[log; ongoing]

[kageseii]

when; 28 Oct., afternoon.
rating; PG-13.
characters; Asato Tsuzuki [cinnagami], Tatsumi Seiichirou [kageseii], Kurosaki Nagare [snakeintheveins].
summary; A warning signal leads to a terrible scene.
log;

Comments

[snakeintheveins]

Ah, Yatonogami sighed with spine-crawling satisfaction, touch curling over Nagare's bare stomach and slipping under his obi. It's been so long since I could kill. It would be a waste to send one of your blood to their end so mercifully... Another tentacle slipped under the hem of his kimono, weighing him down, stroking. Pain shot through Nagare with each breath, broken rib twinging, and he tried futilely to pull his hands away from the restraining grip of the snake god.

You can't even protect yourself from me, the voice hissed. Did you think you could protect him?

Nagare's mouth was half-open with a retort when the door slammed open. He turned his head; Yatonogami whirled; and black shadows speared into the snake god's body. It screamed, an unearthly noise, and rushed back into Nagare with a shock that exploded the world in dizzying black sparks.

[cinnagami]

It was a really good thing, Tsuzuki reflected, that he'd been on break when the gnomic message from Watari popped up on the Network. A babbled apology - friend in trouble, gotta go, back as soon as I can! - and he dashed out the door before the chef could start yelling. A furious imprecation chased him out. There were going to be some real apologies to be made tomorrow....

He checked Watari's lab first, but even pounding on the door didn't get a response. Second... where would Watari be? He bit his lip. Snake?

What he needed was backup. And possibly a computer to see if he could get anything about Watari's location from the post. He popped into the corridor outside his room and Tatsumi's just in time to hear a door bang inside Tatsumi's apartment. It couldn't be. Wouldn't. Could it?

He walked quickly into the shadowy room. Perfectly in order. Except for the open door to the other room, and the brown-suit-clad back just visible around the doorjamb. A few steps took him to Tatsumi's side

[kageseii]

He could only stand there for the moment, looking at the carmine staining nearly everything - but that could be attended to later. He could hear Tsuzuki at his shoulder, and Tatsumi instantly looked to him with a sombre glance; it was obvious he'd explain later once he then moved to Nagare's side.

"Nagare-dono!" It wasn't very long, and he knelt at the patriarch's side. More blood than the last time... it had clearly continued far longer than it had before. Only then did he notice the bullet hole in the wall. "Tsuzuki-san, check on him!" he commanded, looking to Watari next before again turning his attentions elsewhere.

As much as he was troubled by the sight of his colleague, he wasn't in the mood to deal with it just yet. Not until he could stop thinking that this could have been preventable had he been called upon much sooner. "Nagare-dono, can you tell me what happened?"

[snakeintheveins]

Nagare's eyes fluttered and opened again. He had to blink twice before the world came into focus.

"Tatsumi-san...?" he murmured, breath hitching as he tried and failed to sit up. It was indeed. Rescued again, he thought, and couldn't help the trickle of shameful gratitude.

Memory returned with a blow. "Watari-san! Is he - he was badly hurt -" Dizziness overcame him for a moment, and he squeezed his eyes shut, whispering the information Tatsumi was looking for. "He was doing a checkup. The curse manifested. He tried to fight it, but...."

[cinnagami]

"All right," Tsuzuki said, long-established habit taking over. His shock faded into calmer curiosity. Nobody was dead here, even if Watari would've been minutes ago. If he had been alive in the first place, that was. Tsuzuki winced at the sheer size of the hole and the white bone he could see glinting through the blood. Even for a Shinigami, that was going to take time and a few hours' bed rest to heal. He doubted Watari would be conscious in the next hour