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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.

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Title:� The Epic

Chapter:� 4/ 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:� This
is where things start to get interesting.�
Hunters, guns, and demons, oh my!�
�

~*~

�� Rio yawned and tumbled reluctantly out of bed.� The sun shining in her eyes had awakened her,
and considering that her window faced the west, there was a good chance she had
seriously overslept.� Admittedly, she and
the others had stayed up past three last night, but Rio
usually preferred to be up with the dawn if she could manage.

�� Feeling the
total apathy towards appearances that most do after a late night, Rio didn�t bother to change out of her lilac pajamas or
brush her dove gray hair.� It�s not like
she�d be going anywhere for the moment, after all.� Right now, all she wanted was the bathroom,
her morning/afternoon cup of cocoa, and breakfast.� She sighed regretfully.� It was a pity that Narumi Ayumu was going to
be confined to bed until both she and Eyes dubbed him well enough to move
around, because otherwise Rio would have asked
him to cook.

�� Speaking of
Ayumu, Rio decided it was probably best to go
check on him.� She didn�t expect any
danger, but she hadn�t lived this long without a healthy dose of paranoia.� So she padded down the hall in bare feet to
the red biohazard that marked Kosuke�s room, and quietly opened the door.

�� The sight that
met her eyes was unexpected, and she had to stifle a little yaoi fangirl
squeal.

�� Ayumu was
curled up in the bed, Kosuke�s horrible orange blankets making a shapeless
cocoon around him, leaving only his peaceful face uncovered, his hair mussed
and obscuring eyes closed tight like a child�s.�
And next to the bed, in the battered chair that Kosuke usually used for
target practice, was Eyes, curled into the seat and dead to the world, his own
expression having melted from the empty mask to something a little more real,
but no less serene.� His hair splayed
over his shoulders and face like a snowfield, and he looked remarkably
comfortable for someone who was crammed into one small chair.� Rio didn�t
know if the silver-haired boy had originally meant to sleep there or not, but
it was an adorable picture.

�� Rio wondered if Eyes had come in here to watch over
Ayumu, or if he had merely wanted to be where the reminders of Kosuke were
strongest.� She smiled softly, looking
around the cluttered but oddly neat room. �It had probably been a little of both.� Rio knew
perfectly well of Kosuke�s and Eyes�s fascination for the younger Narumi
brother, so she shouldn�t have been surprised that Eyes would watch over him
while he was ill.� And the room
itself�well, Rio didn�t believe in God, but
she did believe in objects and even areas taking on the feel of their owners
after a while.� And this whole room
resounded with the warm sensation of Kosuke�s gentler and more protective
moods.� It felt like even though the
redhead himself wasn�t here to guard his heart�s treasures, a part of his
spirit had been left behind to do the job.

�� Rio looked at the two sleeping boys for another moment,
then slid out as silently as she had come, thinking to let them sleep as long
as they could.� And she knew that if she
watched too long, she�d get a little sad.�
To her, the picture was incomplete.�
Her stability and her hope slept safely in that room, yes, but it just
wouldn�t feel right until her laughter was brought home to rest between them.

�� ~*~

�� Kousuke
drifted, stuck somewhere between the void of sleep and the light of
consciousness.� He was awake enough to
know he was in danger, that Ayumu was also in danger, and that he was wounded.� But he was still out of it enough not to
really feel the urgency of any of those things.

�� He couldn�t
open his eyes, and he couldn�t move his limbs.�
He had probably been restrained.�
He could hear voices, but only make out fragments of what was being
said.� None of the voices he heard
sounded anything like Ayumu.� The Blade
Child was unsure as to whether he should be worried about that.� The last thing he remembered was being in a
tiny little cell with no windows and only one door, holding the brunette as he
suffered from the lingering effects of having been poisoned.� Then the door had opened and he�d been
dragged away.� Kousuke could only hope
that Ayumu would be able to survive.

�� For now,
however, he needed to see to his own survival.�
He could only assume that the voices around him were from Hunters, like
the one that had caught him.� If that was
the case, it was a small miracle that he hadn�t been killed already.� Why was he still alive?� He tried to listen to the voices around him
for answers, but everything was fuzzy and coming in fragments.

�� chemical
supplements have been designed to enhance��

�� still not
enough��

�� used to
take down the mental walls of��

�� more
tests��

�� Okay,
thought Kousuke, beginning to feel irritable, the Blade Child is now
officially clueless.� Say something to
enlighten the unenlightened here, people!

�� possible
signs of animal genome within��

�� force out
the latent��

�� make use
of subliminal encoding to��

�� Right.� The
unenlightened shall remain stupid.� Great.� Kousuke
sighed silently to himself and tried to push himself towards full
wakefulness.� It turned out to not be a
good idea, finding himself violently aware of the gunshot wound in his left
shoulder, which had only been given rudimentary treatment to prevent infection
and stop the bleeding.� It throbbed and
felt like someone had shoved a hot poker in it.�
He couldn�t stop himself from letting out a pained hiss.

�� The voices
stopped.� There was a silence so deep
that Kousuke began to wonder if he�d been dreaming them up, but then rough
hands tore away the strip of duct tape that had been holding his eyes
shut.� Kousuke let out a yelp as it felt
like he�d just had his eyebrows torn off.�
He snapped his eyes open, and immediately regretted it as the bright
lights of the room blinded his vision.

�� The rough
hands grabbed his jaw and tilted his face upwards, and as the spots cleared
from Kousuke�s vision, he was left facing the Hunter that had caught him and
Ayumu before.� She was dressed in a white
lab coat now, and smiling in a way that made Kousuke want
to find one of his daggers and cut it off.

�� Well,� she
murmured, �the freak awakes.� Just in
time for the work to begin.� You�ll make
a better lab rat than the ones before, I hope?�

�� Kousuke�s
golden eyes narrowed at the insults, but he kept his mouth shut.� Ones before?� Lab rat?� What has she been doing to the Blade Children
she hunts?!

�� The Hunter
waited, but when no answer came to her question, she merely shrugged, her smile
taking on an odd cast that sent a fissure of pure fear down Kousuke�s
spine.� �Never mind.� I�ll get plenty of screams out of you yet, my
little puppet.�

�� PUPPET?!�
Where do you get off calling me your
fucking�OW!� Kousuke didn�t get the
chance to voice his anger, the sting of the syringe followed almost instantly
by nothingness.� He only had the last
words of the Hunter to guide him into the blackness.

�� We�ll work
on unlocking this creature�s latent genealogy, first.� After the first round of treatments, toss him
in a different cell from the other boy.�
We don�t want them in contact with each other now��

�� Kousuke
didn�t know how long he had been there.�
They�d knocked him out or forced him out of drugged stupor too many
times for him to have an accurate idea of day or night anymore.� All he really knew at any one point anymore
was pain.�

�� The
experiments that the Hunter and her assistants had done on him so far made
little rational sense, just exposing him to some odd sort of multicolored light
for what seemed like hours at a time.�
But there must have been something more to that light, because
after every session, Kousuke felt ill and pained, like something was burning
under his skin, straining to get out.� At
first, it eventually faded, but it had taken longer and longer to do so with
every session, and the burning feeling had gotten exponentially worse.�

�� In another
room, they�d started doing a second set of experiments.� Instead of light, they stuck needles in him
and pumped him full of some sort of drug.�
He didn�t know exactly what it was supposed to do, but his head always
felt like it was going to split in two when it was in his system.� And he had odd waking dreams with no images,
but countless feelings.� He sensed insane
fear, icy hatred, insatiable greed, sickening hunger, acid joy, and dark
obsession.� They were so overwhelming in
his dreams, to the point where he had lost himself more than once, unable to
discern his own mind and heart under the pressure of those painful emotions
that ate away at his mind like wild beasts.�
It terrified him, and he�d tried more than once to escape into his own mind,
but he couldn�t even find the path into his own mentality in that drugged
state.

�� The oddest
part was when the drugs began to wear off, however.� When that happened, the waking dreams with
their overpowering emotions but no sight would overlap the real world.� When that happened, it almost seemed like all
of the terrible painful things came from the Hunter and her assistants, instead
of being fragments of delusions in his own mind.� In the latest drug sessions, he�d started
being able to keep a slight hold on the outside world, and could almost
identify which emotion was who.� What
confused him was that he could still feel flickers of other emotions, even
after the drugs had worn off, and that weren�t in the room with him, gray
despair and aching loneliness.� Were
there others in this prison?� And none of
them had an �Ayumu� feel to them.� That
scared him.� But there was nothing he
could do.

�� He was kept
too weak to fight the people that dragged him from one room to another, food
being nothing more than vitamin supplements given to him intravenously.� He also could not remember the last time he
had gotten true sleep here.� When he
wasn�t being tortured or given an hour in an empty cell to suffer alone, he was
restrained and fitted with some sort of odd headset.� The moment it was turned on, he immediately
was forced into something that wasn�t quite sleep, but definitely wasn�t
awake.� He supposed it was best described
as a total shutdown of his mind.� He
wasn�t aware of anything, yet he was still awake in some odd way.� But beyond that, he had no idea what they
were doing to him.� Every time he �woke�,
all he had was the odd feeling that something bad had happened, like a terrible
nightmare that could never be remembered after the dreamer awoke.� And his throat was always sore, as if he�d
been screaming.

�� Kousuke
shuddered, curling up in the corner of the tiny cell, every fiber of his body
aching and burning.� His hour of
so-called rest was almost up, but he just felt worse than he had when they
tossed him in here.� It was easier to
ignore the pain when there was so much that it overloaded the senses.� Here, where the only stimuli were from hurts
already given, it was much harder to block out.�
Especially now, when the burning under his skin felt like someone had
tucked a miniature sun inside him.

�� He tried to
distract himself, first with trivial things, like wondering what the Hunter had
done with his clothes or if all of this would leave lasting scars.� But those thoughts slipped into more weighty
matters, wondering if Ayumu were still alive or if Eyes and Rio
were looking for him.

�� Kousuke
didn�t personally believe that the fate of the Blade Children could be changed
by anything but death, but he couldn�t bear the thought of being the one
responsible for taking away Rio�s and Eyes�s one ray of hope.� If Ayumu was dead, there would be nothing for
his little adoptive family to strive for.�
And he and Eyes would never be able to find out just how deep that
strange need in their hearts for the younger Narumi brother went.

�� And no
matter how much the redhead suffered here, he sincerely hoped that Eyes and Rio wouldn�t find him.�
He didn�t want them coming here, to this place where Blade Children were
just lab animals.� Especially
not Eyes.� He knew that Eyes was
the one that the Hunters really wanted.�
He was the putative leader of the Blade Children, after all, and all the
others, even the ones under Kanone�s faction, looked up to him.� And Kousuke couldn�t bear the thought of the
silver-haired boy being put through the same tortures he was.

�� Despite the
fact that he�d never believed in gods, Kousuke found himself praying to any
deity that might listen that Ayumu was okay and that Eyes was not
looking for him.� And the more he prayed,
the more the image of a great fiery cat solidified in his mind.� He didn�t understand it, but somehow, he got
comfort from that image, and so he concentrated on it with all his will,
praying for the safety of the people important to him.� The image in his mind�s eye seemed to be
moving towards him, getting nearer and larger with each second, until he could
visualize every individual hair of its pelt.�
His overtaxed mind absently noted that the fur was the same vivid red as
his own hair, and the bright yellow eyes staring at him were his own.� Weird�

�� And then
the pain hit.

�� Kousuke
screamed as the burning under his skin roared into true flames, the crimson
tongues bursting from his body and filling the room.� He felt like his entire being was melting,
his bones becoming like molten metal that was being stretched and twisted into
some new shape.� He screamed again, but
it came out as an animalistic roar that matched the firestorm about him.� He wanted to weep from the pain, but
something was wrong with his eyes and he could no longer produce tears.� He wanted to run, but he couldn�t get up from
all fours.� He wanted to call out for
someone, anyone, to give him aid, but all that came from his throat was
more roaring.� Fear ate at Kousuke�s
heart, and he wondered if he was dying.

�� However,
the pain gradually began to fade away, the fires around him dying out.� Kousuke was eventually able to think enough
to take stock of himself.� He was shocked at what he found.� In the place of a slender human boy was now
the body of a young red leopard, the black spots patterning his crimson
fur.� His hearing and his sense of smell
had both sharpened, catching the echoing of his anxious gasps and the scent of
scorched concrete.

�� What�s
more, the strange sense of emotions that the drugs had always caused in him was
also there, in his mind.� It wasn�t as
intense as when under the influence of the Hunter�s drugs, but instead was just
the same as the hearing or smell, another sense to add to the rest.� It was like there was an instinctive barrier
around his mind, keeping the sharper edges of it out.� And deep in his mind, he could feel the
flames that had raged through his body.�
They didn�t hurt now, but instead just rested in that corner of his
mind, waiting to be called on again.

�� What the
fuck just happened?!� Kousuke tried
to yell, but it only came out as an odd cross between a snarl and a yowl.� He couldn�t even talk in this form!� It took all of the redhead�s will not to
panic at that moment.� Okay, deep
breath.� Don�t freak out, not yet.� Let�s try to fix this mess first.� Relax, suppress your usual urge to freeze at
surprises, and think.� How did I get into
this? I was thinking about the image of a red cat made of fire, and I changed.� Maybe if I concentrate on being myself again,
it�ll go away.

�� Kousuke
shut his golden eyes, trying not to think about the tail that was twitching
with anxiety behind him or the claws that dug into the stone floor.� He just visualized his own face and tried to
concentrate on changing back.

�� The
transformation was no easier this time than it had been before.� It still hurt, like he was forcing his body
to do something it wasn�t ready for.� But
he refused to stop until something in him, some instinct he barely understood,
told him that it was safe to do so.� Even
so, it wasn�t a fully human form he opened his eyes to.� His body was once again outwardly human, but
as Kousuke looked at his arms, he saw the leopard�s spotty pattern over his own
pale skin.� His hands were now clawed,
and a quick swipe of a nervous tongue proved that he�d kept the fangs.� A strange twitching feeling at the top of his
head turned out to be a pair of furry cat�s ears, and a long elegant crimson
tail still twitched restlessly behind him.

�� He was
reminded strongly of the storybooks that he vaguely remembered his mother
reading him when he was young.� There had
been certain beings in some of those stories, part cat and part man.� �Nekojin�ka?� he whispered to himself.

�� Correct.� But then, you freaks were always quite the
intelligent ones.� So you�re a red leopard,
ne?� I�ve never heard of that species
having that color in nature, but then, you and your kind are an unnatural
bunch.�

�� Kousuke
hissed, hackles he didn�t know he had rising at the sound of that hated
voice.� He looked around, but the cell
door was still closed and no one shared this place with him.� Most likely, there were hidden cameras and
speakers in the walls.� Probably
fireproof, if they had survived the inferno the first transformation had
triggered.� �The only freak I know is
you, lady.� What the fuck did you do to
me?!�

�� There was a
mocking laugh, and Kousuke shivered.� He
hated that laugh.� It always promised
pain.� �I just forced a few of your own
disgusting traits into fruition.�
Normally, they probably would have developed on their own when you
reached about eighteen, but by then that damned Yaiba would have you monsters
destroying all of humanity.�

�� We�re not
monsters!�

�� The
Hunter�s voice became angry.� �Oh?� What would you call a child that lights fires
with only his mind and is half cat?� You
and all of your kind are monsters!� I�ve
studied several Blade Children, and never once have I come across one whose
natural mother was human.� You�re all
demons, born from a devil and his demon wives!�

�� Kousuke
grit his teeth, mentally groaning as he realized this particular Hunter was yet
another twit using the stupid Christian terms for the whole mess.� He ached, and he was tired, and he
desperately wanted to curl up somewhere and hide.� �Whatever.�
Why the fuck did you do this to me, if I�m just some monster to kill?�

�� Because you�re more useful to me like this.� From the data I�ve collected, I know that
it�s not possible to get near Eyes Rutherford.�
So I�ll use you, his trusted friend.�
It�s a perfect irony, using one of Yaiba�s own creations to kill
another.�

�� Kousuke�s
eyes widened, and then he snarled loudly, baring his fangs in a catly show of
defiance.� �Like hell!� I�ll never help you!� You�ll never get Eyes!�

�� There was a
moment of silence, and then the sound of quiet chuckling.� Kousuke started to get even more scared.� �Oh, really?� Activate password:� Judas.�
Asazuki, get on your knees and bow.�

�� And
suddenly, Kousuke�s body wasn�t his own.�
While he�d had every intention of telling the crazy woman off, he found
himself unable to speak, his body moving to her command.� The soul that was Kousuke was pushed
somewhere to the back, replaced by the false personality that had been
programmed into his mind during the times he�d been forced into semi-sleep.

�� Not-Kousuke
finished the bow and got to his feet, smiling ever so slightly.� �What are your orders, mistress?�

�� No!� You can�t do this!

�� The
Hunter�s voice laughed from wherever she was.�
�Such an obedient little puppet.� I�ll have to remember to keep you around, if
you do well.�

�� I�m not
your pet!� Dammit, let me go!!!� But no matter what Kousuke tried, he couldn�t
get his body and mind back.� While he
could watch what was happening, he couldn�t influence it.� He was well and truly trapped, with a
construct made by a Hunter in full control of not only his body, but also new
and potentially lethal abilities.

�� There has
been a small group of what pass as children that have been sniffing around the
edges of this compound.� One of them is
your target.� I want you to terminate
Eyes Rutherford.� Kill anyone who gets in
your way.�

�� Not-Kousuke
bowed his assent, and the cell door opened to reveal a few of the assistants,
carrying his clothes and weapons.

�� Inside, the
spark that was Kousuke screamed his anguish.�
No!� Eyes!� Rio!� You can�t do this,
you can�t make me kill my family!�
But the body was unresponsive to his commands, and all that the Blade
Child could do, deep inside a mind no longer his own, was curl in on himself and cry.

�� ~*~

�� Rio
sighed. It had been almost a week since Kousuke and Ayumu had first gotten
caught, and they still hadn't found a way inside. The doors had been fused
shut, the windows rigged with explosives. The fire escape that Ayumu had first
escaped on was now locked. Rio was just about
ready to say the hell with caution and just blow a huge hole in the walls. And
while they all dithered out here, who knew what Kousuke was enduring. She
wanted to scream.

�� "The roof." Ayumu's
voice was quiet in the shadows. He'd stood before the building after circling
it twice and taking note of all the ways they'd been shut out. In the week that
had passed, he'd recovered from the effects of the poisoning. He'd sworn he was
ready to go a couple of days ago, but ended up waiting at Eyes's insistence.
After losing the rather quiet argument, he'd given in and let them watch over
him while they brainstormed a plan. No plan they'd come up with had factored in
that every single entrance would be blocked, up to and including any
ventilation or windows that they could fit into. He couldn't help feeling that
the extra precautionary measures were like bait to a trap. They were meant to
get in, just not meant to think it was easy.

�� ~*~

�� Kousuke
stood on the rooftop, his eyes following the three figures below. Outwardly, he
showed nothing but the programmed calm of the false personality that the Hunter
by his side had implanted into him. Inside, he was banging against mental
walls, trying desperately to move under his own power, to take one of the
various knives hidden on his person and gut the woman standing next to him. But
the body remained still, only moving as she directed it. He was on the verge of
killing those that meant the most to him, and he was helpless. He wanted to
scream.

�� The Hunter
smiled, watching them and reading the lips of Narumi Ayumu. Not much longer,
now. She sent the order down for someone to make sure that the monsters and
their sympathizer found their way to the hidden back stairs. She couldn't wait
to see their faces when she showed them her surprise. And soon after that, all
of them would be dead and the world a little cleaner.

�� ~*~

�� The younger
Narumi stared up at the top of the building, eyes narrowed in scrutiny. He
turned to the other two a moment later and motioned them to follow him.

�� Rio
followed readily, tense and wary for any possible ambush. That the Hunter
hadn't sent people to attack them bothered her.

�� It bothered Eyes too, and he
couldn't help but feel like they were walking straight into a trap, like
reliving the story that Kousuke had told about the rescue of Rio
and that Hiyono girl. But there was no other way to go after Kousuke, and they
certainly weren't going to leave him there. He trusted Ayumu to get them in,
but the rest would be up to all of them.

�� Rio
caught notice of something, a line of shadow where the mortar between old
bricks had fallen away. They had passed that old wall several times but...was
it her imagination, or was the crack wider this time? She rubbed her eyes and
looked again, but it still seemed wider. Not wanting to do something dumb just
because of wishful thinking, she looked for a second opinion. "Eyes? Do
you notice anything about that wall, or am I just going nuts?"

�� Blue eyes turned to where Rio was pointing and then narrowed. He hadn't seen
anything there and a glance in Ayumu's direction showed that the other boy
hadn't noticed anything before either. There was something very suspicious
about that.... "It appears as if it's a weak spot that was left
untouched."

�� "A weak spot that wasn't
there five minutes ago," Ayumu said bluntly.

�� Rio
glared at the crack in the wall, which as she studied it was looking more and
more like a secret door. "As much as I'd like to say ignore this
and find our own way up, we've pretty much confirmed that there isn't another
way. So what do we do?"

�� Ayumu crossed his arms.
"Hang-glide from another building? I think it goes without saying that I
don't like this at all."

�� "I think it goes without
saying that it might be our only choice," Eyes responded, his frown just
as deep as the brunette's.

�� "Well, we could go back
and have Eyes use his charming face to cajole a helicopter from somewhere, but
that would take too long. I want Kousuke out of here!"

�� The Hunter smiled at her
newest pet. "Hear that, they want you out of my care."

�� Not-Kousuke raised an eyebrow
and smirked. "Away from my lovely mistress? I think not."

�� Eeew...okay, that's just
gross. Enough with the sappy talk with my body!

�� Ayumu sighed. "Then
let's see where it leads, shall we?"

As expected, the crack in the wall did turn out to be a cunningly designed
secret door, opening to a stairwell leading up. It was as dusty and ill-used as
the rest of the outer building, but there were several sets of footprints in
the inch-thick dust, including one set that was too small to belong to a full
adult.

�� "I...don't like
this," Ayumu whispered.

�� Eyes nodded his head in
agreement, but followed the other boy in ascending the stairs.

�� "I agree. This just reeks
of a trap." Rio whispered, glad that they
were all armed to the teeth. She'd even gotten Ayumu to carry one of Kousuke's
daggers, though whether or not he would actually use it was unknown. But she
followed the others up. After all, what else could they do?

�� "Especially since that
hole in the wall is a new addition. It's like they gave us long enough for them
to get their defenses together, and then let us in," Ayumu mused.

�� Rio
nodded, glancing at Ayumu before moving her gaze back to the stairwell in front
of them. She wasn't finding any traps, but it wasn't going to hurt to be
cautious. "I know. But what else can we do? Wander out, let Kousuke die,
and when we all met again in the afterlife and he asks about it, we just say
'Sorry, buddy, but it was all just too much of a setup so we decided to
high-tail it out of there and let you rot'? He'd curse us to spend eternity as
turnips or banana slugs or something like that."

�� "I wouldn't leave him
behind, but I can't just pretend that everything's all right either."
Ayumu looked towards the top of the staircase. He sometimes felt like he had to
keep talking, or he'd run out of the nerve to go through with things. He'd
gotten better since meeting the Blade Children, but he still had a distinct
lack of faith and desire to go throwing himself into unpredictable situations.

�� They soon reached the top of
the stairs, where a simple old door barred their way. Rio
glanced at the others for confirmation before pushing it open, squinting
against the sudden daylight in the gloomy tunnel.

�� "Saa," said a
familiar voice, "And here I was thinking I'd have to come looking for you.
You guys took forever."

�� Eyes
started a little, glancing around for the source of the voice, knowing whose it
was. Even Ayumu recognized it and was on the lookout. Both were afraid it was a
trap, and mostly sure they were right.

�� There was an amused chuckle.
"Well, are you going to hang around in the stairwell like idiots, or come
out on the roof?"

�� "Now now, Kousuke. They
have every right to be wary. After all, we're all here to kill them." That
was a female voice, and one that Ayumu would recognize, even if the others
couldn't.

�� Eyes stiffened next to Rio, and his expression was immediately cold. He took the
first step forward, and Ayumu followed regardless of the risk. The brunette
really thought it would be best if they backed away from this. If that were really
Kousuke and they had to fight him, it was possible that something really bad
would happen.

�� Sure enough, there was Kousuke,
leaning casually against the wall and smirking at them. Rio's
eyes narrowed, both in suspicion and a little confusion. Something seemed...odd
about him, but not in a way that could be easily pinpointed. Maybe it was the
fact that he wasn't making any extra movements at all, or that the few
movements he did make were made with a certain fluid grace that seemed out of
place in the redhead. Not that he wasn't graceful, since he had more than
enough agility to get by, but something about the way he moved didn't seem
quite natural.

�� And standing next to him,
totally at ease, was the Hunter, who smiled in a way that very much reminded Rio of honeyed arsenic. Sweet, but poisonous. "So
good of you to join the party. Kousuke has been telling me all sorts of
interesting things. But then, that is why I sent him."

�� Rio's
blood seemed to freeze in her veins, but that was nothing compared to what she
heard next come out of Kousuke's mouth.

�� "I merely do what my
mistress wishes."

�� Ayumu
frowned deeply, making the faces that Eyes wouldn't dare. "That's
her," he growled. "And that's not Kousuke."� His eyes locked on those green-gold ones,
reaching out for that sense he got that something wasn't right.� His instincts screamed that this was somehow
not the same person that had dared to save his life and protect him when he
needed it most.

�� Kousuke raised both eyebrows
in a look of amused surprise. "What, don't you recognize me, Narumi Ayumu?
Oh, or perhaps it's the attitude change? That's easy enough to explain. It was
all an act. I've been working for Samantha here for almost two years now,
gathering info on my fellow Blade Children. But now she's got enough, and I
don't have to pretend anymore."

�� Something odd was happening
while Kousuke spoke. Ayumu could hear a second voice, exactly the same, but the
words were wildly different. However, no one else seemed to hear them...

�� Oh, like hell! I can't act
my way out of a paper bag! And what's with this 'mistress' crap?! Dammit, lemme
go!!!

�� The brunette narrowed his
eyes at Kousuke for a moment, focusing harder on what could possibly be that
complacent exterior, trying to listen for that second voice. Then his gaze
turned on the woman. "What did you do to him?"

�� The Hunter shrugged and waved
a hand in an indifferent motion. "Nothing, just brought him back to my
side and gave him orders. It was a pity I had to shoot that gorgeous body of
his, but we had to make it realistic. Otherwise, you would have been
suspicious, and never would have brought my real target here."

�� Kousuke looked mildly bored.
"And we spent the whole week waiting for you to bring Rutherford
here. We actually had to show you the door."

�� BITCH!!! If you make me
hurt him, I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be
pretty!

�� Eyes clenched his fists at
his sides. He didn't have to ask why he was always the one being targeted. He
supposed that Rio had been right when she'd
said all those things a week ago. He let out a soft breath. "You could
have found a better way of inviting me, couldn't you?"

�� Kousuke chuckled, his
gold-green eyes gleaming like gems, lovely but hard. "After all the time
we spent together, I knew this was the most effective way. I worked very hard
to get into yours and Takeuchi's affections. And hey, I got to lure Little
Narumi here as well. I wasn't sure he'd come back after his clever little
escape.� My mistress wants to study him,
you see. Find out just what the heck's so important. I won't say it hasn't been
fun, though. The moments before I left were...amusing."

�� Rio
let out a low growl, caught between hurt and rage.

�� And if Ayumu wasn't going mad,
it would seem that Rio wasn't the only one
upset. NO! Don't listen to him, Eyes! It wasn't a joke! I'd never do that to
you! Dammit, why can't I stop this?!

�� "I'm not going to be anyone's
guinea pig," Ayumu said with a shake of his head. "You all got me
once, but you're not going to do it again. We came here for Kousuke, but if he
just wants to hang around with a bunch of losers like you, then it's his own
business." He waved his hand as if he didn't care one way or the other.

�� "Free will brought him,
free will could take him," was all Eyes would say. Not a single expression
showed on his face.

�� The voice that only Ayumu
could hear...sobbed. It was the sound of someone who had watched his worst
nightmares come true, and lost everything he treasured.

�� There it is again....
Ayumu stared hard at the redhead, wondering why he was hearing something that
didn't seem to be there. What was going on? It did seem like it was in
character for Kousuke to play the winning side, but there was still something
very ... off about the whole situation. Ayumu really didn't believe that
Kousuke would have helped him escape if he worked for the Hunter the whole
time. After all, they wanted a piece of him now, right? Why let that get away
when they could have prevented him from escaping the whole time. It didn't make
sense. His mind was trying to reach for that voice, that thing he was hearing.
Had he just gone crazy?

�� If so, then whoever he was
hearing was crazy too. While Ayumu didn't manage a full touch, he somehow got
the sensation of 'brushing' against the unseen speaker, and that had seemed
like the exact feel of Kousuke. Held up to what they were currently facing, it
was obvious to tell which one was a fake.

�� N-nani...? Narumi-ototou?
Is that...you? The voice was so quiet, so unsure, as if he couldn't quite
bring himself to believe.

�� The Hunter, meanwhile, grew
bored with the dialogue. She got up and placed a quick peck to Kousuke's lips.
The real Kousuke immediately forgot about the insane notion that Ayumu could
possibly be hearing him.

�� AAAAUGH! My lips are
defiled! Bleach! Need bleach!

�� A sword was
in Eyes's hands before he even realized it, the slim blade coming from
somewhere beneath the long trench coat he wore. Even if Kousuke did work for
the other side now, true or not, that woman was not going to get away with
stealing what he thought was his. The blade glinted in the sunlight, and he
bared it offensively at the both of them.

�� Ayumu rubbed his temples when
he heard the other voice again. What is this...? He glanced over at Eyes
and then gave Rio a worried expression. This
encounter wasn't going to go very well.

�� Rio
wasn't much of a help. Her gaze was just as fierce and angry as Eyes's,
thinking she had been betrayed by one she had seen as a brother.

�� Kousuke pulled away from the
blonde, glancing at the three in front of him. "Anger," he murmured,
almost to himself, "anger and...confusion? What would confuse you so much,
Little Narumi?"

�� The Hunter shrugged and
stepped back. "Never mind that. Be a good boy and take care of the Blade
Children, won't you? Just keep the Narumi boy alive."

�� Kousuke grinned, and it wasn't
a reassuring sight. "As you wish."

�� The voice within suddenly
sounded panicked. No, not this! Don't make me! Please don't--Narumi-ototou,
if you can really hear me and I'm not just going mad from what that bitch did
to me, then listen now! RUN! Get Eyes and Rio
out of here! They can't fight me! I'll kill them!

�� But....we can't just
leave you here.... Ayumu looked torn between listening to that disembodied
voice and going along with the others to fight Kousuke.

�� Eyes took a step forward.
"You will get neither of those wishes today."

�� If you don't...you will
have to kill me. I can't live with the knowledge that I killed Eyes and Rio. I just can't!

�� Kousuke just smirked, and
suddenly a blaze of fire exploded around the sword Eyes held, turning the metal
red hot in his hands.

�� "What the--?!" Ayumu
said, startled.

�� Eyes bit his lip and held out
for a moment before dropping the blade.

�� Kousuke...what was that?!

�� Kousuke laughed, and the
air around them suddenly grew very warm. "I suppose I should mention that
my mistress taught me a few new tricks while I was here. I can call the flames
at will, now. And I can feel your fear. And of most interest..." There was
a bright reddish glow around Kousuke for a minute, and when it faded, they were
staring at a Kousuke much transformed. Leopard spotting trailed down his fair
skin, and crimson ears poked out of his hair. A long sinuous tail twitched
behind him, and his hands were clawed. He smirked, showing fang.

�� The voice inside, the real Kousuke,
didn't get the chance to answer Ayumu. He had started screaming, as if the
transformation hurt him.

�� Eyes actually had the grace to
look shocked, his mouth parting into an 'o' of surprise, taking one step back.
It was as if they'd stepped into some sort of strange nightmare, and he
certainly wanted to wake up.

�� Ayumu didn't move, trusting
the other two to watch his back for a moment. His eyes closed and he
concentrated on that screaming, trying to latch onto the voice....trying to
find the real Kousuke. He didn't understand how, but that Hunter had managed to
superimpose a submissive personality over the top of the real thing, and that
was not acceptable.

�� Ayumu could almost see
him, using that strange unexplained instinct of his. The barest outlines of a
vision, of Kousuke curled up within himself, boxed in on all sides and helpless
to do anything but pray to a god he didn't believe in for death. This close, he
could feel some of Kousuke's emotions through the redhead's empathic ability.
There was fear, and there was pain, but most prevalent was despair. The ones he
loved thought he'd betrayed them. They would never trust him again, and he'd be
left alone to deal with the shame of what the Hunter had done and a bunch of
abilities forced into fruition far before their time.

�� Ayumu may have never seen Kousuke
cry, but here, he could feel it.

�� It hurt... Ayumu's hand went
to his chest, the fabric of his shirt getting twisted into his fingers as he
tried to wrap himself around that feeling. If that's really you, Kousuke....
you have to help us fight what she's done to you... He didn't know if
Kousuke could hear him, but he couldn't just give up.

�� Eyes was reaching out to take Rio's hand. He was beginning to think that they should
run and he didn't know what Ayumu was doing.

�� The true Kousuke seemed to
shudder, but forced himself to calm enough to think. It...might help if my
body's distracted. I know from the information in what she did to me that this
complex looks over the ocean. If you can knock me into the water, I... My body
will probably kick into basic survival instincts, because I don't know how to
swim.

�� Rio
squeezed Eyes's hand tightly, but was keeping an eye on Ayumu. He looked in
pain, but at the same time as if he was concentrating on something. She didn't
know what was going on, only that the temperature was still rising on the roof,
as if Kousuke was trying to set the very building aflame. She palmed the tiny
pistol she kept hidden up her sleeve, part of her quailing at the thought that
she was about to use this on someone she had cared for.

�� It's kind of pointless to go
through all this just to make you drown... Ayumu's eyes opened
slowly. "Rio..."

�� If I drown, I drown! At
least Eyes and Rio will be alive, and they can
kill the bitch that did this!

�� Rio
looked over at Ayumu, glad that he no longer looked like he was in pain, but
confused by the sudden look of purpose. "Nani?"

�� "Can you take out the
Hunter on your own?" His voice was almost like a breathy sigh, as quiet as
he could get it.

�� Eyes was looking at him now,
and Ayumu turned to meet that pretty blue gaze. He looked determined, and this
time, there was no room for doubt. He had to believe in their only chance...and
himself for making such a decision. For all he knew, that voice could have been
something the Hunter had done to distract him, but he didn't think so. He was
more inclined to believe he'd been speaking with the real Kousuke, even if he
didn't know how. The timing had to be right...

�� Rio's
eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "Whatever your plan is, Little Narumi,
you'd better explain it in full if we get out of here."

�� "You mean 'when'."
Ayumu stepped towards them, his arms slightly outward as if he were giving in.
He raised his voice now so that Kousuke and Samantha could hear him. "Well,
I guess if I'm what you want....." His eyes sharpened, landing on the
redhead as he gathered up his nerve. "You can have me!" He darted
forward, bracing himself and slamming into Kousuke full force.

�� The redhead let out a startled
growl, very much like the hunting cat he so resembled. It almost toppled him
over the edge of the roof, but he managed to brace himself at the last minute.

�� With the redhead distracted,
the temperature died back down, and Rio turned
to aim at the Hunter, who was beginning to look angry.

�� Ayumu was
in his face now, grinning as if he knew the answer to the world's questions.
"So, Asazuki...it's my turn to challenge you. Do you know what is alive,
but not alive, real but not real, and murderous yet despairing?" His voice
carried across the roof, his eyes intense as he watched the Blade Child.

�� Eyes watched the whole thing
with that slightly stunned look still on his face. He wasn't sure how to gain
his composure again, and with Kousuke acting like he was and Ayumu looking like
he was about to send him off the roof, he didn't think he could. Narumi's words
drifted back to him, and he puzzled over what the boy was trying to say.

�� Cuuuute. That's an
interesting way to describe this little slice of hell. Knock me over,
Narumi-ototou. The weak point is my shoulder.

�� Kousuke snarled. "Why
the fuck would I know the answer to something like that?"

�� That made Rio
pause. That statement was more than out of character. Kousuke adored riddles,
and she knew that adoration had been genuine every time she saw it. To hear him
refuse to even consider a riddle set off all her garbage alarms.� Eyes too also wondered at the lack of
interest in riddles. Even in the heat of opposition, this challenge was right
up his alley.

�� "The answer is right here
in my hands." Ayumu braced his hand and slammed his palm into Kousuke's
wounded shoulder, already knowing the weak point before the real Kousuke had
pointed it out.

�� Kousuke let out a yowl, the
sudden sharp pain making his body go numb down that side. He lost his
precarious footing and fell from the roof towards the sea below.

The real Kousuke gave a soft sigh of relief. Arigatou, Na--Ayumu. And
in case I don't make it after this, there's two other Blade children somewhere
in the complex. Get them out, and...tell Eyes I'm sorry.� And then he hit the water. Base panic took
over, making the programmed personality brittle as it lost its foundation. All
it would need now was the slightest push from them both.

�� Stay with me... Ayumu
grasped the edge of the roof, the force of the momentum he'd put behind the
push almost tumbling him as well.� He
stared down at the unsettled waves where Kousuke had broken the surface of the
water, wind whipping his hair around his face. �Let him fight it, not you...

�� A flurry of movement rushed
beside him. Eyes ran past, vaulting off the edge and diving after Kousuke. He
knew that the redhead hated water, and likely couldn't swim. Programmed or not,
he wouldn't let him die.

�� Kousuke shoved against the
mental barriers that kept him trapped, barely noticing when his body sank like
a stone. All that mattered was gaining his freedom. And between the force of
both their minds, the programming cracked, then shattered. Kousuke's and
Ayumu's minds touched, then connected. And suddenly, there was more to it than
that.

To Kousuke's mind, it was almost like the beginnings of a spider web, but
instead of thin strands of silk, it was the strands of memory that made up his
life, with Ayumu's memories anchoring it from the center. Kousuke knew
instinctively that if he had wanted to know anything at all about Ayumu, all he
had to do was touch that web, and Ayumu could do the same if he wanted any
answers about Kousuke.� For that reason, Kousuke
refused to touch it. There were secrets about himself that he didn't want
anyone knowing, and he figured Ayumu was the same.

�� Unsure of
how to control this new connection, Ayumu was trapped inside this little world
that looked like the beginnings of embroidery, but with light instead of thread.
His physical hands released the guard wall that he was leaning against, his
entire frame sinking down to his knees. Amber eyes had gone distant, withdrawn
into himself and that strange place where he could hear the real Kousuke. He
was defenseless like this, but it didn't seem to matter. What...is this?

�� That was how he knew when Kousuke
began having trouble. Now that the redhead was back in control of his own body,
he didn't have the false strength of the programming to rely on. He'd spent the
entire week with no real food or true sleep, and with the shocks and emotional
upheavals of the day, it just shut down, dragging Kousuke into unconsciousness
beneath the waves. He wasn't even aware enough to realize he was drowning.

�� Meanwhile, the Hunter was
annoyed that her pet had failed, but her secondary target, the Narumi boy,
seemed to be in some sort of odd trance, leaving him vulnerable. She began to
approach.

�� Rio,
however, wasn't having any of that. She raised her little pistol and fired all
of the three shots that would fit in that tiny weapon, killing the woman before
she could even touch the brunette. Nobody messed around with the hope of the
Blade Children if she had anything to say about it!

�� Eyes hit
the water in a clean slice, his focus entirely on the direction that Kousuke's
body was going...which seemed to be down. The redhead barely fought, not even
with the panic that usually would come with someone that didn't know how to
swim. He moved as fast as he could, shedding the extra weight of his coat to
get to the sinking Blade Child, his arms wrapping around the unconscious form.
He then kicked as hard as he could, pulling them both back to the surface. His
head broke free, and he took a huge gasp of hair. The water was cold, and he
wanted to get to shore as soon as possible.

�� Kousuke was breathing, but
only barely, with a hitch that suggested water in the lungs. And though he had
always been slender, his waist felt too thin under Eyes's arms. There were also
signs of exhaustion, in the way his skin was taking on a slightly grayish
pallor, and the dark shadows under his eyes that the yellow shades had hidden
before getting knocked off on impact with the water's surface.

�� The deep worry that came from
just one look at Kousuke's features overshadowed any other thought. He dragged
the other to the shore and pulled him out, laying him back to start getting the
water out of his lungs.

�� ~*~

�� With Kousuke's
unconsciousness, Ayumu began to pull himself back from the Web within his mind,
clarity coming back to his golden eyes. He blinked a couple of times, surprised
that he was on the ground instead of still gripping the edge. It had felt like
hours had passed in the span of a few minutes. He immediately searched for Rio,
realising he'd blanked out in the moment that Eyes had run past, leaving the
girl alone with that Hunter.

�� Rio
was quite calm, kneeling over the corpse of the woman that had once been a
Hunter, and methodically going through her pockets, checking her
identification. "Hmph. I think I've seen this woman on the news. She's wanted
in Germany
for illegal human experimentation."

�� Ayumu glanced over at her.
"That right?" He got up slowly and then looked over the edge of the
roof, letting out a sigh of relief as he saw both Eyes and Kousuke on the
shore. "We should get finished here and get out as quickly as possible.
Kousuke said to check the inside of the compound...there are two more Blade
Children that she hasn't killed in there."

�� Rio
paused, then gave Ayumu a funny look. "When did he say that? I certainly
didn't hear it."

�� "It's....a long story.
Remember how you were saying that I'd have to explain my plan if it
worked?" He glared down at the woman that had almost brought about his
early death and then headed for the doorway that they had come from.

�� Rio
nodded. "Save the story until we get to Eyes. I have the feeling that he's
going to want to hear this even more than I do."

��
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