Little Boy

Chapter 27 ~ To Izumo

Faust came to a dead stop as he walked through the hall. He was still for a moment as a chill ran through him. One that was all too familiar. Quickly he to Mto Manta’s room, sensing fresh death, and rushed in. He stared with dilated eyes for a moment at Manta. The blonde lay still tears silently rolling down his face. “Manta!” he cried, then quickly retrieved the boy in his arms and ran towards the examination room. “Ryu-san, I need help!” he called over his shoulder.

Ryu looked up hearing Faust call him, then quickly responded to the panic in the doctor’s voice. “What’s going on?” he said as he ran into the examination room, then became silent seeing Manta lying on the bed, covered in blood that escaped from a knife would in his stomach. He clenched his fists and began to tremble with rage. “Who did this?!” he demanded.

“I don’t know!” Faust replied frantically. “I need your help!”

Yoh walked into the hotel quietly, unable to shake the worry for Manta and Kibo’s safety. After removing his jacket and shoes, he walked into the living room, then came to a stop finding Faust sitting on the couch while crng Mng Manta, who was pale and wrapped in a warm blanketu stu stood across the room, staring at the floor with a menacing expression while Tokagero hovered nearby with a similar expression. “What’s wrong?” Yoh asked feeling the stress in the room’s aura.

Ryu growled while clenching his fists. “What’s wrong? What isn’t wrong?!” he said angrily, not raising his gaze.

Yoh looked to Faust. “What is going on?” he demanded.

Faust looked up with sad eyes. “Yoh-kun... Manta’s alive...”

Yoh stepped forward as panic instantly formed. “What happened?!”

“Some bastard snuck into the kid’s room,” Tokagero said angrily. “They stabbed him.”

“What?!” Yoh rushed over, then came to a stop when Faust made a gesture to be quiet. “Faust...”

He shook his head quietly. “Don’t wake him. He’s not ready. Yoh-kun... There’s something else you need to know...”

“What?!” he demanded.

Slowly the doctorked ked up to him. “Kibo... couldn’t be saved...” he said quietly. “Manta had already lost so much blood, I couldn’t risk a c-section... But Kibo......” Faust looked back down to Manta, tears running down his face. “I’m sorry, Yoh-kun...”

Yoh slowly collapsed to his knees and stared at Manta shakily. “Kibo... is gone?” he whispered.

Ryu took a deep breath to calm himself, then knelt next to Yoh and hugged him gently. “Faust did what he could, Big Brother... The guy who did this took off before Faust discovered Manta...”

“No.... This isn’t what was supposed to happen,” Yoh whispered as he shook his head. “Manta was going to be fine... Kibo was going to be born... We’d be a family and we’d be safe. Everything... was... it was...” He buried his face into Ryu’s shoulder and began to sob. “Nande?! Hasn’t Manta suffered enough?! Kibo wasn’t even born! What did they ever do to anybody?! Nande?!!”

“Lord Yoh...”

The three looked up and saw Shizuka standing there, her face red from crying.

“Shizuka, what are you...” Yoh began, then stopped as she raised one hand.

“I think I can bring Kibo back,” she said quietly. “But... I might not be able to cast two spells so closely together..

Faust looked up. “Nani?”

“How?” Yoh whispered.

“If I cast the spell to bring Kibo back, it’ll be at least a week before I can cast the spell to change Manta. Or I can cast the spell to changnta,nta, and he’ll have a week to adjust to his body, and then I cast the spell to bring Kibo back and Manta can give birth.”

Yoh was quiet, then looked at Faust. “What do you think?”

Faust was quiet, then sighed. “Give him the week to adjust,” he stated after a few min of of consideration.

Yoh nodded slowly. “Okay then... He looked up to Shizuka. “When can you it? it?”

“Right now,” she replied.

“Do the first one now, then.”

“Hai,” she replied.

The next morning, Faust awoke with a terrible headache. He looked down to Manta, who was curled up in a fetal position against his chest. He sighed sadly as he watched Manta take soft breaths with great effort, then sat up and looked to his clock. It was a little after six, and he could sell Ryu cooking orange rice. An obvious attempt to make Yoh’s day as easy as possible. Carefully he lifted Manta into his arms and walked out of the bedroom towards the living room.

“Faust?” Yoh said quietly sensing the doctor come in. “How is Manta handling the spell?”

Faust sighed, remembering Shizuka had cast the spell the night before, then began wondering how he should refer to Manta. “Well... he seems to be handling it okay,” he replied. “He slept through the night, and it seems to have healed him a little.”

Yoh nodded slightly, then looked up hearing a knock at the door. Slowly he walked over and found Tamura with a stern expression. “Tamura?”

He held up an audio cassette. “I thought I’d tell you that I’m taking this to the authorities.”

Yoh tilted his head. “What?”

“Mansumi. He hired a hit-man. I tried to get here last night, but Mansumi had me restrained. What he didn’t know was that I had this recording. It’s to my understanding that Manta-san survived. How is he?”

Yoh looked down sadly. “Kibo didn’t make it... We’re hoping in a week Shizuka will be able to bring Kibo back.”

Tamura nodded. “As I said, I’m reporting Mansumi to the authorities as soon as I finish up here, which won’t be long.”

Yoh looked up with shaky eyes. “I think you should stay. Manta might find comfort in you if he wakes up.”

Tamura shook his head. “Somebody’s been following me. I’ve lost them for now, but it’s just a matter of time before they catch up.”

Yoh looked down sadly. “We have to awayaway from this place,” he said quietly. “Maybe back to Izumo...”

“I had a feeling you might say that,” Tamura said as he reached into his pocket, then pulled out four train tickets. “They go straight to Izumo. The train leaves at noon.”

Yoh looked at him quietly, then slowly took the tickets and studied them. “Thank you...” he said slow

“Tamura bowed his head slightly. “It is your choice. I have to go now, though. Hopefully we will see each other again on good terms.”

Yoh nodded.

“And please... Take good care of Manta-san,” he asked quietly. “He’s been through such a life...”

“I will,” Yoh replied, then waved as Tamura turned and walked away. After Tamura was out of sight, he closed the door and walked into the living room, then sat down. Next to Faust and stared at the tickets.

“Yoh-kun?” Faust asked while looking up.

The boy was silent for a while, then looked up. “We’re going to Izumo. Make sure Shizuka is ready by 11. The train is leaving at noon.”

“Yoh-kun...”

He shook his head. “We need to get away from here. There’s too much darkness here. It’s no place for Manta and Kibo to be...” He stood up.

“Daddy, I can’t feel Kibo,” Manta whimpered softly.

“Eh?” The two looked to Manta, who had woken up and was crying silently.

“Manta-chan,” Yoh said shakily.

“I can’t feel her,” he cried softly. “Why can’t I feel her?”

The two watched sadly as Manta cried silently, once in a while asking why he couldn’t feel Kibo.

“We’re going to Izumo,” Yoh said after a bit, then turned and walked away.