have no such knowledge. "Narumi-oto--" There was a loud bang, and the bark sprayed from where one of the Hunter's shots had struck the tree.
"Oh hush. I'll get around to you after I'm done with my conversation. It's fascinating to talk with those that debase themselves enough to care for monsters."
The sound caused Ayumu to flinch, and he cursed himself inwardly for it. Red swam in front of his closed lids before he opened his eyes once more to the dying light. He took a slow, deep breath. There were people out there that were more messed up than the Blade Children... how true was what she was saying? Where was his brother, and how had he gotten in with such screwed up company? "The only monster I'm hearing right now is you. Maybe you should stop calling the kettle black and go home."
The woman chuckled. "Nope. Not until I've dealt some of God's justice. And that means getting rid of hell spawn like your little friend there." She looked thoughtful. "Of course, considering that I don't want witnesses, and the fact that the Blade Children here seem to think you're important..."
"Bitch!" Kousuke snarled, risking the loss of cover long enough to throw one of the daggers hidden in his sleeves. He snarled when she dodged, laughing at his anger.
That roused a cold laugh from Ayumu, the sound almost sarcastic and just a little bitter. He shook his head, chestnut strands falling to curtain dark amber eyes. "You must have me confused with Kiyotaka. The Blade Children have made it quite obvious that I barely compare to my brother. They see fit to remind me of that quite often."
"It's obvious you haven't been paying attention to what they are so careful not to say, then. Tell me, Blade Child, is it hard to put all your hopes on a fool who can only chase his brother's shadow?"
Kousuke's answer was not something that was suitable for polite company.
Ayumu wasn't up for this kind of game. He had no reply at all for the woman, and he might have almost admitted that he felt like it was the tree that kept him standing. He couldn't help feeling angry, flustered, but his mind was racing for control of that. This wasn't the time to let old grudges remain on the surface, not when his and Kousuke's lives were on the line.
"Ah well, no matter. Since I'm sure now from the little hell spawn's reactions that he doesn't want you harmed, I have my edge." She raised a second gun, smaller than the first, and dashed over to the side, at an angle where Ayumu was just within target range. She fired, and something like a small dart flew from the barrel.
"No!" Kousuke yelled.
It was the same split-second awareness that had allowed him to push Kousuke out of the way that moved him now. He pushed away from the tree, feeling something sharp whiz past his neck, catching his skin just slightly. He hissed and dropped to the ground. Whatever had been on that dart burned in the slight cut it made, and that burning sensation was quickly spreading. The Hunter was on Ayumu in a blink, wrapping one arm around his neck in a choke hold, and smiled in satisfaction. "The data I gathered suggested you would show up where my prey was, and that you are especially susceptible to toxins and poisons. Just what I needed."
"Narumi!" Kousuke shouted, but didn't dare fire his gun. The blonde woman was holding the brunette in front of her as a shield, and there was a danger that he'd hit him by accident. His hands were shaking, terror uncurling within himself at the thought that the woman had just poisoned Ayumu, possibly fatally.

"C-coward...!" Ayumu spat, struggling weakly in the woman's arms. He felt like he couldn't control his limbs or his breath, the sound of it rattling in his chest so hard it felt like it reverberated through his head. The burning that had begun in his neck felt like it had already reached the tips of his fingers and toes, his skin hot to the touch. "L-let me...go..." He remembered how frightened he'd been when Rio had fooled him with the fake strychnine in the glass. Now he knew that he had every right to be that scared.
The Hunter raised an eyebrow. "What, and lose a bargaining chip? I don't think so." She turned her cold gray eyes to Kousuke, smirking at the obvious anger and frustration on his face. "Drop the gun and all your weapons, or I kill this boy now. And considering all the attention you little freaks have been giving him when you normally avoid close contact with outsiders, I don't think you want that."
Kousuke glared. "Are you so sure? We've been trying to off him ever since he met us."
The blonde woman chuckled. "That may fool Narumi-chan, but I know you've just been testing him. And you've all put a lot of hope on one slender pair of shoulders. Now unarm or I snap his neck."
Kousuke gritted his teeth, but did as she said. What choice did he have?
"Kousuke, no!" Ayumu shouted with what little strength he had, which made the sound come out like a very forced hiss.
"Good boy," the woman said, but her tone was one a person used with a dog, not a human, and it caused Kousuke to snarl.
"I did what you said. I'm at your fucking mercy. Now let Narumi-ototou go!"
The Hunter just laughed. "And leave you free to do something inventive with that engineered mind of yours? I think not. Of course, since I'd rather you didn't get the idea of doing anything rash anyway..." She aimed and fired, and Kousuke let out a sharp cry as the bullet tore through his left shoulder.
The edges around Ayumu's vision began to blur, his eyes locking with Kousuke's. He was obviously not happy with the situation. For some strange reason, he hadn't wanted the redhead to give in to the woman, even though his life was at stake. If this were really fatal poison, it was possible that he was going to die anyway, whether Asazuki surrendered or not. He growled, his struggles slowing as he lost almost complete control. His knees shook, almost unable to support him now. "Kou...suke..."
The Hunter smirked, and used her free hand to press a button on what had looked like a simple beeper. Within minutes, several helpers had appeared and Kousuke and Ayumu were tossed into the back of a van.
Kousuke immediately crawled over to where Ayumu was lying, needing to make sure that the boy was still alive. He tried to hide the worry, but he wasn't too sure it was working.
Ayumu's fists clenched against the cold metal floor of the van, his face twisting as the movements of the vehicle jostled his already aching frame. A sheen of perspiration glistened on his skin in the dim light that came from the front of the van. In the midst of the pain and the fight to keep breathing as deeply as he could, he was hoping to force his mind into remaining active. His eyes opened slowly, the pupils almost eclipsing the amber color, the surface glassy. He found it insanely hard to focus, but it wasn't difficult to know that the red blur above him was Asazuki. "You're....an idiot..."
Kousuke rolled his eyes. Why was it whenever things got bad, he was always the one who got called that? "I told you to leave. And what would you have me do? Let her kill you?"
Ayumu gave a faint smirk. "I think...it's lethal..."
"Not if the does was small enough. And the dart only scratched you. If need be, there are ways to get around even that." Kousuke was trying not to think too much about it. While he was perfectly willing and capable to do things that would ensure survival, the only possible help he could give required rather more physical contact than he figured either of them were used to.

"I suppose...the best person to ask about things like that...is someone who's trying..." He caught his breath and coughed a little, wincing as the reaction was another round of burning that spread across his chest. After a moment, he took the deepest breath he could to finish. "...to cheat...fate..."
Kousuke rolled his eyes. "I still don't believe that you can save us. But Rio and Eyes can, and they'll skin me if I let you die. And the last thing I want is those two mad at me. So, we make sure you survive. Now, the amount of the toxin in your bloodstream is probably very small, because all the Hunter did was scratch you, and most of that will still be around the wound. So the best tactic to take would be..." The redhead paused, coughed, and suddenly seemed a little pink around the cheekbones. "...um, to suck out some of the poison from the scratch."
What is this, some damsel in distress movie?! was Ayumu's first reaction. He didn't have to say it, probably wouldn't be able to, but the indignant expression that appeared on his face should have said it anyway.
The Blade Child sighed and tried logic. Logic usually worked with Ayumu. "Look, this is the only way to lower the probability of fatal dosage. We could just leave you as-is, but the likelihood of you kicking the proverbial metal water-bearing tool will be higher than if you stopped acting like some blushing high school girl."
That indignant expression deepened, but the creasing of Ayumu's brows at the same time showed that it got the point across better. He certainly didn't want to die, especially not since he had attachments to the living world still, particularly Madoka. That, and one other thing. "Well...I guess since you went and surrendered, someone has to be around to make sure you don't get into even more trouble."
Kousuke casually flipped him off, then carefully levered Ayumu up with his good arm until the brunette's slender form was leaning against the redhead's chest. "Just relax. This is going to sting like a bitch for the first few seconds." the Blade Child said, his breath brushing over the skin of Ayumu's throat.
Against his will, Ayumu let out a small whimper of pain at being moved. By now, the flames that felt like they were eating his body had dulled to a constant thrum of heat and discomfort, his limbs feeling four times as heavy as normal. He thought he might have been a dead weight against Kousuke, but the other moved him so easily. He shivered at the feel of breath against the sensitive skin, and he knew it was a trick of the drug that made it seem cool on fevered flesh. "It can't be much worse than it already is," he pointed out breathily.
"I don't know about that," Kousuke muttered, but didn't bother to explain that odd statement. Instead, he fastened his lips to the shallow cut along Ayumu's neck. He tried to be as gentle as possible, but he also was determined to use as much force as necessary. A little pain now was forgivable if it saved the younger Narumi's life.
The brunette didn't know what he expected it to feel like when Kousuke attached himself to his throat, but he wasn't prepared for the damp pressure or the pain that seemed to shoot straight to that spot. His dark golden eyes squeezed shut, and his slight frame tensed in Kousuke's arms. "V-vampire..." he accused, trying to lighten the situation, distract him from the pain, and some other sensation that he couldn't put a word to.
Kousuke pulled back, spitting the tainted blood to the side. "Bleh! If I was a vampire, I don't think that I'd be worrying about accidentally swallowing. Or caring about how disgustingly this tastes."
Ayumu panted softly, as if he'd been the one doing the work just a moment ago. He couldn't come up with a witty reply; too busy trying to catch his breath before he started coughing again. He didn't note any sudden changes with Kousuke's attempt, but he suspected that he wouldn't be able to notice them anyway. He hadn't noticed that his hand had latched onto a section of the redhead's coat, holding it in a white-knuckled grip.
Kousuke didn't bother to enlighten him. He just kept working for the next few minutes, until he could no longer taste the poison. After that, he used his free sleeve to press against the now freely-bleeding scratch. He already had a huge stain from the gunshot in his shoulder, which he was studiously ignoring to the best of his abilities, so what was one more little bloodstain?
Ayumu felt like he had very little strength left, and it took all he had left just to remain awake. Having Kousuke to lean against tempted him that much more to sleep, but he wouldn't let himself nod off. Not yet. "You...didn't have to..." he breathed, for lack of anything better to say.
"Says you. Do you know what Rio would do to me if she found out that I let you die because we were too squirmy about physical contact? Nuh-uh. I'd rather face the Hunter than an enraged Rio." His tone was light, but it was only to cover the worry. He'd done what he could, but Ayumu was still suffering, his skin feverishly warm and yet far too pale at the same time. And by the time they got to wherever they were going, he himself would have bled out too much to put up much of a fight. That worried him almost as much as Ayumu's health.
"If you....hadn't been snooping around....in the first...place....you'd....face neither..." He hated this. For the first time, he felt truly helpless and a burden.
Kousuke glared at him. "I was there for a reason, Narumi-ototou. I was supposed to be leading the Hunter away from Sayoko and into a nice one-on-one where I could deal with her. You're the one who was snooping around where he shouldn't have been."
Much as Ayumu wanted to deny it, Kousuke had a point. But it was for somewhat the same reason. "I...wanted to...make sure she was safe. Had a bad feeling." He didn't have the usual vibrant look to his stare as he met the glare head-on. It felt like he was losing on all sides today.
Kousuke kept the glaring match going for a few seconds longer before letting out a sigh and slumping his shoulders, wincing as it jarred the bullet wound. "And you almost always follow your hunches. Che'. I should have planned for that." The golden eyes suddenly grew grave. "What worries me is that the Hunter did. If all the Hunters and not just she know what you supposedly are to us, you're in for a world of trouble."
"It would be nice if I knew what I was to you," Ayumu said, the remembrance of his own bitter words to the Hunter fresh in his mind. Second best. But she had said something about what he hadn't been told. It didn't make sense to him. Little of what he'd experienced with the Blade Children made sense to him anyway, so that was no surprise.
Kousuke sighed. "That's...for Eyes to decide when the telling of happens. For now, worry about our current predicament. I know I am. A Hunter's job is to exterminate Blade Children and any witnesses that know too much, but she's kept us weakened, but alive. Why would she want to do that? It makes me damn nervous."
"She...mentioned something...about pets..." He was going to try very hard not to think about how she'd described those pets in reference to his brother. No matter how much he resented his brother, he had no desire whatsoever to see him dead...and certainly not in such a terrible way as she'd made it seem.
Kousuke sighed and shifted Ayumu slightly so that he lay at a more comfortably angle against him, his head on Kousuke's good shoulder. "While the pets thing does not sound good, I wouldn't worry about Kiyotaka. She was most likely lying. Kiyotaka and the Hunters tended to avoid each other."
"I was...trying to keep from...rising to the...bait...." Ayumu replied. He knew his pride would hate it later, but he tried as best he could to relax in the cradling grip, turning his head just slightly to rest his head against the offered shoulder. "Sorry...for being...in the way..."
The redhead just shook his head. "It's in the past. Can't change it, and I won't dwell on it. There's much more fun things to have grudges over. You should rest. Call it crazy, but I'm getting the feeling that you're going to have to find your own way out, without me."
Ayumu smirked a little. For some reason, being told it was okay to rest made it easier to let himself do so, and his eyes fluttered closed. "I'll get out." Big words...he didn't even know where they were going to be taken, but saying that sounded better than any half-hearted sentiment. "Thank...you..."
"Eh, whatever. Go to sleep." was the nonchalant answer, but the very slight blush on the redhead's face showed that he wasn't indifferent, just unsure how to react in an unfamiliar situation.
The boy didn't need much more encouragement than that. He was out only moments afterwards, his body going slightly heavier against Kousuke's. His lips were parted a little, breathing steady but hitched, a hint that the poison was still working through him.
Kousuke just held him. It was all he could do now, counting each hitched breath and doing his best to soothe whenever it looked like Ayumu's dreams were beginning to turn sour. He'd never been in the position of protector and caretaker before, because all Blade Children needed to be self-sufficient. And while he didn't like that Ayumu was so perilously ill, part of him did like that for once, someone was depending on him for safety, however thin it was. He was worried that Ayumu didn't wake up, but the breathing was still fairly steady. Even when they reached their destination and were roughly transferred into a dark little holding cell, he didn't let go of Ayumu once.