Family Affair

Chapter 11 - Dispute

Faust rubbed the bridge of his nose, grumbling quietly. After several long minutes he looked up
towards the door. “You can come in.”

Hesitantly Kibo peered into the office, and then stepped in, followed by Ryu, Ren, and the
spirits. “How is he?” Ryu asked immediately, his eyes and shakey voice giving away his fear of the
doctor and for Manta.

Faust let out a heavy breath while resting his chin against his clasped hands, elbows resting on
the desk. He was silent for several minutes, contemplating, and then glanced up with an angry frown.
“As you can see, Manta is resting,” he said quietly, regarding Manta who slept in a small bed only a few
feet away from the doctor’s desk. “Needless to say, he won’t be joining you for dinner, nor will I.”

“What happened?” Kibo asked worriedly. Only a few hours earlier the estate had been fairly
calm. That state was interrupted when she heard their new guest, Ren, calling for help. When she left
her room, she had found Ryu and Mosuke interrogating Ren angrily as they rushed towards Faust’s
office. Each time she asked what had happened, she was either ignored by Ryu and Ren, or else
received “I don’t know,” from the spirits. All she knew up to this point was that her mother had passed
out.

Faust, who had already been nearing his patience’s limit, was now struggling the urge to
perform a live dissection. He rubbed his sinuses a bit, cleared his voice, and then rubbed his sinuses yet
again. Finally he took another deep breath to calm himself, and then looked up to the group with a
grave expression. “I would like to know the same thing,” he said in response to his granddaughter’s
question. “Ren. Care to explain?”

Ryu and Ren looked to each other, Ryu worried and Ren agitated, but both confused. Finally
Ren looked to Faust. “I was in the kitchen getting some milk,” he explained resentfully. “I closed the
fridge door and Manta was standing there. I said hi and he passed out.”

“What exactly did you say?” Faust demanded angrily.

“Whoa! Settle, old man,” Ren snapped. “I said hi and that he looked well. He went pale and
started breathing funny, and then when I tried to get him to calm down he passed out.”

“How did you try to calm him?!” Faust demanded, raising his voice a little louder than he
wanted.

Ren was still for a moment, and then crossed his arms over his chest. “I told him I wasn’t going
to hurt him and that he should calm down. I didn’t go near him or lay a hand on him until he passed
out,” Ren snapped. “Get a freaking grip.”

“You expect me to ‘get a grip’ when one of the people responsible for my son’s condition
shows up, unannounced no less, and then turns around and frightens him nearly to death?!” Faust asked
angrily. “You were told to stay away from him!”

“How am I supposed to know where he is or where he’s going?! I don’t read minds,” Ren
snapped back.

“Guys...” Ryu said quietly, and then raised his voice when he was ignored. “Guys! Quiet
down.” He winced when Faust and Ren gave him their respective glares, and then he frowned. “Faust,
with all due respect, it was my fault Manta ran into him. Manta was with me before he ran into Ren. I
told him he should find Mosuke while I talked to Bason.”

Faust looked at Ryu quietly, his glare becoming less intimidating. “Hmm?”

Ryu sighed while shaking his head, and then looked up. “Manta ran into Bason when he woke
up, so he went looking for Mosuke so they could just, well, hang out. I thought Ren was in my room, so
I told Manta to stay away from it.”

“He wasn’t afraid of Bason?” Mosuke asked worriedly.

Ryu sighed, and then shook his head. “No. He was actually pretty happy to see Bason.” He
glanced down quietly. “He came into the living room looking like a four-year-old with his favorite doll.”
After a moment he looked up at the doctor. “Faust, we have our issues with Ren, but he can’t help it if
Manta walks in on him.”

“Why are you so determined to support him?” Faust said angrily. “After all he did to...”

Ryu’s eyes narrowed. “You have a lot of nerve asking that. Ren isn’t the only one who’s done
terrible things.” He looked quietly to Manta. “He bears your mark too, Faust. The scar under his chin
was from before I became friends with him and Yoh. People can and do change, no matter how terrible
they are.” He glanced up to Faust. “You asked last night, ‘What was Yoh-kun thinking?’ He wasn’t
thinking any differently than he ever did. He was thinking the way he did when he forgave me.” His
voice lowered a bit. “When he forgave you.”

Kibo glanced back and forth nervously between the two men, and then looked to Ren with a
slight frown. “Why didn’t you leave the kitchen?” she asked meekly.

“What good would that have done?” Ren replied while looking to her. “It as either try to calm
him down or else let him pass out when nobody was around.” He crossed his arms and look at Faust,
who was glaring dangerously at Ryu. “It’s good that you fear me,” he muttered. “At least I know you
were taking care of him. Ryu’s got a point, though. Who are you to flip out at me when you did no
better?”

Ryu gave himself a mental slap as Faust whipped around to the younger shaman, and then he
looked over. “Ren, don’t provoke him.” He looked back to Faust. “Is Little Brother going to be
alright?”

There was a long silence as Faust studied Ren, and then his eyes narrowed. “He’ll live. He...”
He stopped, mid-sentence, and then looked to the bed when he heard movement. A moment later his
expression saddened when he found Manta sitting, staring at Ren. “Manta...”

The small blonde stared with utter confusion at the Tao who was now looking back at him. He
pulled the blanket around him tightly while glancing down at the bed, and then squeezed his eyes shut,
tears forming.

“Shh...” Mosuke cooed while floating over to Manta, and then he hugged the blonde lovingly.
“It’s okay, Manta,” he said quietly. “I won’t let anybody touch you.”

Ren watched quietly as Manta snuggled as best as he could into the translucent embrace, and
then he glanced sideways at Faust. He couldn’t help but to smirk at the dejected expression on the
doctor. ”Serves him right,” he thought smugly to himself, and then he looked back to Manta
with a slight frown. “Where’s that damn Asakura?”