Family Affair

Chapter 8 ~ The Drug


Faust peered silently towards the front screen door and saw Manta sitting near it. He frowned
slightly as the tiny blonde sat still, holding on tightly to his teddy bear and waiting. After a moment of
consideration, Faust walked over and knelt next to his son. “Manta? Do you want to come eat
breakfast now?”

Slowly he shook his head.

“Do you want me to bring it here for you?”

Once again Manta shook his head.

Faust sighed while taking a more comfortable position, then looked worriedly at Manta. For the
past two weeks he would sit by the door, awaiting Yoh’s return. The doctor was becoming curious as
to why Manta was so upset lately, and after a while he wrapped an arm around the smaller. “Manta,
why are you so scared?” he asked quietly. “Yoh-kun will come back soon. I promise.”

“Faust-san,” Shizuka said quietly as she walked up, “you have to remember he’s never been
more than twelve hours without Yoh.” She knelt down and smiled slightly at Manta. “Manta, he\'ll come
back,” she said quietly. “Why don’t you go help Kibo in the kitchen so that way time goes more
quickly?”

Slowly Manta shook his head while holding on more tightly to Sakura.

“Manta, she’s right. Time will go faster that way,” Faust said with a smile.

Manta sighed continuing to stare out the screen door at the rising sun. After a moment, his
expression saddened as he hugged Sakura more tightly.

Faust frowned, then looked to Shizuka. “Could you get the grey bottle with his name from my
office? And I’ll need a syringe and some witch hazel.”

“Uh huh,” she replied as she stood up and walked towards the office. A few minutes later she
returned with a sterile syringe, a cotton swab and witch hazel, and the bottle of light blue liquid. She
watched as Faust administered the medication to Manta, then carefully accepted the items when Faust
finished. She was rather used to this. Normally Manta only had one administration a week, but for the
last week he had received one every day. After a moment, she became curious. “Faust, what exactly is
that stuff?”

Faust frowned slightly. “Just medicine Shizuka,” he replied quietly.

“What kind of medicine?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

He shook his head, and then he wrapped an arm around the small body and stroked the soft,
reddish-blonde hair. “igenigen na chou ni natte, kirameku kaze ni notte,” he sang softly to the blonde.
“Ima sugu kimi ni ai ni yukou.”

Shizuka watched quietly as Faust continued to sing softly to Manta, then sighed while looking
away slightly as he finally stood up, lifting Manta in his arms carefully. “Faust, if you won’t tell me what
it is, at least tell me what it does,” she said sternly.

Faust stared at the tiny bundle in his arms, then sighed. “You can’t tell Yoh-kun or anybody
else, Shizuka. I know you won’t understand why at first, but I will explain.”

“You darn well better,” she replied irritably.

Faust began walking. “First of all, I’ve taken special care of ensuring it is completely composed
of natural ingredients. There are no chemicals in it. It basically does two things.”

She was silent as he came to a stop outside the nursery, thecamecame curious when he entered
it. “Why are we coming here?”

Faust sighed as he walked in and looked around. Once Kibo had grown too old for her crib,
she had moved to another room. Even though they knew Kwoulwould probably be Yoh and Manta’s
only child, Yoh had decided he wanted to leave the nursery untouched, for sentimental value.

Carefully the older shaman placed Manta down in the crib and covered him up, stroking the
soft hair.

“What’s the first thing?” Shizuka asked.

He sighed. “The first thing it does is relaxes his mind and body.” He sighed whilosilosing his
eyes. “The second thing... Well, it\'s more of a side effect. It basically makes his mind infantile.”

She blinked. “N-nani?! Why would you give him something like that?!”

He sighed while closing his eyes. “It’s necessary, Shizuka. It’s sometimes the only way I can
get him to eat or drink.” He sighed again. “Manta needs the few hours he can get.”

She looked silently at him. “Faust... This can’t make up for what Manta lost.”

He closed his eyes. “It’s not to make up for what he lost or missed. He’s never had a
childhood. Not ever. Those few hours do him a great deal of good, Shizuka. It helps his appetite return
to normal and allows him to regain his energy.”

She looked at him silently, then shook her head. “Manta is twenty-five years old, Faust. We
should be trying to help him grow, not...”

“He is only eleven physically,” he interrupted.

“Hmm?”

“You restarted his biological clock when he had to be transformed. And even though he is
recovering, he only knows love and fear. He is not capable of anything else because his soul is still too
simple like a young child’s.” Faust walked over and placed a hand gently on Manta’s shoulder. “I don’t
like that Yoh is taking advantage of his recovery. It is too hard on him.”

Shizuka sighed quietly. “Faust... You have to stop being such a father. Manta’s soul needs to
age. As...” She looked up towards the hall hearing the phone ring, then sighed and walked out.
“Residence of Asakura, Faust and Lee-Usui. How may I help you?” she said when she answered the
phone.

“Heya, Shizzy!” Yoh’s voice said happily.

“Eh? Hi, Yoh,” she said with a smile.

“Huh? Oh, I forgot about the time change! Were you busy?”

“Um... Sort of,” she replied quietly. “Yoh, I will need to speak to you privately as soon as
possible.”

“Is everything alright?”

“I’m not certain,” she replied quietly. “Do you want to talk to Kibo?”

“Hai,” he replied.

“Kibo, it’s your father!” she called down the hall, and then yelped when the blonde girl was
grabbing the phone from her a split second later.

“Hi, Daddy!” she cried happily.

“Hey, Sweety,” Yoh replied with a laugh. “It sounds like you scared Shizuka again.”

She giggled. “Sorry.”

“So how are you doing?”

“I’m good,” she replied. “Hey, you didn’t phone last night.”

“Aa. I know. Sorry. My cell phone died, and I didn’t want to run a phone bill. So have you
been keeping caught up in your schooling?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she replied.

“And you’ve been good?”

“Yes Daddy,” she replied, still smiling and rolling her eyes in a good-natured gesture.

“That’s my girl. So what have you been up to?”

For a moment she was quiet, then she sighed. “Not much. Mom hasn\'t been up to anything, so
it\'s pretty boring.”

“Oh?” Yoh asked.

“Eh,” Shizuka yelped while grabbing the phone from Kibo. “Yoh, there’s something else I need
to talk to you about.”

Kibo gave Shizuka an annoyed expression, then went back to the kitchen to find a snack.

“About what?”

Shizuka sighed while leaning against the wall. “Yoh... Manta hasn\'t been well. He’s getting less
and less sleep at night and when he does sleep, certain memories are attacking him.”

“Memories?” Yoh asked worriedly.

She sighed while closing her eyes. “Ren used to tell Manta he was a dirty thing and that you
would abandon him when you realized it.”

Yoh was very silent for some time, then he sighed. “Put Manta on the phone,” he said gently.

“Hai,” she replied as she walked back to the room, and then covered it while looking at Faust.
“Yoh wants to talk to him.”

Faust nodded slowly while shaking the small body carefully. “Manta. Yoh is on the phone,” he
whispered.

After a minute, the tired blue eyes fluttered open, and then he turned his head slightly as Shizuka
placed the phone down so he could hear Yoh.

“Okay,” Shizuka said loudly enough for Yoh to hear.

“Hi, Manta-chan,” Yoh said softly. “How you doing?” He was quiet for a moment, then began
talking again. “Manta-chan, things went well. The hotel met standards, and Trenton agreed to an
affiliation,” he said enthusiastically, but always keeping his voice soft. “Since things went so quickly, I
got around to visiting the hotel in Canada, and we may achieve affiliation with it, as well.”

Faust watched as Manta stared blankly with half-open eyes, then smiled slightly when the
blonde tightened his grip on his teddy bear.

“Manta-chan, I have a big surprise for you when I get home,” Yoh said gently. “I hope you’ll
like it. And Manta-chan... I love you with all of me, Babysoft,” he said lovingly. “I’ll be home as soon
as possible, so you hang on.”

Faust watched as Manta’s eyes fluttered shut, then he lifted up the phone with one hand while
bringing the comforter to Manta’s shoulders with his other hand. “Yoh-kun?”

“Hey, Faust,” Yoh replied. “How has Manta been doing?”

“Well, he’s sleeping right now. He’s waiting for you, though,” he replied, then after a moment
his voice lowered. “Yoh-kun, you had better not leave Manta for long.”

“Eh?” Yoh was quiet for a moment, recognizing the threatening tone Faust had used. “Faust,
what’s going on?”

Faust sighed. “Yoh-kun, Manta is not well. He waits at the door every day, his appetite is
weak, and he’s been fevered. I don’t want to see him so upset simply because you’re away for so
long.”

“I know, Faust. I’m coming home as soon as possible,” Yoh replied. “Thank you for taking
care of Manta-chan.”

“He’s my son. Of course I would take care of him,” he replied cooly.

Yoh was quiet for a moment, then sighed. “I understand. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Hai,” Faust replied, then he walked out of the room and hung up.

“Faust?” Shizuka asked quietly.

“Do not mention the drug to Yoh or anybody else. Perhaps you don’t believe so, but it is best
that he have those few hours so that he may become stronger and keep him from starving himself.”

She looked silently at him, then frowned as she turned on her heel and walked away to prepare
dinner.