Spiral Suiri No Kizuna Fan Fiction ❯ The Epic ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Chapter: 3/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Author's Notes: Thank you to those who commented and encouraged us to continue! We really appreciate it! There will be lots more where this came from.

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.

 

~*~

 

After what seemed like days instead of hours, Ayumu stirred in Kousuke's arms, letting out a groan of discomfort. The brunet's muscles were cramped, tight from the grip of the poison but trying to ease. He could still feel the effects working through him, though nothing was intense as it was before he passed out.

Kousuke watched him wake; privately thinking Ayumu was really cute when sleepy. "Yo. Welcome back to the land of the living."

One amber eye cracked open, and the difference between now and the previous glassy look was more than evident. "Thanks," he muttered. "Where are we?"

Kousuke shrugged with his good shoulder. "Our Hunter's so-called Den of Evil, of course. My guess is they're just keeping us here temporarily so that I bleed out some more and am too weak to fight them off." And even in the gloom, it was easy to tell that the redhead was already far paler than usual.

"You're...an idiot..." Ayumu stated for not the first time. "Why haven't you tried to stop it?"

"Because there wasn't time. I'm not in immediate danger. So far as I could tell, you were, and that took precedence." Kousuke replied, using logic again. Logic really did seem to be the best way to go with Ayumu.

Ayumu sighed, almost hating it when logic was used against him. Both eyes opened and focused on Kousuke's face. "Fine. But now that I'm awake, you need to take care of yourself."

Kousuke nodded. "I guess. Can you sit up on your own, or should I prop you up against the wall?"

"Well...put me down and we'll find out..." Ayumu really wanted to just lie back and rest a little more, but who knew what the Hunter wanted from either of them. They couldn't waste any time.

Kousuke let him go, still watching him closely in case he ended up falling face first on the concrete floor. He was still technically in the role of protector just now, and he found himself taking it very seriously.

Ayumu forced himself to concentrate on moving his body. It was stiff and highly uncooperative, but he wasn't about to give up. He let himself roll off of Kousuke as the other began to get out from underneath him. He caught himself against the concrete floor with his hands, feeling a moment of despair as his arms buckled at the elbow under his weight. But he clenched his teeth and braced himself before he ended up with his face in the pavement.

Kousuke wanted to help him, but figured he should let Ayumu keep at least a little pride. So he let the brunet maneuver himself into a comfortable position while carefully pulling off his jacket and shirt. They were both hopelessly ruined by now, so there wasn't any point in trying to save either of them. He balled them up with his good hand and pressed them tightly to his wound, wincing as he applied pressure. It hurt like a bitch, but he felt he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

In the meantime, Ayumu was bracing himself on his hands and knees, staying there for just a minute with his head bowed a little bit. Then he carefully made the motions to crawl close enough to the wall that he could reach it for balance. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his palms to that and pushed himself into a kneeling position. He couldn't remember ever being so tired in his life.

Kousuke seemed to know what he was thinking, and gave a strained little smirk. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he was really starting to feel the pain. "Look on the bright side. You're still alive, and if you've hung on this long, you're probably going to survive."

"Well, you might be thinking of it optimistically, but I'm not." Ayumu kept his hands on the wall a little longer, not wanting to risk falling over after getting this far. "I highly doubt that the worst is over for either of us. But the most important thing is figuring out how to get out of here, and if we're in any shape to do it."

Kousuke's smirk grew sharper, almost savage. With his skin so pale, his golden cat-slit eyes gleaming in the shadows, and blood smeared over his lithely muscled torso like barbaric war paint, it made for a very primal and mildly unnerving picture. "I won't be getting out of here that easy. I'm a Blade Child, and they'll be watching me like a hawk. You, on the other hand, are just another normal boy to them, no matter our interest in you. They won't think to guard you, especially since you're supposed to be either dying or too sick to move."

Ayumu stared at him for a long moment, his expression unreadable. He couldn't decide whether he was unsettled or reassured by Kousuke's outward appearance. He settled for somewhere in the middle and took a deep breath. "True...and I don't really feel all that great, so faking that for them shouldn't be that hard."

Kousuke nodded. "So long as you can find your way out of this place, there's hope. When you get out, go to the playground on the west side. It's where I usually meet up with Eyes or Rio after one of us has been out doing...things. If nothing else, they'll get you medical attention without any inconvenient questions."

Ayumu nodded, and wished he hadn't. He was still a little off balance, and it was a good thing he'd hung onto the wall just a little longer. "...right..."

Kousuke's grin faded into a look of concern."You sure you don't want to sit back down? You should conserve your strength."

More logic, but this time, Ayumu knew his was better. "If I stay down, I'll never get back up again. I have to fight it now while I'm lucid. Letting it get the better of me might mess me up more than what I'm doing now."

Sometimes, the redhead hated it when Ayumu was right. But he still had a point to make. "Okay, but don't complain if you end up falling on your face. Just remember that you don't want to try running if they're coming for me, or the guards will get you. And they need to think you're helpless, anyway."

Sparing his strength as Kousuke was saying sounded like a damn good idea to him, and he remained pressed to the wall. He took a moment to gather his equilibrium before lifting his head and moving it slowly to take a good, thorough look at their surroundings.

There wasn't all that much to see. It was a small square room made of either stone or concrete, with a small air vent in the ceiling and one metal door with a slit that people outside could look through. There were no lights, so the visor was the only source of light. The walls themselves had dark stains on them, and it was probably best not to think too hard about what would leave such stains.

Ayumu didn't give a second thought to them, concentrating more on the ways out. Even he was smart enough to know he couldn't fit through the ventilation shaft, so the only option was the door. "What do you think we could do to get me out of the door...? I'm sure it's locked from the outside."

Kousuke chuckled. "You were dead to the world at the time, so you didn't see it. The lock is faulty. Nothing that would cause it to come undone from brute force, but with a little careful work with something like....oh, this..." He dug into a hidden pocket in his pants and pulled out a tiny knife, no longer than the average ballpoint pen and as narrow as a knitting needle.

One brow rose. "How many knives can you carry?" he wondered. He remembered seeing at least two...maybe three when they were out fighting the Hunter. He also noted that Kousuke was either very good at hiding them, or the Hunter had really lousy search skills.

"As many as possible without using various uncomfortable bodily orifices." was the prompt reply. "I knew the Hunter would find everything else, but this little beauty is so tiny, it's not noticeable in baggy pants. And even if she had found it, this thing's too small to make a good weapon. It's a better lock pick and letter opener, unless the user's accuracy is so good that they can assure a hit to the eyes every time."

Ayumu decided not to swell Kousuke's pride, but he inwardly had the thought that the redhead probably was about that good. He nodded, a mildly uncomfortable thought coming to his mind. "Did they search me?"

The Blade Child shook his head. "You were taken charge of by the lackeys. They were all so sure you're just a normal half-dead guy, no matter who your brother is. I wasn't about to enlighten them."

"Thanks for that..." He looked at the door, evaluating the lock mechanisms for a moment before nodding his head. He didn't get dizzy from it that time and it caused him to smirk a bit. He was all business now. "The size and construction of this room tells me that the building is old." His eyes drifted upward. "Unless they put it in the ventilation shaft, monitoring this room electronically would be next to impossible. Given that the Hunter used such simple holding cells is an indication that all the technology is further within this complex. That said, we're clear to do or say what we want in here, as long as no is right outside the door."

Kousuke nodded. He would have said something, but there was the sound of footsteps from the end of the hall. "Ah, hell. Narumi-ototou, come over here and look dead. I was holding onto you when they tossed us in here, and it'll look suspicious if you've moved. Besides, I can slip you the knife that way."

Ayumu grunted his reply and managed to crawl back to Kousuke quicker than he'd gotten away. Bonelessly, he flopped into the other's lap, and the way he managed to pull off the look of near-death was almost scary.

Kousuke was almost tempted to ask if Ayumu had learned the act from somehow eating Rio's attempts at cooking, but refrained. Instead, he slipped the tiny knife into the brunet's back pocket and then waited for the door to open. When it did, a group of heavily armed men and women flooded into the cell. They didn't bother to talk, they just grabbed Kousuke. When he yelped at the jarring of his wounded shoulder, one hit him with the butt of his gun, the loud crack echoing through the room. Then they carried the now unconscious Blade Child away, locking the door behind them.

"That was elegant," Ayumu muttered under his breath as he heard their footsteps retreat. He laid there for several long moments, taking Kousuke's advice and letting himself rest. He still felt so very tired, but he also wanted to make sure that no one had lingered to see if he'd do something scary.

Nothing happened, and no sound came from the halls save for the faint hum of the vents. It seemed that Kousuke had been right about them seriously underestimating what Ayumu could do.

Ayumu muttered something uncomplimentary about that assumption, but he wouldn't complain too much, since their lack of brain cells might give him the edge he needed to get out of the complex alive. Much in the way he'd done before, he kept his movements slow and careful, rolling onto his stomach and pushing upright. He wouldn't walk until he absolutely had to, since that would take the most of his strength. Crawling to the door, he inspected the lock mechanisms closer, pulling the blade from his back pocket.

The lock was old, and rusted half open. All it would really take was a little prying to make it loosen. There was the risk of noise, however. The teenager sighed. There would be a lot of risks here, and if he tried none of them, he'd be not only helpless, but useless, and after Kousuke saving his life, he owed it to the Blade Child to at least make the attempt. Brows furrowing, he concentrated on getting the lock undone as noiselessly as possible.

The lock resisted at first, but then came undone with a screech of abused metal, and the door swung open a crack. But it seemed that it either wasn't as loud as the echoing stone made it seem, or there really wasn't anyone besides himself currently in the halls. No one came.

Ayumu pondered his choices and finally settled on a plan. There were no extra amenities in their little cell, no source of water or sustenance. If he walked, that illusion of him being weak and helpless was gone, broken by the fact that he'd somehow eluded the effects of poison. Besides, there was a chance that he really wasn't able to walk yet anyway, so he decided against being completely upright. Instead, he remained on his hands and knees, scanning the hallway for a good few moments before venturing out at a shaky crawl. If they discover me...I can tell them that they left the door open when they took Kousuke... "So...thirsty...." He tested how raspy he could make his voice, how pathetic he could sound and nodded with satisfaction. Apparently, he had the ability to sound utterly tragic.

Perfect.

Now for the next problem. Ayumu had been unconscious when they'd brought him there, and one hall looked the same as the other. Getting out was going to be interesting, which was putting it kindly, but Ayumu could hardly let that stop him. Especially not when more than just his own safety depended on it. He picked a direction and crawled, very careful to keep notice of cameras or other security devices, all the while looking as if he were searching for water out in the desert. Madoka would be proud he was sure, or maybe even Hiyono. It took what seemed like an eternity, but Ayumu finally left the sterile hallways and found himself in an area that seemed to have been designed as a business center, once upon a time. Now the thing was abandoned, the old furniture falling apart and covered in dust, but there were actual windows to help him get his bearings. And, wonder of wonders, a fire escape.

He didn't allow himself the freedom to grin, not until he was out of this place. He headed for the fire escape. Now was the time to test his balance. Bracing against the wall again, he looked back one more time as if searching for Kousuke as much as the guards. When he saw no one, he assumed the coast clear and began the slow process of getting to his feet. When he was upright and the world was no longer spinning, he reached for the old-shabby door, hoping that the alarm mechanism on the handle was no longer working, and pushed. The door opened with a soft click, and the worse that came of it was the cobwebs that dropped down in force. No alarm sounded, unless one counted the swearing of the spiders, and since spiders don't technically have a language anyway, he would be fine.

"Hey, shut up," he muttered as if he could actually hear them, but mostly spoke to keep from losing his nerve, brushing the webs away from his face and as much out of his hair as he could. From the landing of the staircase, he stared outside. He was only on the second floor, the scent of the ocean strong on the wind. He knew the area somewhat; the fish market that he sometimes visited was close by, no more than a few train stops from home. If he pushed himself, he could make it to the park where Eyes and Rio might be. He was going to need a long nap afterwards, but...

Carefully, he took each step at a slow pace. Not only did he want to keep anything from creaking too loud, but he also didn't want to get dizzy and make a fantastic failure out of tumbling down and knocking himself unconscious. His common sense agreed with that, because if he did fall down the stairs, Kousuke, being the resident self-admitted sick bastard, would probably laugh himself to death if he ever heard about it. Still, he got to the ground level without incident, and the door at the bottom was fortunately unlocked. The reason for this might have had to do with the large amount of crude graffiti on the walls and door, suggesting that the reader do things that were not only crude, but anatomically impossible.

Ayumu stared at it for a moment, giving it the most confused expression he had before pushing it open and taking a step out into the cool night air. Judging from the depth of the darkness, it was just past two in the morning. They hadn't been gone too long, but had it long enough that Eyes and Rio would no longer be waiting? He'd have to decide then which would be the safer route...Madoka's or Hiyono's. Deciding to cross that bridge when he got there, he started on his way.

The west side wasn't too far, but it was exhausting to someone with Ayumu's problems. The playground itself was lit with streetlamps bright enough to cast dramatic shadows over everything, confusing the eyes. Still, it didn't hide the small form pacing in front of the monkey bars, muttering about how she was going to scalp a certain latecomer. That her quiet companion didn't reply didn't seem to faze her or slow the rant. By the time he reached the park, the figures standing at the bars were almost blurred, and the first thing that came to hand that would hold him up, Ayumu grasped and leaned against to catch his breath. He hoped that the ones waiting over there were Eyes and Rio, or he was in deep trouble.

 

~*~

Rio had not been having a good evening. Eyes had come to her hospital room with the news that Kousuke had gone out to deal with a hunter alone, and it had not gone over well with her. Add to that the fact that Eyes had acted even more remote and untouchable than usual, and it made her want to scream. She really didn't know how either of them could think they were fooling anybody. And then when Kousuke had not come back by sundown, she had felt that there was no choice but to get out of the hospital again--which ticked off the nurses and assured that they were going to skimp on her desserts at mealtimes--and go wait at the playground where they usually met up as a fallback. And he hadn't shown up there, either! It was almost three AM, dammit! She was so going to rip him a new one when he finally got here and--

Then she noticed Ayumu, hanging to both the monkey bars and his consciousness with what was obviously his last bit of strength. There was blood on his neck and shirt. "Little Narumi!"

Eyes had been staring out at the stars as if all the answers were there...until he heard Rio call out. Only instead of Kousuke, she seemed to have found Ayumu instead. He pushed away from the jungle gym and saw what Rio was looking at. His eyes widened a little, and he hurried over to the brunet, slipping an arm around his waist.

 

"Rio....did you bring a kit?"

Rio nodded and slid her backpack off her shoulders. "I'd have been stupid not to. When Kousuke-baka's late, it usually means injuries." Her agate-gray eyes turned to Ayumu, cautious concern within. "What happened to you?"

Ayumu sighed and leaned more against Eyes than he wanted to. It seemed wrong to rely on him, as if after the night he'd put in, he'd sully the pale musician. He also felt like he'd been a burden enough already. "It's a long story, and it involves Kousuke, poison, and guns," he muttered. He was about done with walking, he'd be lucky if he made it much further on his own.

"And you're still alive...? Eyes, I think we should get somewhere a little more secure. I wanna hear the rest of this story, but Little Narumi needs rest." She sighed and shook her head. "Leave it to Kousuke to mess up in a way that involved Narumi. Honestly..."

"Let's go back to the tower," Eyes murmured, glancing around just in case Ayumu was being followed. Then, without any warning, he scooped Ayumu up into his arms as if he weighed nothing. The brunet yelped and almost squirmed right out of the other man's arms, but Eyes held him steady.

"Don't squirm, Little Narumi. I doubt you'd enjoy getting dropped on the pavement. And we're not about to let you walk all the way to our safe place." Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. Obvious, all three of them. They all seemed to try so hard to keep each other in a state of denial, and yet the only ones they fooled were each other. If it hadn't been so utterly pathetic, it might have been funny. I have got to get those three to confess somehow. Gods, I wish I had a fellow conspirator!

Eyes walked quickly, bearing Narumi's weight and carrying him down the back alleys and quiet streets that had gotten them there unnoticed to begin with. It didn't take long to reach the building he was using as his safe house. He hurried them inside, taking the elevator up and staring out at the sleeping city below.

Rio, however, was already digging the first aid kit out of her backpack, all business. The scratch on Ayumu's neck needed cleaning before it got infected and she wanted everything ready once they got him somewhere he could sit or lie down.

Eyes lay Ayumu down on the couch near his piano once they got inside, frowning at the sight of blood on the brunet's coat.

"Are you...injured elsewhere?"

"No..." Ayumu said sleepily. "It's..." He didn't want to say it was Asazuki's. For some reason, it felt wrong, as if he'd failed somehow.

"Kousuke." Eyes's face tightened.

Rio grit her teeth to suppress the surge of worry for the boy she thought of as her older brother. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked instead, pulling out the cotton swabs and the hydrogen peroxide from her kit. Then she sat down next to him and tugged on the jacket. "Off."

"Easy for you to say..."

Before he could add anything to that, Eyes was already helping him up, gently tugging the coat off, knowing the other boy would have problems doing so himself. He seemed to stare a little longer than he meant at the stain on Ayumu's jacket, but he shrugged a little and turned to put it over a chair.

"I had a feeling...something about Sayoko," Ayumu explained, settling back into the couch cushions and sighing. His eyes closed, but he knew he was still a little too wired to pass out like he had before. "So I went to scout her place. Asazuki and I ran into each other there, and that's when the Hunter found us."

Rio nodded, dampening the cotton with the peroxide and beginning to clean the scratch on Ayumu's throat. She had caught the way Eyes looked at the stains on the jacket, but said nothing. Putting the silver-haired boy on the spot wouldn't help anything. "Eyes told me that Kousuke was purposely leading the Hunter away from her, using himself as bait. He was going to lead him into a nearby park and kill him."

Ayumu could easily blame the way his face scrunched on the sting of the peroxide. "I....screwed that up. I...."

"Don't say it," Eyes cut him off, crossing his arms and staring outside again.

"Just give us the facts, Little Narumi. You can have all the guilt trips you want later, when the situation isn't so serious." Rio noted that the area around the scratch was slightly bruised, as if a lot of pressure had been put on the skin. It made her wonder, but she wanted to hear the story from Ayumu before making her own judgments.

"The Hunter....she was good," Ayumu continued after taking a deep breath. It still rattled in his chest, but it was much better than before. "Not only did she have a gun, but she also had one for poisoned darts...and knew how to use them both. I was unexpected, but that seemed to work out more in her favor than Asazuki's. She knew of...my brother...but Asazuki said that most of what she spouted was lies. After she shot me with the dart gun and him with the real gun, she took us away. It was only a shoulder wound though...not fatal."

Rio paused, blinking. She glanced over at Eyes, now more worried than before. The Hunter hadn't shot to kill? Had taken them alive? Why?

The only indication of Eyes's additional concern was the crease to his usually smooth brow. He nodded to Rio to have her continue to treat Ayumu's wounds, letting his own mind ponder the same thing the girl was. No Hunter had ever taken a living target....they were always gunned down to the death. The only exception had been the story Kousuke told him about the hotel, and that had been rigged as a death trap, a means of killing all, not just one. Was that what this Hunter would try to do too? The concept was highly unsettling. Or could it be something different? Were the Hunters in league with the Saviors now? Had the Knights turned upside down since he left them and Kanone behind?

Rio went back to tending the small wound, forcing her mind on another track before she began to fret. Worrying herself into a panic wasn't going to help things, either. "How did you survive the poison? Even with so small a dose as you got, you should be in much worse shape."

"You're right, I should be. Except that Asazuki thought it was a good idea to play vampire." Ayumu knew they were smart enough to figure out what he meant, and that was confirmed when Eyes nodded once. He let out another soft breath. "He saved me. I came to find you so I could return the favor."

Rio nodded, finally putting down the cotton swabs and picking up the gauze. "Will you be able to lead us to where the Hunter's hiding? And how was the security?" From the slight scorn in Rio's voice, it was obvious she didn't have high expectations of a place that a prisoner weakened by poison could just sneak out of.

"I can take you there," he answered, tilting his head to the side as she bandaged the wound. Quietly, he explained what he and Kousuke had observed about the place, and then went on to describe the lackeys and how he'd escaped.

Rio was not impressed. "They thought you weren't a threat. They knew you were the younger brother of Narumi Kiyotaka, and that you had the attention of their targets, and they thought you weren't a threat. Eyes, are Hunters born stupid, or do they acquire it when they sign up?"

"That is a mystery, Rio," Eyes responded quietly. "But if they really believe he's no threat, then they've been paying attention to all the wrong things. The only problem is that after tonight, they won't take him so lightly."

Ayumu bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something about going all the way in screwing up tonight. He didn't think either of them would appreciate it.

Rio finished her work and sighed, lowering her hands to her lap, where they clenched into fists. She wanted, more than anything, to rush over there and rescue Kousuke. However, Ayumu wouldn't be able to handle another trip across the city, let alone the danger of extricating their missing comrade. And without Ayumu, they'd be one person less in an already dangerously outnumbered situation.

"You've done well, Rio. Now let's leave Little Narumi to his rest. He's done well also and he's going to need his strength." He put his hand on the girl's shoulder, squeezing it just slightly. His blue eyes fixed on Ayumu a moment, drawing that amber gaze to meet it. A moment of silence passed between them, as if they both realized that they would have to work together once more, and they could agree.

Doomed. Totally and completely doomed. And when Kousuke gets back, I'm going to start hiding video cameras in the shower. "Should we put him in Kousuke's room for now? He should be in a real bed."

"You don't have to..." Ayumu began to protest.

"Yes."

Rio nodded, her dove-gray pigtails bouncing around her face. "Okay, then. Eyes, if you'd kindly lift him again, we'll get him settled. The faster he recovers, the sooner we can dig Kousuke out of this mess."

Ayumu gave up protesting by the time he was back in the musician's arms. He was too tired to fight now, having spent what was left of his energy getting out. "Soon....I won't take long."

"I hope you're right." Rio muttered, walking down the hall to a door with a bright red biohazard sign on it. She opened it up to reveal a room that was surprisingly neat, considering the laid-back attitude that Kousuke normally presented to the world. Sure, there was clutter, since the redhead was also something of a packrat, but it was all stuffed on shelves, leaving nothing on the floor to possibly trip a person up. There was only one shelf that was neat, and that held a lot of different knives and daggers. Six spots, including one that obviously would have held the tiny penknife, lay empty. The windows were large, but locked securely, so that while he had the option of a quick escape, no one could get in through them. The walls were pretty much bare, save for a random poster or two. The bed was small, but looked comfortable, for all that the blankets were a horrible shade of orange. Rio remembered Kousuke explaining that he'd chosen them because he'd never have to worry about anyone stealing such ugly things.

Ayumu spared a moment to glance around as Eyes carried him inside. For all that it seemed slightly chaotic, the feel to it was just right for Kousuke, and it made Ayumu think that no matter what, the Blade Child would be all right. He wasn't used to thinking so positively, but he found it nearly impossible to think otherwise.

Eyes fussed rather silently over him, laying him on the bed and covering him in those loud, orange blankets. Wordlessly, he ensured Ayumu was comfortably tucked before turning and leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.

It was an effort for Rio to not tease Eyes a little about the concern he gave Ayumu. But while doing that to Kousuke got nothing more than blushes and sputtering, it would embarrass and offend Eyes, so she kept quiet. Still, the whole scene had been amazingly cute, and made her more determined than ever to get the three most important people in her life safely together. Even if it was an almost impossible task. Cohorts...I need cohorts!

Eyes pushed his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and wandered back to the main room with Rio in tow. "We're lucky... Little Narumi almost slipped from our grasp tonight."

The younger Blade Child sobered, shoving her dastardly plans for matchmaking to the back of her mind. "Hai. If not for Kousuke's quick thinking, he'd probably be dead."

"He siphoned the poison out. That's why the skin is bruised, correct?"

Rio nodded, absently reaching up to take her hair down. It was very late/early, and if she kept the tails in any longer, she'd end up with a headache. "He probably took a risk with that. One unknown cut or accidental swallow and they'd both have been in serious trouble."

"Kousuke never was one to turn away from a risk," Eyes pointed out. "And I'm sure if he hadn't, Little Narumi wouldn't have lasted but an hour or two. As it is, we should give him a day to flush the poison."

"Or more, depending. And then after that, there'll be the time it takes to stake out the place Little Narumi takes us to. Once they realize he's gone, I'm betting they'll seal off most exits. Finding a way in without blowing down a wall might take another couple days." She scowled. "During which, who knows what the Hunters are doing to Kousuke? The fact that he wasn't killed right off bothers me."

"You too? It's very unlike a Hunter..." Eyes mused on that for a moment, sitting down at his piano as he often did when he was trying to puzzle something out, his hands neatly folded in his lap for the moment.

Rio sat down on the couch, pulling a brush out of her backpack. "This Hunter also knew enough about Little Narumi to try and bait him. She certainly knew about his weaknesses to toxins. And that's also not like a Hunter. Normally, they're single-minded, just learning about their targets, and then only enough to get rid of them. Normal people aren't supposed to be targets."

Eyes watched Rio for a moment, and then raised a hand to motion her over to sit with him. "That's what we've learned to expect. I would think that not every Hunter is so base, but it still makes me wonder what purpose Kousuke could serve alive when the main point is to exterminate us all."

Rio came and sat, brushing her soft gray hair back with one hand. "If it's information, they're in for a major disappointment. Kousuke's able to keep his silence, even through torture. I know, because it happened once, before we met you."

"I believe in his ability to withstand it." One day, he would find out what Rio and Kousuke had done before they'd joined up. Defying the Blade Children that believed what Kanone did was difficult, for they outnumbered those that wished to fight fate by a very high degree. "I'm also inclined to believe that we'll get him back, even with the difficulties involved." Eyes took the brush from Rio's hand and began brushing the soft hair, gently to keep from tugging on any snarls.

"I don't doubt that. I just worry about what shape he'll be in when we do. I'm still technically an invalid. Having two of us out of action isn't a nice concept." She leaned back into the gentle strokes of the brush, beginning to relax in spite of herself. She was glad that Eyes was beginning to show this more gentle side to his nature more often.

Eyes felt a moment of guilt, which made him soften the strokes of the brush. His voice was almost inaudible. "I'm sorry."

Rio shook her head a little, but was careful not to dislodge the brush. "It's not your fault. I did what I did to try and shake Little Narumi off my trail. And Kousuke did what he did to keep both Sayoko and Little Narumi alive. We'd probably do it again, faced with the same circumstances."

"And what have I done?" Of all of them, Rio was the only one that got to hear the questions that hinted at Eyes's doubt. "Nothing but hide."

Rio gave a soft smile. This was her Eyes-oniichan. "Lots of things. You gave us hope that our fate might be changed. You gave us a safe place to stay when we tried to fight against that fate. You are one of the few people we can trust, even after a life that dictates that we trust no one, not even ourselves. And as the unofficial leader, you draw a great deal of the fire, just by being so visible through the media. You've put yourself in danger for us before, and I know you will again, no matter how much Kousuke bitches about it. Really, you're probably the most important one of us, even if you're rarely in the thick of the fighting. You're our stability."

 

Eyes let out a quiet sigh that ruffled the soft hair at the back of her neck. "I want to say that I have faith in what you're saying. I feel more like I've brought about bad things in your lives, compelled you to do things that you never would have done." He had no illusions about how ruthless his little group was, and while it was somewhat unsettling from Kousuke, it was worse from Rio, and he felt responsible for that.

Rio raised an eyebrow. "Eyes, I took my first life before I ever met you. I would have died otherwise. As for Kousuke, I don't really know the story behind his first kill, but I know he had his reasons. We do what we have to so that we can survive. Your being there or not wouldn't change it, except perhaps for the worse. If you weren't here, who would we have run to, when we needed someone to help us fight fate? Kiyotaka did some of that, but he's not a Blade Child. We never would have trusted him without your vouching."

 

"I don't think that any of us would have gotten this far without each other. Whether or not Little Narumi changes our fate is nothing compared to what we've already accomplished. If it turns out to be a myth that Kiyotaka's younger brother can save us, we'll die knowing we didn't give in. And that's the most important thing, right?"

Rio nodded, but turned her head a little to give Eyes a wry little smile. "But you would prefer that we all got out of this alive, ne?" She sighed and looked ahead again, but couldn't resist adding in the next comment, her matchmaking instincts popping up. "You care so much, about all of us. You act like nothing affects you, but in your own way, you worry the most. I wonder...does Kousuke see how much you truly care?"

Eyes's hands stilled for just a brief moment on Rio's hair, and he looked down at that little smile. His topaz-blue gaze stared at her, blinking a few times. "I don't know what you're talking about. Of course I care for something, or I wouldn't be such a haven of hope as you say I am."

Rio smiled, but sighed inwardly. "Of course. What I meant was that I wondered if Kousuke was as dense as I thought."

"Anyone who knows Kousuke knows that he's only dense when he wants to look that way." He thought back to the kiss they'd shared before the redhead had gone off to lure the Hunter. "He knows what he needs to."

Rio kicked herself for not wiring the piano room earlier. That would have been prime eye candy. "That's true. Now all we can hope to do is get him home before the Hunter does something to make him doubt or forget." Her expression went grave. She'd seen it happen before, during the same incident she'd mentioned earlier, where a Savior had tried to torture information out of Kousuke. The redhead had remained silent, but he'd been emotionally unstable enough that Rio hadn't dared to even tease him lightly for weeks.

"I won't let that happen." There was an edge to Eyes's voice, one that was rarely ever heard in his steady tone.

Rio turned and met those cobalt eyes with her own agate ones. "We won't let that happen." she corrected. "He's my niisan, even if only by means of affection and one madman's experiment."

"I'm sorry.... I didn't mean to exclude you..." Eyes hadn't realized just how defensive he'd become.

Rio just smiled brightly and honked his nose. "Eh, make it up to me with a melon, sometime."

"Very soon, I promise," Eyes said, lowering the brush. He'd gotten all the tangles out of her long hair and combed it smooth. "There you go."

Rio nodded and slid off the bench. "Arigatou, Eyes-kun. I'm going to go get some sleep, and you probably should as well. Worrying about things now won't do anything but make sure that we're totally flat when it's time to go rescuing."

Eyes nodded in agreement. But after waiting until Rio had gone to her own room, he snuck into Kousuke's to curl up in the chair at Ayumu's bedside.