Nightshift 46: Morgue

[not_rly_fai]

Breath came first. It was a sudden gasp, the air raw in his throat, though he was too numb to notice it at first. His body tried to follow the rush of thoughts that came tumbling through his mind and only managed to make a few jerky motions in response, his head falling back to the metal beneath with a dull thud.

He was sure he'd died. This wasn'

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[not_rly_fai]

There was a single thud as Aiden hit the door, enough to make it shake on its hinges and Yuuhi put his hands to his ears as if to keep away the sound. He waited for the next impact or for the door to come flying inward, but it didn't come. It was weaker, strangely so, and Yuuhi lowered his hands, swallowing back worry when no more sound followed. He could hear the other man's voice in the hallway, muted somehow, but easily recognizable in the night's silence. Talking to someone else? Just trying to think things through was painful and slow and the pain in his neck and empty eye was enough to make focusing for more than a few moments at a time near impossible. But he was pretty sure he hadn't heard a reply. And it'd been quiet for a while. Who was there?

He might not know what to say and even if he called out, Aiden would know it was him and... maybe he wouldn't even open the door. When only silence answered him, he hesitated, but pursed his lips together and gave a long, loud whistle. He might be weak and tired, but even so, he could still whistle. If that wasn't enough to draw Aiden back, he knew he'd be on his own. Maybe that was the lesson he still had to learn. He couldn't just count on someone coming to rescue him every time. He'd made his choices and it was his responsibility to pull himself out, no one else's.

[contentincloset]

[from here]

There was no sound, if any save for Fai's own whistle until the door received another slamming from outside. It shook under the weight, appeared not to move, but then suddenly sprang open, sending the door clattering back against the wall and Kurogane, once again, onto the floor. A swear sounded first before Kurogane was quickly back to his feet, whirling around and slamming the door right back in place. If that thing could follow him, then it sure wasn't going to be coming through this way.

Kurogane felt more pain in his shoulder and hissed as he pressed his back to the door to hold it in place. "You sure as hell better be a patient," the ninja barked, almost ordering at whoever was there to admit the status or suffer.

[not_rly_fai]

It was difficult, but not impossible to make out simple shapes in the darkness. Depth, however, was more of a problem, and as the door swung open, it was apparent he'd misjudged the distance between himself and the swinging door. It smacked into the wall just inches away and he felt the air whip past him as it slammed loudly.

A shiver passed through him as he fought to stay conscious. The pain grew steadily greater as his body seemed to wake up and attempt to start functioning again. Still, he managed to find Aiden's silhouette in the darkness, growling out threats.

"Sorry," he said finally, surprised by how raspy his voice had become, but too exhausted to much care. If his voice didn't give away his location, his ragged breathing was sure to.

[contentincloset]

After his threat, Kurogane had listened on edge for anything in the room and had turned when he heard the breathing. The light from the previous hallway, however dim, had been enough to mess with his eyes again and make everything pitch black once more. He couldn't see anymore, but the breathing sounded human.

And then there was an answer. Faint, raspy and familiar. Kurogane didn't need to see to recognize it, but nonetheless the ninja's eyes widened and he pulled away from both door and voice. That wasn't possible. Not even slightly was it possible for that voice to be speaking here. A monster then? Just like with that Sakura one?

But the feeling wasn't the same. When that thing had pretended to be the Princess, Kurogane had felt the danger from it while letting his eyes be fooled. Here he couldn't see and felt nothing but the chill of the room's air. What was this? What the hell was this?!

"Who are you?" he demanded as he had in the previous hall. There had better be an answer this time too!

[not_rly_fai]

It'd only been a few moments since the door had broken down, but already he regretted it. He'd told himself he wouldn't rely on Aiden (or Kurogane, or whatever his name really was) anymore, but it was apparently easier said than done. It was hard to think around the throbbing in the back of his mind and the now constant pain, but he tried.

"No one," came the reply as he made an attempt to push himself up. The door to leave was able to open now, so if he could just get back up, maybe he could manage to find his way on his own.

"I just-," a pause as he finally got up onto two unsteady feet, leaning heavily on the wall beside him, "couldn't get the door open."

[contentincloset]

"Don't play games with me!" he yelled angrily, nearly adding an additional "moron" onto the end of his order. The voice was unmistakable. Kurogane had put up with enough laughing and taunting and "hyuu"-ing to never forget it too. Hearing it here, again, when he'd expected to never hear the voice again... Kurogane didn't know what to think.

A monster that could read his thoughts would know better, wouldn't it? Unless it's plan was to confuse him. But the man was slow moving as the ninja could hear in the movements made towards standing. Creatures here could be injured, right? If that was it, then there was another possible reason for the mistakes.

The option that had first gone through Kurogane's head had been pushed aside for all other options until he could no longer think of any. Just as before he'd entered, there was still no way to test anything. He couldn't see anything, so checking form, teeth, or whatever dead giveaways was impossible, there were no feelings of bloodlust in the room, and furthermore he wasn't and hadn't been attacked since he'd started into the night. Kurogane had no proof of anything.

So he'd have to get some himself.

Trying to calm but still keeping his tension in case of an attack, Kurogane stepped back in place against the door, putting one hand to it. There was still one potential threat out there and he wasn't having two to deal with. "Oy," he said, addressing whoever it was that sounded like Fai, "Tell me the last thing you remember from last night."

[not_rly_fai]

A wave of dizziness hit and his legs almost buckled underneath him, but he managed to hold his ground, taking a few more unsteady steps toward the door, only to find that it the space in front of it was already occupied. His hand brushed fabric and drew back as quickly as if he'd been burned and he staggered back a step. He wasn't going to last long like this. Maybe it would be better to just let himself pass out now and see what the morning brought. If morning ever came.

"No," was his quiet reply. He didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want to think about what he'd done there or why or the pain that the others had been put through because of him. There was a defeated sigh as he struggled to remain standing.

"Please, let me pass."

[contentincloset]

Kurogane wasn't sure what he'd expected to get from asking. The man he knew barely answered him anyway, and this thing would know that if it was like the Sakura creature. Besides that, with what had happened last night, there was no way anyone, let alone the magician, would want to speak on it.

When he felt a small brushing of his clothes, Kurogane's hand reacted reflexively, brushing away the potential threat quickly as he pulled back once more. He'd felt nothing for it, but could still sense that there was something close to him. The person wanted to pass? Was that all? The monster Kurogane knew for shapeshifting had enough force to get through a rusted door. Even in the Princess's form it could have managed as much. The magician could have had it down as well, scrawny although the man was... or had been.

Stepping back once more, Kurogane ground his teeth, took his uninjured hand from the door, and made a grab through the dark towards where he'd been brushed. This stalemate had lasted long enough, and whatever happened Kurogane was not going to let his guard be compromised again. His fingers brushed something - skin by the feel - and clamped down hard on what he could only guess was an arm.

"I said don't play games with me!" he repeated and jerked the body towards the wall. He brought his other arm up, crossing it over his front and using it to press the guy into the wall, again as much as he could assume he was doing through the dark. "Now answer me, dammit!"

Kurogane hadn't seen the final blow. He didn't know what had happened last on that field before the magician had been covered in his own blood, so neither could any copycat creature that read his mind. It was the best Kurogane could think of to show whoever he held for what he really was. He needed an answer. Just anything to give him some kind of proof that he wasn't yelling at a cheap immitation.

[not_rly_fai]

Something took hold of his arm, the grip warm on his chilled skin. When it jerked him toward the wall, his body made little motion to resist and his back slammed into it. The movement might have sent him to the floor if not for the steely hold Aiden had on his arm. Something hard pressed into his chest, probably the man's other arm, but it was all that held him up. He made a sound, sharp and fast as the air was knocked from him. It was more surprise than pain. His one free hand struggled to find something to hold on to and slipped around the arm pressing him to the wall, fingers still cold, though slick with his own blood.

It took a few moments for him to get his breath back once it'd been knocked from him and his head pounded angrily in rhythm with his heart. He couldn't ask for help, couldn't force the words out. If he showed weakness, he would end up relying on Aiden and then...

"I'm really tired," he started, making sure not to blame his own injuries or weakness. "I'm just... going back to my room. That's all. No games." His room? Was it still there at all? He wasn't sure of the way or if it even still existed. Maybe they'd already moved all his things away and found a new person to stay with Allie. Maybe he wouldn't wake up tomorrow after all.

[contentincloset]

There was little to no warmth coming from the form he held and even less resistance. Kurogane was also able to notice the absence of a shirt between his arm and the bare chest of the man. Maybe it was better that he was so blind here, or maybe that knowledge just made things worse given the last thing the ninja felt. Weak fingers, just as cold or colder than the skin, grasped at Kurogane's barring arm with a stickiness he knew. Blood. It was so cold in the room that Kurogane hadn't been able to smell it, but the feeling against his own skin was unmistakable. An injury? Or the blood of a victim? Whatever the case, the blood was by no means fresh, and hadn't been for a while.

Things just kept making less and less sense. The voice, the thin frame he felt, and the refusal to say anything worthwhile... all pointed to the magician, but last night... Had Fai really died then? He knew Landel's games were always twisted, but what point was there in that mess if he'd allowed the loser to live? Kurogane couldn't believe a man like that would have any thoughts of mercy. Would he let someone live just to mess with them? Or...

The possibility of resurrection crossed Kurogane's mind for a moment before being forced away. Of all things Landel had the ability to do, bringing someone back from the dead was not one of them, no matter what that board in the Sun Room claimed. Either Fai was dead and this was a monster, or the cold, weak and potentially bleeding person he had against the wall was him.

"If that's your blood, you're not getting there on your own," Kurogane warned coolly and eased away only slightly, "Magician."

[not_rly_fai]

Much as he might want to pass, there'd always been a difference of physical strength between them. On the best of days, he'd be lucky if he could distract the man enough to win an arm wrestling contest, but when it came down to it, Aiden was surely the stronger of the two of them. Weak and tired as he was, Yuuhi couldn't dislodge himself from being pinned to the wall. In fact, the other man was probably doing more to hold him up and keep him from crashing to the ground than anything else.

"It's not your concern," he insisted, unable to control the occasional shakes or his own breathing.

[contentincloset]

"Don't give me that..." Kurogane warned, more a growl than a shouted order. There hadn't been any denial, and regardless Kurogane had fallen into treating the man as the magician regardless of absolute proof. There was no way in hell that the possibility that Fai was there and alive was not his concern.

"Do you have any idea how many people were worried over you?" Kurogane didn't know. He'd been locked up from the tail end of the morning anouncements onwards, but he knew there would have been some. That Yue, and maybe Sakura's brother. Sakura, definitely, even if she was not the one he knew, would have been tearing herself up thinking about what had happened. Then there was that roommate... Kurogane didn't know him so well, but with how he'd glared that one time, the ninja knew Fai's loss would have affected that man as well.

Not to mention how Kurogane had responded.

"Don't you tell me this isn't my concern! What the hell did I tell you about dying, you idiot?!" Had there been a shirt to grasp, Kurogane would have had Fai by the collar, pulled away from the wall and close enough to where Kurogane may have been able to see his face. Instead, Kurogane wound up returning the force to his press-hold.

[not_rly_fai]

Despite his best intentions, now was not the time for Aiden to be giving him a lecture. Too much of it fell on deaf ears, whether by choice or by the fact that it was increasingly difficult to stay conscious. The only one he felt any measure of guilt toward was Yue. The things he'd said and the way he'd used him to keep Sakura safe was likely unforgivable. But the others? Hadn't he decided that distancing himself was the best policy? It was just lucky that he'd been the one fighting and not the others.

Being pressed back against the wall this time wasn't as much a surprise and he found that once again he had no quick answer to the man's rage. What did he want? No matter how many times he was told that things were none of his concern, he insisted on making it his business. Once again, Yuuhi turned away from the matter at hand.

"I'm fine. Please... just let me go," he insisted quietly. Of course, it would be a lot more effective and forceful if he actually had the strength to push away. As it was, his knees buckled beneath him and the grip of his fingers around Aiden's arm weakened considerably. Why did he have to leave this room? He was so tired. It would be alright if he just rested here; it wasn't as if he knew where he was to begin with, or even where he ought to be headed.

[contentincloset]

Had Fai understood what Kurogane wanted, then he would have been the only one. Kurogane himself wasn't even sure, and that fact only made the man angrier. He had already been furious at Landel for the last few days, but all of that together hadn't set him off like this. Nothing ever had before, except for that one time in Oto. That was what really had him bothered.

Suddenly, Kurogane pulled back, abruptly letting go of the man and turning away with a frustrated grunt.

[not_rly_fai]

It was hard to tell what kind of reaction the other man might have on the best of days and now was no different. When Aiden released him, he lost the only thing that was keeping him standing. While he had at least the presence of mind to fall back toward the wall instead of toward the one who'd been holding him up. He collapsed to the floor, a tangle of limbs, and while there were slight sounds of movement as he tried to push himself up and failed, he made no pained outcry.

His body begged him to stop moving and he could find little reason to argue. Cold and uncomfortable as the tiled floor might be, he'd no idea where he was, let alone where he ought to go nor the strength to go there.

[contentincloset]

The grunt he heaved only lasted so long as Kurogane heard the sounds behind him. He'd expected some sound from releasing the man, but not like that. Not like the sound of something crashing to the floor. Turning back, he reflexively raised his hands in defense, but soon realized that was necessary. There was no attack coming, just a presence on the ground.

How the hell could he remain angry as a helpless mass of limbs on the floor.

Growling again, Kurogane knelt to the floor and felt a bit before finding what he guessed was the man's shoulder. Before there could be any protests, he hefted the man back up and supported with one arm. By now he was convinced enough that it was Fai to let the man so close to him, and annoyed enough that he wouldn't take backtalk. "We're leaving," he said, adjusting the little weight of the man he supported more onto him. He was ready to heft Fai over shoulder if he had to, just to get them out of there. He needed to have light, to know exactly where he was, and to not be stuck in this damn darkness.