Chapter 16, part two
Both Imai and Atsushi ended up taking a shower at Hide’s place-Imai got to use Hide’s private bathroom connected to his bedroom to save time. Imai was pleased with the privacy, even if he felt extremely awkward.
And he did finally get the ice pack for his nose. Although it was a bit too late to stop the swelling, it at least felt better.
They also both borrowed clothing from Hide, because Imai didn’t really want to wear the same clothes he’d slept in, and Hide had already tossed Atsushi’s into his laundry pile. They were a physical reminder that weren’t quite necessary at this point.
Although Imai sort of wished he had his own clothing…because Hide’s clothes fit Atsushi much better than they did him. Imai ended up wearing a pair of shorts since the legs on Hide’s jeans were just far too long and he felt a tad ridiculous with all these men in suits sitting around.
The legs weren’t too long for Atsushi, but he did have to wear a belt, because although Hide wasn’t a large man by any means, Atsushi was just that much skinner. That was probably why he looked a bit dwarfed in one of Hide’s sweaters. Of course that could be because the thing would probably eat Hide alive. Why he picked that one Imai couldn’t guess-although it was a really pretty emerald color…
One of the reasons Imai was so busy studying what Atsushi was wearing was because they were now all sitting in the living room, waiting. And Atsushi was sitting right next to him.
It had been a simple action. Imai had wandered out first and claimed the sofa facing the two Shinigami. Adam was clearly in no hurry while Makino was trying to make it look like he was in no hurry, but in reality was chomping at the bit to get this over with.
Atsushi emerged from the hallway a bit later, his hair still damp but tangle free. He didn’t look at the Shinigami once. Instead he walked over and sat down right next to Imai on the same couch-on the same couch cushion. Granted the couch only had two cushions, but he sat close enough that his leg and shoulder touched Imai’s.
This wasn’t necessary… even if he wanted to be as far away from the Shinigami was possible, there was a perfectly fine chair to Imai’s right. And there was the next cushion over too...how he’d missed that Imai couldn’t guess.
Imai’s eyes darted to the side, trying to see without turning his head to look like he was looking… or whatever. Although he didn’t really need to see anything. Atsushi was a warm, solid body next to him and he smelled wonderful. Hide must have had some fruity shampoo in that bathroom of his… Imai would have to tease him about it later…but then he’d have to admit to smelling Atsushi, but it was rather hard not to with him sitting so close and damn it Imai’s brain needed to shut up.
Atsushi turned his head a bit, not quite looking at Imai but effectively using his hair as a shield from the Shinigami, who were pretending not to be paying attention but Imai knew they were. But at least Hide was making enough racket moving around in the kitchen that they might not hear what he said. “I’m sorry, Imai,” he said, very softly, speaking more to his lap than to Imai. Again.
“Hmm?” Imai asked, not moving him lips since he knew they could see him. He could use the ice pack as a shield he guessed-even if it was more a water pack by now-but that would also block out Atsushi, so there was no point.
“I…I was really…rude to you this morning. I shouldn’t have been.”
Imai offered him a smile in return. It was okay, he wanted it to say. It didn’t matter.
Atsushi made an effort to smile in return, but it was more of a ghost of an expression than anything else. It was also very clear he was hesitating over something. “I think…I think we need to talk later?” he said, turning what could have been a firm statement into a nervous question.
“Mmm-hmm.” His answer was very calm and bland and…everything Imai wasn’t feeling at the moment. His stomach was in nervous knots and his heart was pounding enough for two, hell maybe three, people. He swallowed, trying to soothe his dry throat. Just those few words and he was…what? Excited? Afraid? He didn’t really know, but just thinking about the future…
He really hoped he didn’t screw everything up.
It didn’t look like he’d screwed anything up too badly yet, since Atsushi was all but glued to his side at the moment. That had to mean something. Even if he was sitting with his hands in his lap and shoulders rounded like he was expecting to be berated at any second. Imai hated that defeated posture and he was well aware that Atsushi was oblivious of it. It was just a natural thing he did when he was feeling put upon.
Feeling brave, Imai snaked his hand between them and gently touched Atsushi’s nearest wrist with his index finger. Atsushi’s head immediately turned the barest inch in his direction, proof that he noticed but wasn’t going to say anything.
Then, to Imai’s immense surprise, Atsushi surreptitiously lifted his hand and placed it over Imai’s, taking full advantage of his extra large sweater sleeves to hide what was going on. There wasn’t anything sexy or flirtatious about the gesture. He didn’t caress Imai’s fingers…in fact he didn’t even try to hold on to him at all. It was just skin to skin contact-a sort of nonverbal reassurance. Imai wasn’t sure who was being reassured, and for what issue, but he’d take what he could get for now.
They sat together like that, silent but connected, until Hide came into the room with mugs of coffee. Imai didn’t mind the stuff, but he really didn’t want to lose this hold on Atsushi-well, actually, it was more like Atsushi’s hold on him. Either way, he didn’t want to lose it, even if his stomach was growling from the smell.
Hearing the noise, Atsushi turned to look at him and smirked; it was a slight quirk of his lips that Imai knew so well.
Imai felt an unexpected thrill of excitement. That familiar expression gave him hope that maybe things would turn out okay. Because that was the Atsushi he knew-the one who would make fun of him so subtly that Imai couldn’t get annoyed.
It was for that reason that Imai didn’t feel too much of a pang when Atsushi moved his hand to take the cup Hide offered him. In fact, he was feeling rather upbeat. Because he was sure that all they had to do was get through this now and then things would get better.
Now he just had to send some of those good feelings Atsushi’s way. That was going to be the tough part.
*
Atsushi stared down at the warm, steaming mug of coffee in his hands but didn’t drink it. He was in a fog. It felt like his brain was a few blocks behind his physical body and it was only now racing to catch up...
One minute he’d been blissfully unconscious…and now he was sitting in Hide’s living room having morning coffee with two men he hoped to never see again (although that hadn’t worked out with Adam. Why not Makino? Complete the headache.) Had everything really happened in less than half an hour? That’s what the clocks said. A little after nine when they’d showed up…and now it was nearly 9:20. Such a shitty way to start a day…
Imai shifted beside him, moving to get his own cup from Hide, and Atsushi bit down on the inside of his cheek. He had the inkling that he really shouldn’t have sat down next to Imai like that-there was this big Issue that needed discussed first-but it had been a natural thing to do… Get as far away from them as he could and stick close to someone safe. And, compared to those two, Imai was the obvious safe choice...
That didn’t excuse Atsushi touching Imai’s hand like that. That hadn’t been a well thought out plan, but since his brain was still huffing up the hill to catch up he wasn’t surprised at his own stupidity.
Atsushi couldn’t help but feel that he was blatantly taking advantage of Imai’s apparent….interest. Being physically close to people always made him feel less…alone, forgettable, transient; the list could go on (none of them getting any more pleasant.) It was a really pathetic part of him that just wouldn’t go away…and to have Imai so willing to hold on to him was just… Well, it was just like giving a junkie an eternal supply, and it really shouldn’t be that way…
Someone was talking. It took Atsushi longer than he would have liked to process that. Lifting his head, he saw it was Makino. He was most likely making some complaint veiled in politeness about having to wait, but Atsushi wasn’t sure since he didn’t really hear what he said. It didn’t matter.
Fuck you, he wanted to say, but he didn’t. Not out of propriety; he could find his voice he was still so angry with the bastard.
He didn’t realize that he leaned closer to Imai until he felt Imai shift a bit to compensate for Atsushi’s encroachment of his personal space. Apparently getting his ribs shoved into the arm of the couch wasn’t too comfortable. Or at least that’s what Atsushi imagined he was doing to the poor man so he immediately moved over to give Imai the proper breathing room.
That’s what he needed to do…give the both of them the proper breathing space. He really should go sit in the armchair but…he didn’t want to get up either. The decision was made for him when Hide sat down next to the two of them on the couch. It was a blatant show of solidarity and Atsushi couldn’t break that. Imai was just going to have to put up with him it seemed…
Hide was talking now. “They should be here shortly. And so will breakfast. Seeing that you’re drinking coffee, I’m assuming you’re able to eat breakfast too?”
Adam seemed to answer in the affirmative, but Atsushi didn’t quite hear him. His attention was immediately diverted to the feeling of fingers on his back, tentative touches against the material of the sweater Hide had given him.
He didn’t move and those fingers became an arm snaking behind his back. A hand landed on his hip, resting against the waistband of his borrowed jeans under the cover of the bulky sweater. Without moving his head Atsushi’s eyes snapped in the direction that the hand had gone but of course he couldn’t see anything.
Atsushi’s pulse thundered in his ears and he knew for certain he must be flushing. What was Imai thinking? Why was he..? He shouldn’t be… Why did he think…?
“Sakurai-san, are you all right?” Adam’s voice seemed to come from a very far distance. Despite that, Atsushi was startled into almost dropping the cup in his hands, but he managed to fumble it back into his grip.
Mouth parting slightly in surprise, Atsushi absently turned his head in the other man’s direction. “Euh…yeah.”
It didn’t hit him at first just how airheaded that response sounded, but it eventually caught up with him. Adam’s raised eyebrow definitely helped it hit home. Atsushi was sure his neck was beet red by now. “Ah…”
“Is it too warm in here?” Hide asked, sounding legitimately concerned.
“N-No.”
If Atsushi could be any more obvious about the fact that Imai’s touch had him all flustered, he didn’t know. He was sure he was doing a pretty damn good job of looking the part, though. It was rather embarrassing… couldn’t Imai just let him go? Out of the corner of his eye Atsushi could see that Imai appeared completely unconcerned to the undiscerning eye, but Atsushi noticed how his ears were sported a twinge of pink and he being very careful not to look at Atsushi.
In fact he was just short of glaring in open hostility at Adam.
Was that what this touching was about? Because Adam was there? But the other man couldn’t even see what Imai was doing. Unless the movement wasn’t as subtle as Atsushi thought? (Never mind that Atsushi wasn’t being subtle…)
Atsushi knew he should signal to Imai in some way to back off. He was pretty sure Imai would do it if asked to… but Atsushi didn’t. It had to be that pathetic neediness again… Although this gesture was far different than an embrace or even holding hands… It seemed territorial and possessive, like a guy would do to a girl he picked up in a bar. The move that screamed “Back off, my girl.”
Atsushi should have been pissed off at that. He wasn’t, though. Sure, his ego was a bit sore from the association to arm candy, but he wasn’t angry. Maybe he just hadn’t truly processed the situation enough to be incensed…or he’d used up all his anger for the day that morning. That last was entirely possible, since he felt so drained right now…
At any rate, he didn’t make Imai remove his hand. It remained there through the uncomfortable, waiting silence until both Toll and breakfast showed up at the same time.
As Hide helped the delivery man unpacked everything-there was enough food for a banquet, Atsushi was sure, and he felt sick looking at it-Toll simply gave the two men sitting in the chair a searching look and then lifted his eyebrows in Atsushi’s direction and mouthed “dead guys?” Atsushi nodded simply, finally making himself take a sip of his coffee. It was disgustingly cold. He leaned forward to set it on the table, as far out of Hide’s general area as he could get it to avoid accidently wearing it, and when he sat back again, the arm was gone. Atsushi wasn’t surprised by that but he was…he didn’t know what he was. Relieved? Perhaps. Disappointed? Not really, since it had been rather bothersome… Maybe lonely? That was most likely it…although it didn’t feel right.
Atsushi didn’t have much time to ponder that as Toll was now badgering Imai about his nose. Although now a remarkable red color, his nose wasn’t bruising yet, thankfully, so maybe he’d make it out unscathed. “Man, what happened to you?” he whispered to Imai in an undertone. “Last I remember you were with Atsushi. What did he do, beat you up?”
“Uh…kinda,” Atsushi admitted, breaking into the conversation that, by the looks on both men’s faces, he was supposed to be oblivious to.
Imai was the first to recover and he waved his free hand in an abbreviated naysay gesture. His coffee cup had disappeared, and Atsushi suspected it was on the floor. He must have put it there when Atsushi moved. “My face just happened to be in the way when he rolled over, that’s all. No big deal.”
Toll’s eyebrows jumped up again. “‘Face in the way’…?” he mused to himself, incredulous. “That’s not something you hear every day.”
Thankfully U-ta decided to show up then, so the nose conversation was put aside momentarily.
It was hard to ignore his entrance even if they wanted to, since U-ta nearly collided with the poor delivery man on his way out, but that was typical U-ta when he was excited. And he was very excited. So much so that he ran straight past the Shinigami without even seeing them and stopped right in front of Atsushi. Glancing behind him he must have seen a sliver of open space on the table because he managed to perch there. His knees were on either side of Atsushi’s as he leaned forward.
“I found it Acchan!” he crowed, holding out a long, thin rectangular velvet-covered box.
“Found what?” Atsushi asked, giving the box a wary look. He couldn’t help it-he wasn’t very fond of mysterious gifts at this point. Even if it was from U-ta…
“The neckla-oh, wait, you weren’t here for that, were you?” U-ta frowned lightly in thought before bouncing back. “Doesn’t matter. I got it for you anyway, so here you go!” He went to shove the box into Atsushi’s hands but stopped. “Err…if it’s okay?” he asked, tentative.
Atsushi could do nothing but blink up at him, trying to process what had just gone on in the past few seconds. However, once he did, he managed a tremulous smile. “Yeah, it’s fine. Although why you are giving me jewelry I’m not quite sure…”
“Open it and see!” was all U-ta said in response. His eyes were positively twinkling though, and that was actually what Atsushi needed more than a banquet breakfast and jewelry. Some people just never changed and that was a miraculous thing.
It was without trepidation that he opened the box…but as soon as he saw what was inside he bit his bottom lip. It was a silver cross, the angular, thin kind associated with Christians. Three of the arms were the same size while the last, bottom one was elongated about two times as much. All four came to decorative triangular points, making the longest section seem almost like a knife. It was a very lovely piece that shimmered even in the crowded living room light-it was certainly crowded since about five other heads were leaning over to see.
But Atsushi knew what a cross meant. Fingers shaking despite his desire for them not to, Atsushi closed the lid on the box. “Th-thank you U-ta…” He felt Imai shift beside him and knew the other man had turned to look at him, but Atsushi didn’t look back. He didn’t want to.
“Aren’t you going to…y’know…put it on?” U-ta asked the question Atsushi sensed everyone in the room was thinking.
“I-”
“I think that would be a good idea Sakurai-san,” Adam spoke up from somewhere beyond U-ta.
U-ta was startled by this, naturally. He was quick to turn around and ended up shoving a box of pastries off the other side of the table as well as spilling Atsushi’s old coffee all over both the floor and, as luck would have it, over all the feet in the area. This included U-ta, Atsushi, Imai, and Hide.
“Who? Wha-whoa! Shit! Sorry! Who are you?” U-ta went through so many head turns in that instant that Atsushi was sure his neck would snap. He settled for staring at Adam and Makino while the others fussed with the spilled drink.
Adam looked extremely amused but trying -and failing-to hide it. “Hello, I’m Fujiwara Adam, and this is my partner Makino Ren. We’re Sh-”
“Ah crap!” U-ta broke in before Adam could finish. His shoulders heaved as he sighed, turning back around to face Atsushi. His face was perfectly resigned. “There really are dead people involved, aren’t there?”
Atsushi nodded sympathetically. At least as much as he could manage with both Imai and Hide scrambling to clean up coffee with napkins by his feet. Hide was mumbling something about carpet stains.
Atsushi had thought to help before U-ta spoke, but he was glad he hadn’t. Last thing they needed was to clonk heads together. It was a bit disconcerting having them both bent over by his knees though. He didn’t dare move.
“So that means the vampire is real, doesn’t it?” U-ta sighed, scrubbing at his face with one hand. A hand that happened to have coffee on it. “Ah!”
“Here,” Toll said, handing him one of the many wet towels he must have gotten from the kitchen. He dropped the rest of them between Imai and Hide. “Just get it cleaned later, Hide.”
Atsushi was not at all surprised to find that Imai was the one who took up the task of patting down Atsushi’s feet and legs. But at least Atsushi was wearing socks, even if they were now coffee-logged. That was going to get gross really quickly though…
“This is a circus…” It was Makino’s voice, speaking softly to Adam where they stood now behind U-ta, but Atsushi heard him.
He looked up over Hide’s bowed back and fixed a sharp eye on the other man. “What was that, Makino-san?”
Makino turned then and the two ended up locking gazes for a tense moment before Adam spoke in a blatant attempt to dissolve the tension. “I happen to think Higuchi-san’s gift is perfect, actually.”
“What?” Multiple voices asked this question at the same time. Atsushi lost count who.
U-ta was staring at the ‘dead man’ with the most surprise, however. “It is?” he asked.
Makino gave U-ta tight-lipped smile. “Ah, I see what you mean, Fujiwara. A gift from a friend will be a much more powerful token than anything we could have given him.”
“Token? What are you getting at?” This was Imai, who had sat up by this point, wet rags and coffee stains forgotten. Even Hide sat up slowly, a towel in each hand.
“That’s one thing we came to talk to you about,” Adam said. Then he reached over and rescued the spilled box of pastries. He picked up one of the few that hadn’t hit the floor and took a bite. “Ah, chocolate!”
“One of the things…?” Hide prodded.
Adam nodded, shoving the rest of the pastry in his mouth. Then he tried to talk. It didn’t go so well.
Makino’s eyes flickered as if they wanted to roll, but he stopped himself. “As he’s most likely trying to say, we have a few things we need to talk to Sakurai-san about. And, since we were so politely told to wait for you all,” he sent Hide a sidelong glance at that point. “And you’re all here now, can we begin?”
They did, after sending U-ta to go actually sit in a chair and Hide threw a few more wet towels on the carpet. There wasn’t much to be done about that now. Atsushi ended up taking his socks off since he just couldn’t stand the soggy feeling of them. U-ta did the same, but apparently Hide and Imai hadn’t been soaked by the spill. Either that or propriety overcame the clammy feeling. They probably didn’t think they would look intimidating without socks. Atsushi knew he wasn’t intimidating at all, so it didn’t really matter.
“First of all,” Toll said before any one of the Shinigami could start talking, “Everyone grab some food and start eating. We can multitask here.”
Apparently not even Makino could argue with that. Some guy things transcended even death it seemed…
It was a more Western style breakfast with all sorts of sugary starchy foods that normally Atsushi wouldn’t mind, but this morning he just felt ill looking at it. Or maybe it was the thought of food in general that made him queasy. He didn’t really have the option to abstain though, since Hide handed him a plate before Atsushi could protest.
“Eat, you’ll feel better.”
“I doubt it,” Atsushi mumbled under his breath and, for once, no one seemed to notice.
“First order of business,” Adam said once they’d all settled down again. It looked as if Makino was going to let Adam do most of the talking so far, for which Atsushi was thankful. “And I’m kinda surprised none of you jumped us for this information…” He looked around the room. “About Baum?”
Everyone just stared at him.
“The vampire…” Adam added, frowning a little.
The band shared a collective look. “We realize that,” Imai informed the Shinigami disdainfully, eagerly taking the task upon himself to do so. “We’re just waiting for you to continue.”
Adam pulled on his collar, looking properly embarrassed. “Sorry. I’m just so used to at least one of you asking something…”
“Well-” Imai began in an obviously confrontational tone, but Atsushi talked over him. They didn’t need a catfight now.
“Continue please, Fujiwara-san.”
Adam’s eyes darted over towards Atsushi but he didn’t correct him on the use of his last name. “Well, we went out looking for him last night-that’s why we only showed up now,” he added, addressing Atsushi directly. Atsushi only nodded absently, deciding that maybe picking at something on his plate was a better option than meeting Adam’s eyes.
“Anyway,” Adam continued. “We weren’t able to locate him anywhere in the Tokyo area. And we have much faster and more extensive searching methods than you’d imagine,” he tacked the last on there because it looked like Toll was going to ask something. “We look at more than just the physical plane you are all used to.”
“Baum is nowhere in Tokyo,” Makino spoke up. “So we checked the most immediate surrounding prefectures. Nothing.”
“So what you’re saying is that he was never here?” U-ta asked.
“Never in Tokyo? That could be true. But he has to be in Japan somewhere,” Adam stated. He leaned forward in his seat, hands folded in front of him. “Because there is no way such a package could get through international mail. Nor could he go to a post office or delivery service during its open hours. He had to have someone in the area deliver it…”
“But wouldn’t he have had to murder the person close to the time of delivery?”
Atsushi hadn’t realized he’d been the one to say that until everyone in the room turned to stare at him.
Atsushi wasn’t sure where he should be looking so he didn’t really look at anyone. He was aware that his ears were burning red though. Although he wasn’t sure why he was embarrassed. They were the ones walking on eggshells…
The pause was torturous. “Well?” he asked Adam, casting a quick glance his way.
“Er…most likely, yes,” Adam conceded, still staring at Atsushi as if he’d grown a second head.
“You’re absolutely right, Sakurai-san,” Makino said, taking up the lead. He, at least, seemed less perturbed by Atsushi’s question than anyone else in the room. He was watching Atsushi with a very contemplative gaze. “Someone is sorting through all recent entries to the Underworld, seeing who might have wounds corresponding to…” It seemed to even Makino was going to take some kind of pity on Atsushi. “Corresponding to the extraction.”
“So you…don’t know who it was yet?” Atsushi asked in a soft voice.
Makino shook his head. “As of yet, no. But they began the search as we were leaving to come here, so they might know by now. The two of us do not, however.”
“I see…” Atsushi lost all his nerve then. He looked down at his fingers that were clutching the paper plate Hide had handed him in a white-knuckled grip. He hadn’t even realized he was doing that.
It was in that moment that he realized that he didn’t want to know who the heart belong to. He just…didn’t. He felt terrible for feeling that way-this person was dead because of him after all-but he…it would just be more real if he put a face and name to this figurative person. So far they were just “people” not a certain “person” and it was just that slight distinction that made it seem more distant and less like still-warm blood on his hands and face that he didn’t want to remember….
Thinking that way made him feel like an insensitive coward, but he couldn’t help it…
“Once we figure out who it is we might be able to talk to them…but I doubt it,” Adam stated softly. “Normally after such experiences people aren’t too interested in talking about it…”
“I see…” Atsushi mumbled again, not lifting his head.
“While the search for Baum continues, there’s one thing we can do for you immediately, Sakurai-san,” Adam commented. This made everyone’s ears perk up. Imai shifted next to Atsushi for what felt like the first time in ages. Atsushi was quite aware of this since his knee nudged Atsushi’s leg. It seemed like a perfectly unintentional action, but Atsushi noticed it immediately after the stunt Imai had pulled before.
“And that is?” U-ta asked for all of them.
“Well,” Adam began. He seemed to be fighting a smile, which Atsushi thought to be especially odd. “It seems that Baum’s little instance of gift giving had one small good come of it-we finally got the funding we needed.”
That got him some blank stares. Even Atsushi was compelled to give him a strange look.
“…funding?” Toll asked when it was obvious no one else would.
“Err…yes.” Adam’s face was a picture of disbelief. “You think we can do all this stuff for free? Everything costs money you know, especially those things that have to exist in the mortal plane. And, jeez, you’d think the thing we wanted to get cost millions or something the way that damned miser was acting… ”
“The state of our finances isn’t really important, Fujiwara,” Makino remarked, dryly. If Atsushi didn’t know better, Makino actually appeared slightly…amused. All of this wasn’t right… maybe Atsushi had fallen asleep on the couch and was dreaming? Although he high suspected the other men in the room wouldn’t have let him do that.
“Well, at any rate,” Adam continued, ignoring the comment. “We were finally able to get the protection wards approved and so… well, as soon as we’re able we were thinking of putting some on your apartment, Sakurai-san.” He smiled widely at Atsushi at this point, like this was some kind of present.
“What are you talking about?” Imai insisted, frustrated. He was sitting still and tense next to Atsushi, frown fixed on Adam. “’Protection wards’?”
Adam’s eyebrow quirked a fraction. “Protection wards…. Wards used for protection? You know, against evil things like, huh, I dunno, a vampire?”
The two were at it again. Atsushi bit back the urge to sigh. He wasn’t even given the opportunity to think about this new addition to the weird things going on around him-protection wards?-because he was too busy trying to keep things civil. Because he really didn’t want to deal with a fight right now. He didn’t think he’d make it through.
“What exactly does that entail, Fujiwara-san?” Atsushi spoke up before Imai could get a shot in. Aware that he was once more indirectly taking Adam’s “side”, Atsushi shifted in his seat just enough to brush up against Imai, the best form of apology (and appeasement) he could manage at the moment. It seemed to work well enough to get Imai’s figurative hackles to go down.
“Not much on your part Sakurai-san,” Adam informed him, ignoring Imai now that he had Atsushi’s attention. “We just need to insert an object into your apartment to anchor the spell to, and we have that right here,” Adam patted the front of his jacket and it took Atsushi a moment to realize he must mean an inner pocket. For one terrifying second he feared Adam might be talking about himself… “After that we set it against a specific intrusion-in this case vampires-and let it do its thing.”
“There’s a problem with that though,” Hide said, getting right to the heart of the matter before anyone else could. “We’re on tour. Atsushi will probably only be home a few times per month.”
That was exactly what Atsushi was thinking. It would be all well and good to have his place free of vampire issues…but since he was never there, what good did that do? He certainly wasn’t going to cancel the tour because of this monster. No. Never.
Adam gave Atsushi a long, considering look. Some of Atsushi’s thoughts must have reflected in his face because Adam shook his head slowly and said, “No, you would never think to stay home, would you?”
Atsushi folded his arms across his abdomen, ignoring the plate of uneaten food in his lap. He shook his head. “No.”
None of his band mates protested. They didn’t even appear at all surprised. Toll was even nodding his head slightly, almost unconsciously.
“That’s why Higuichi-san’s gift couldn’t have come at a better time,” Adam stated and he quirked a grin. “A gift from a friend is always much more powerful than anything we could give you. That’s why this necklace will be perfect.”
Atsushi’s eyes moved as if on their own to gaze down at the box sitting so innocently on the table. He was pretty sure the others were doing the same thing.
“So….what are you gonna do with it?” U-ta asked.
Makino stood up at this point. With that act he broke the implicit balance between them and Atsushi felt the two men on the couch next to him tense in unease. However, Atsushi did not. He had this feeling…
Atsushi set his plate aside and picked up the velvet case. Hesitating only slightly, he opened it and, as all his band mates stared at him, he held the open case out to Makino, who hadn’t moved from where he’d stood up. “Here.”
Makino’s face was inscrutable as he reached across the table to take the box. “Thank you, Sakurai-san.”
“I figured things would work better this way,” Atsushi remarked, softly.
“Yes, it will,” Makino said after a pause. Then he took the cross pendent out of the box and draped it across his palm, the chain hanging between his fingers.
Then he started to chant. It was a soft murmur, the barest movement of his lips…but Atsushi heard it anyway. He didn’t understand it, but he heard it. Atsushi couldn’t stop watching him, couldn’t keep his eyes off that innocent piece of metal in the man’s palm…because he knew, somehow, that something was happening…something just on the edge….right there….
Someone grabbed his arm and Atsushi’s attention recoiled with a sharp snap back to reality. His whole body jerked and his head turned automatically towards Imai, whose eyes were darting between Makino and Atsushi. “What is he doing?” he whispered. “Why did you give-?”
Atsushi really didn’t know what to tell him, so he settled for the set phrase: “It’s okay, Imai.”
Imai stared at him. “Okay?” he hissed sharply. “Weren’t you the one who was so pissed off at him this morning?”
Atsushi jerked his head in a stiff nod. “Yes, I was. I still am. But just…trust me on this, Imai.”
“Trust you? That’s not the issue. You’re not the one-”
“Look.” It was Toll who whispered in their direction. He sounded mystified and Atsushi turned around immediately to see, ignoring Imai’s unforgiving frown for the moment.
Atsushi was forced to squint automatically. The metal in Makino’s palm was glowing with a white hot radiance that left livid red marks in front of Atsushi’s eyes when he blinked. It looked almost as if the metal was on fire, tiny white flames dancing along the surface.
Then, almost as soon as he saw it, the radiance was gone and Makino gently turned the cross so that it faced Atsushi when he held his hand out. “Touch one of your fingers to the center please.”
Atsushi tilted his head slightly as he studied the metal. It looked safe to touch, but he had just seen it glowing…
“Don’t touch it,” Imai insisted urgently before Atsushi even had a chance to think for long. “Acchan-”
Atsushi shook his head slowly, his eyes still on the cross. “No…no, I think I have to…”
“You don’t have to do anything! You-” Imai was cut off again, but it wasn’t by Atsushi this time. In fact Atsushi didn’t know what made him stop. He had the fleeting impulse to look, but that was instantly smothered by the need to touch that shimmering metal in front of him… because it was shimmering now. He could see it if he didn’t quite look directly at the cross. Actually, he didn’t really see it so much as know it was there…although he knew what it looked like as if he could see it. Or something like that…he really wasn’t quite sure what was going on…
Giving a mental shrug, Atsushi reached out and put his index finger against the center of the cross.
It hurt. Like hell. It felt like his finger and then his whole hand was on fire. Atsushi tried to jerk backwards but Makino’s other hand clamped down on his like steel. He stared at Atsushi, face hard and eyes firm.
The burn spread up Atsushi’s arm, through his shoulders…into his chest… Everywhere. Atsushi bit his lip fiercely as he screwed his eyes closed, feeling the tears seeping out along his eyelashes, but he didn’t make a sound….or at least he didn’t think so…he wasn’t sure because soon all he knew was that white hot pain….It was drilling into his skull, eating away at his mind at the same time it turn his body to ashes…
Then it was gone.
Next Part
-note- this was not the natural break in the story. I had to put it in for LJ.