Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

The Epic	By : kyochan Category: +S to Z > Spiral Views: 1747 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Spiral, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Title:� The Epic or To
Be Determined

Chapter:� 3/ 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.

~*~

�� 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.
- 2
- 3
- 4
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Epic