"Mikado-kun won’t be leaving my side until I have my mask."

[knkfics]

A/N: I am super excited and nervous about this chapter. Comments would be very much appreciated!

Chapter Fifteen

Anri ran for the gate as it closed, but it was gone before she got there, and she nearly hit the metal wall of the warehouse behind it. Abruptly, the warehouse fell silent as the rest of Ceallach’s men departed. Many of the Dollars were left gasping for breath; at least a dozen were on the ground, unmoving. Anri barely noticed as she grabbed her phone, though she wasn’t sure of who she would call.

It fell into her hand, oddly warm. She flipped it open, but the screen was blank. She jabbed the power button with her thumb. Nothing happened, so she jabbed it again.

Kadota hauled himself up onto the platform next to her. “Where did they go?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, trying to stay calm and think. Ceallach didn’t know the meeting was just a decoy, so odds were good that he would have just taken Mikado and Masaomi back to his hideout. Part of her hoped that Celty and the others had come and gone and retrieved the Mask. Another part of her hoped that they were still there and could stage some sort of rescue. She shook her phone in frustration. “My phone’s not working.”

Kadota took his out of his pocket and took a look. The screen was blank, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get anything to come up on it. “Mine isn’t either.”

Anri took a deep breath. “Some kind of magic, maybe.”

“There won’t be a pay phone or a shop around here that we can use one,” Kadota said, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “But if you’ve got an idea about where they might have gone, I can take you.”

Anri opened her mouth to agree, then looked around. Some of the Dollars were obviously hurt, in some cases it might be serious. Having fought against Ceallach’s men, she could now say for certain that they were no pushovers. Confronting them on their own ground would be a bad idea. “No,” she said, reluctantly. “Let’s get these people taken care of first.”

Kadota gave her a look that was vaguely surprised, but then nodded. “Okay,” he said. He shrugged one shoulder and said, “Taichou’s got Kida with him, so they’ll probably be okay for a little while. As soon as we get to the hospital, we can borrow the phone and call Celty or somebody to see if she can give us a hand.”

Anri nodded and began to jog over to the closest person lying on the floor. “Let’s hurry,” she said, and Kadota nodded agreement.

~ ~ ~ ~

They had been walking for maybe five minutes when Masaomi suddenly stopped. He only budged a little when the troll gave him another shove from behind. "No. Wait." His eyes skipped over to Mikado, who wasn't looking good at all, with one arm pressed over his ribs, his breathing starting to come in short, sharp little gasps.

Ceallach looked at him with narrowed eyes. “What is it?”

Masaomi glared at him. "This isn't a short walk. Can't you make one of your magic doorways or something? Because Mikado can't walk that far. And I promise you, if he dies you'll get nothing from me."

“I’ll be fine,” Mikado said, wheezing slightly.

Ceallach gave him a piercing look, and then seemed to agree far more with Masaomi’s assessment of the situation. “I can’t gate somewhere I’ve never been.”

Masaomi reached out, snagged Mikado's free hand, and squeezed. "Don't be stupid." Neither of them were exactly fit. Masaomi's wrenched arm burned at every joint and he thought he might have pulled some stitches, but at least he could breathe. Mikado was definitely the worse of the two this time. He thought about Ceallach's limitations. "You've been to Russia Sushi. That’s pretty close to Celty’s place."

“I find it interesting that you know that I’ve been there,” Ceallach said, giving him a hard stare.

“Good for you.”

After a moment, Ceallach shook his head, with a quiet, mirthless smile. “Of course. The girl. How else could you ensure that I would show up to your little decoy meeting if you didn’t send someone to tell me about it?”

Masaomi shook his head a little. "Can you make the damned doorway or not?"

“You know,” Ceallach said, “under other circumstances, I might have liked you.” He shoved Mikado over to one of his other men; Mikado stumbled slightly but managed to stay on his feet, gritting his teeth so he didn’t make any noise. Ceallach drew a square in the air, and the doorway appeared. Several of his men stepped through, then the troll prodded Masaomi through the opening. Ceallach took Mikado’s arm and pulled him through afterwards.

Masaomi turned to make sure that Mikado was okay, or at least as okay as he could be. Mikado gave him a weak nod in return, still holding his arm over his abdomen. "Yeah, well, I might not have hated you if you had bothered to figure out how Ikebukuro worked, and bothered to play by her rules. But you didn't, and here we are."

“Live as long as I do, and you’ll find it’s typically easiest to just do things your own way,” Ceallach said. “Though I don’t expect that’ll be a problem. Walk.”

Masaomi walked. "Oh yeah, it worked out real well for you."

“Well,” Ceallach said, “unless you’re lying to me, I’ll shortly have the Mask, which works out as I had yet to identify the keys, let alone find them and force them to retrieve it for me. If you are lying, I’ll get to torture your friend to death, so tonight is really win-win for me.”

“Whatever, asshole.”

The rest of the walk passed in silence. Mikado tried to distract himself by wondering whether or not anyone had texted Celty to let her know what had happened at the meeting, or if they had been too busy taking care of other things. He wasn’t sure if Ceallach had left any men behind to continue trying to destroy the Dollars, or if they had all left after he had been captured. He desperately wanted to know if Anri was all right, but didn’t know of any way he could find out. His ribs throbbed, and by the time they reached Shinra’s building, he had gone somewhat gray, with sweat beading on his forehead.

Masaomi led them inside and up to the top floor. He swallowed hard before knocking on the door, torn between guilt for leading Ceallach there and being unable to protect Mikado and relief because at least there was a doctor who could help.

Rather than Shinra’s usual cheerful ‘just a second!’, there was a long moment of silence, and then the doctor cautiously called out, “Who is it?”

Ceallach nudged Mikado in the ribs, drawing a pained gasp, and nodded for Masaomi to answer.

Masaomi shot Ceallach a venomous glare. "Someday soon I'm gonna see you dead. Fucking gunned down in an alley." He whipped around to the door. "It's Kida and Mikado," he called out.

“Oh, is the meeting over already - ” Shinra began, as he swung the door open.

As soon as the door opened, Celty knew who was on the other side. Or, at least she knew it was another fae and not a friend, and that narrowed it down considerably. She shoved the box with the Mask in it into Shizuo's arms and was next to Shinra in a split second. She pulled him back with one hand and extended the scythe with the other.

Masaomi looked like he wanted to disappear. "I'm sorry. He was going to kill Mikado."

“An option that’s still on the table,” Ceallach said calmly, “if I don’t get what I want. The Mask. Where is it?”

Celty dropped her PDA into her hand and typed with her thumb, the scythe still extended. 'I thought I warned you about hurting these kids?'

“Just as I warned you that making an enemy of me was not wise,” Ceallach said. “Now. Are we going to stand here all evening?”

Celty looked at Mikado, who was an awful shade of gray, and Masaomi, who seemed to be running on pure rage, which meant he could be hurt and not even know it. She backed up, allowing Ceallach in. After a moment, she gestured for them to go into the living room; it was no good to have everyone bottled up in front hallway. His men followed him, staying behind him in a loose semi-circle. Shizuo was leaning against the window; Izaya was flopped casually onto the sofa. They had only just arrived minutes previous and had been planning to leave the Mask safe in the warded apartment and go see how the Dollars meeting had gone, since texts to various members had all gone unanswered.

Shinra took a step forward. “Let me see to Mikado-kun,” he said, in a voice that warned everyone present not to try to argue with him. For Ceallach’s benefit, he added, “I’m a doctor.”

“Isn’t that nice for you?” Ceallach asked. “But Mikado-kun here won’t be leaving my side until I have my mask.”

The scythe shifted and moved closer. 'I could have your head off your shoulders. Let him see to the boy or you'll have to kill me to get to the Mask.' She stood there, with her head clearly nowhere in sight. He couldn't kill her.

“We are people of business, are we not?” Ceallach asked, his voice cold. “If I give you the boy, what incentive do you have to give me the Mask?”

“Maybe because it’ll get you the hell out of town,” Izaya remarked dryly.

Shizuo snorted. "For once we agree."

'You still have Masaomi.'

Mikado stirred slightly at that, emerging from the daze he had sunk into as a flash of fear went through him. “No,” he said, reaching out and grabbing Masaomi’s hand. “I’d rather stay here with him.”

Ceallach rolled his eyes. “Yes, your loyalty to each other is endearing. I’ve seen quite enough of it. Just give me the Mask, then you can have both brats and the joy of being rid of me.”

“What a liar,” Izaya said with a snort. “You’ll take the mask and then try to kill us all just on general principle. You think that we’re that stupid?”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Ceallach said, amused. He shoved Mikado forward, and he stumbled, losing his grip on Masaomi’s hand. Shinra caught him and helped him sit down right there on the floor in the living room. “All right. There’s your good faith token. But I’m keeping the other one until the Mask is in my hands.”

Celty moved to stand protectively over both of them. Masaomi's attention focused entirely on Mikado and Shinra. "Is he going to be okay? They made us walk."

Shinra didn’t have to ask what hurt; it had been obvious just from the way Mikado had been standing. He carefully prodded along the teenager’s ribs, and Mikado grit his teeth to keep from making any noise. “Two of the ribs are broken, but it doesn’t look like there’s any internal bleeding. He’ll be sore as hell for a few days, but he should make a full recovery.”

“Anri-san,” Mikado said. “Has anyone heard from Anri-san? Is she okay?”

'We haven't heard from her yet.' Celty held the PDA out for Mikado but didn't take her eyes off Ceallach.

“Or any of the Dollars, for that matter,” Izaya chipped it. The puck was still sitting on the sofa, lounging as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Ah, that would be my doing,” Ceallach said, still clearly amused. “I didn’t want anyone calling the cavalry this time.”

Shinra stood. “Just sit tight here, Mikado-kun,” he said, and squarely faced Ceallach. “I’m going to look over Masaomi-kun. You can keep him as your hostage, but when he gets riled up he doesn’t always notice that he’s wounded, so I’m going to check him out whether you like it or not.”

Celty twitched. She didn't want Shinra that close to Ceallach or any of his people, but she knew better than to tell Shinra he couldn't do his job. That always ended in an ugly place.

Ceallach seemed to be settling in for negotiations. After a pause, he nodded. “I’ll allow that.”

Although Shinra wasn’t sure he liked the word ‘allow’, he decided now wasn’t the time to quibble. He stepped forward and took a quick look at Masaomi. “You’ve popped some stitches,” he said. “Anything else hurt?”

Masaomi shrugged his good shoulder. "My arm."

Shinra carefully checked the joint. “It doesn’t seem to be dislocated. Just strained. Soon as we get you back on our side of the room, we’ll get it in a sling. Okay?”

"Sure." He seemed rather unconcerned for his own injuries, too busy watching everyone else.

Rather impatiently, Ceallach said, “Enough. You’ve got your precious founder back, and you’ve looked over this little brat. Now give me the Mask, or I’ll take it.”

Shizuo hefted the box, considering the weight.

Shinra looked at Celty and said, with some wistful eagerness, “When you’re done with him, can I dissect him?”

'Only because I love you.' She typed it without much thought, an automatic, yet truthful response to Shinra being Shinra.

Izaya rolled his eyes. “Well, hey, I heard something about fae having to keep their promises, so maybe if you give us your word that you won’t kill us all after we give you the Mask, we might do it. And then we could give you our word that we won’t shoot you in the back or anything like that.”

Still unamused, Ceallach said, “I won’t make that promise. But I will give you my word that there is going to be bloodshed if the Mask is not in my hands in the next ten seconds.”

"What, like there hasn't been already?" Masaomi sniped.

“Perhaps the problem is that it isn’t the right life on the line?” Ceallach mused. “I can see how you wouldn’t care much about this one. Very well, then - ” With a flick of his wrist, a knife dropped into his hand and he threw it before any of the others could react. They saw it only as a glittering blur as it flew through the air and hit Shinra in the chest with enough force to pin him to the wall like a butterfly. For a moment, everyone simply stared. Ceallach continued, “How about your lover, the doctor? Seems like a double win from where I’m standing.”

If Celty could have screamed, she would have. Somewhere maybe her head even was. The scythe dissipated, one of her hands laying along Shinra's cheek and the other pressing flat to the center of his chest. She didn't know what to do.

Shinra let out a startled little cough. He looked down, then back up so he was looking at Celty. “Don’t pull out the knife,” he said, and was surprised to hear that his voice sounded fairly calm, almost normal. Pain followed the shock and he made a strangled noise, one hand clenching down on Celty’s.

She left her hand pressed to his chest and let him hang on as tightly as he wanted. She typed hurriedly with her other hand. 'What should I do?' She knew she had to get the instructions now, before he couldn't breathe or couldn't think.

Shinra responded between wheezing breaths. “Get . . . that bastard . . . out of my apartment . . . and take me . . . to the hospital.”

'I love you.' She took a step back and pressed two fingers to his lips. The scythe reappeared as she pulled away. She turned just in time to see Shizuo slam the box with the Mask in it into Ceallach's face. Ceallach stumbled backwards but stayed on his feet, and the other fae he had brought with him leapt forward. Masaomi took the opportunity to yank himself free and dive for Mikado.

Celty planted her feet and stood squarely in front of Shinra and let them come. As she drew back her scythe to swing, one of them threw a handful of what looked like gold powder into her face. She stumbled back, one hand coming up as if to ward it off, the skin of her hand burning where it touched her. With an ugly grin, the fae pulled out a knife, only to have his feet kicked out from underneath himself as Izaya jumped over the back of the sofa and entered the fray.

Masaomi grabbed Mikado by the back of his shirt and dragged him over to the wall next to Shinra. He knew Mikado could have made it on his own, but it would have taken him too long to get his feet under him. Masaomi looked up at Shinra, afraid the man would already be dead, but he was still conscious, blinking dazedly at the fight, his gaze somewhat glassy. He saw Masaomi looked at him and coughed again. “Hold me up,” he wheezed. “If I pass out . . .”

Shizuo looked over, saw the three of them huddled there, and grabbed the coffee table in one hand, tossing it to land just in front of them and give them some cover. Celty let the scythe fall on the downed fae as soon as Izaya was clear of the danger from the blade. The puck rolled to his feet a bare moment later and pressed his back against Shizuo’s.

Masaomi immediately did as Shinra asked, pressing his own shoulder to the wall under Shinra's arm. The blade was double-edged; if Shinra slid down the wall, it would aggravate the wound."If I leave the knife in, can we get you off the wall and sitting?"

“Yeah,” Shinra said. “C-Careful. Have to - slide me up the blade a bit - ”

Shizuo never thought he would feel grateful to have Izaya behind him, but he had also never been in a fight quite like this. He swung the heavy box still holding the Mask at the nearest enemy. It hit the fae squarely in the face, knocking him backwards, but he was back on his feet a mere moment later, and as Shizuo swung the box again, his opponent grabbed it in both hands.

Shizuo growled, held on tightly to the box and kicked out hard at the other fae. He refused to let go. They struggled over it for a few long moments before Celty’s scythe came down between them, slicing through the fae’s arms at the wrist. He howled and staggered backwards, losing his grip. Shizuo stumbled back as well as the fae let go, nearly knocked over by his own momentum. He grimaced as the fae’s blood sprayed across the white of his shirt and managed to stay on his feet, helped by Izaya’s shoulder pressing into his back as the puck dodged another fae’s swing and kicked him in the knee hard enough to break the bone, sending him to the floor.

"Toward the handle?" Masaomi asked, because now was not the time to make a mistake.

“Yeah. Room to - to get your hand behind me and keep it steady - ” Shinra’s face was rapidly growing pale, his lips tinted blue as his breath came in short, sharp little gasps.

"Got it," Masaomi said, and shifted so he was in front of Shinra. "Sorry." With that he put one hand on the hilt of the knife to hold it steady, the strained joints in his arm screaming in protest. With his other hand, he took hold of Shinra's shoulder and carefully pulled him forward just a little, enough to slip the same hand between Shinra and the wall.

Shinra made a choked noise as Masaomi tugged the blade out of the wall, where it had sunk in nearly an inch deep. Blood spilled out of his mouth and down his chin. “Celty?” he called out, a note of dazed panic in his voice.

Masaomi slowly sank to the floor with Shinra. "Mikado, help me keep him upright," he said, as it was clear that Shinra wasn't going to be helping them.

“Right,” Mikado said hastily, managing to push himself to his feet and get on Shinra’s other side, supporting his weight.

Celty slammed the butt end of the scythe staff into her current attacker’s throat and then was almost immediately on her knees next to Shinra. The scythe lay on the floor and she laced her fingers through Shinra's.

“Not . . . not enough time,” Shinra coughed wetly. “Not gonna make it.”

Another fae grabbed the chest. Shizuo, hearing Shinra’s words, hit his opponent so hard that he went flying through the wall and landed in the next room.

Her fingers flew over the PDA. 'Please. You can't leave me.'

Most of Ceallach’s men were now down, and the Sidhe himself entered the fray, grabbing the box as Shizuo gave it another swing. Shizuo growled, but was unable to pull it free; Ceallach was just as strong as he was.

“Hey,” Izaya said suddenly, casually. “You got this bastard?”

"I got him," Shizuo replied before letting go just long enough to land a punch.

“Okay.” Izaya reached out and flipped the lid off the box, grabbing the Mask from inside. It was cool to the touch, and a shiver went through him. He steeled his nerves for what he was about to do, fairly sure that nobody would be happy about it later. It didn’t matter. They were out of better choices. Before anybody could react, he darted across the living room towards the small group that was now clustered behind the coffee table. He only had seconds to choose, and at the last moment, decided on Mikado. The teenager was mentally stronger and had willpower in spades; in Izaya’s opinion, he was far more likely to be able to withstand the Mask - and the Mask was the only thing that could save Shinra.

Masaomi looked up when he saw Izaya heading towards them. For once they were on the same side, so he almost didn't see the danger until too late. He didn't see the Mask in Izaya’s hands until he was reaching out for Mikado. He had time for two very distinct thoughts as he dove between Mikado and Izaya. The first was the Mask kills and the second was not Mikado. He hit Izaya hands first and grabbed as he rolled away. When he stopped he didn't give Izaya chance to fight him for it, he simply put it on.

Mikado let out a cry that was both surprise and fear. “Masaomi!”

Ceallach let go of the empty box with a curse and started forward. Shizuo grabbed him around the waist and threw both of them to the floor. Izaya was startled as well, but didn’t let it slow him down any. He grabbed Masaomi by the shoulders and demanded, “How can we save Shinra?”

The Mask had molded itself to fit Masaomi’s face perfectly, and the irises of his eyes had gone black, like they were now windows into the infinite. His arms had dropped away from his face and hung loosely at his sides. There was no resistance to Izaya's manhandling at all. The question did cause movement, though. His face slowly turned to Izaya as the man asked his question and then cocked to the side as if he was listening to something. After a moment his empty gaze turned to pin on Celty. "Celty." The voice was still Masaomi's, but it was also washed clean of everything that showed his personality.

Celty turned to him though she didn't let go of Shinra. The Mask began speaking through Masaomi, every word in Celty's native Gaelic. She recognized the words, though she didn’t know how. Only her head had the memory of when she had first learned them, but her heart knew it for what it was: the magic she needed in order to keep Shinra with her. When Masaomi finally fell silent, she turned back to Shinra. 'I'm going to save you.' She placed another two fingered kiss on his lips and then stood.

She kicked the table out of the way, creating a wide empty space on the floor and then paced over to where Shizuo held Ceallach down. Her shadow stretched impossibly long and sharp behind her. The Mask had reminded her of powers she had forgotten with her head and she was stronger for it.

Shizuo swallowed hard and then got out of Celty's way. She reached down, wrapped a hand around Ceallach's neck and lifted. She dragged him over to the empty space next to Shinra and dropped him. He immediately tried to get up, though his fight with Shizuo had left him somewhat worse for the wear. Her shadow writhed and stretched, pinning him down flat to the floor. She then turned and crouched next to Shinra and held out the PDA. 'Trust me and just hang on. I love you.' After he had a chance to read it she put the PDA in his hand and curled his fingers around it. She wrapped one hand around his shoulder and waved Mikado back. He went where he put her, but didn’t stay still, instead grabbing at the Mask and trying to pry it off Masaomi’s face. Masaomi's hands came up and wrapped gently around Mikado's wrists, pushing his hands away, the motion much more gentle and immovable than Masaomi would ever or could ever be.

Celty braced herself for what she was about to do, then wrapped her free hand around the knife and pulled it out in one smooth motion. Shinra let out a choked noise and blood began to gush from the wound.

She lay him down carefully and then turned to Ceallach, with Shinra's blood still coating the knife. Her hand came up and she slammed the knife down. It hit Ceallach in the exactly same place that it had hit Shinra. This was one life for another. She was angry enough to just let the sidhe bleed out for a while, but Shinra didn't have that sort of time. She bent over him, the fingers of both hands sinking without resistance or even any blood into his body, over his heart. Then she pulled. Ceallach screamed and she pulled harder. He fell silent and gripped in her hands was something that shimmered and had nothing to do with flesh or blood. After a moment all the colors fell away, leaving her with a handful of silver light. She carried it reverently over to Shinra and pressed her hands over his wound. The light sank in and the bleeding slowed.

In the silence that followed, Izaya swallowed and said, “Holy shit.”

Celty didn't have any attention to spare for anyone who wasn't Shinra. His breathing was starting to steady out, and a little bit of color was returning to his face, though his eyes were closed and his head still turned to one side, his glasses askew.

The Mask turned sedately to Izaya and looked at him for a long moment through Masaomi's empty eyes. "You are a child. She would never harm a child. Even after what you've done."

Izaya turned rather green, and as much as Mikado enjoyed that, he went back to trying to pry the Mask off Masaomi’s face. “How do I get this damned thing off?” he asked, his voice colored with equal parts frustration and desperation.

The Mask turned its attention to Mikado, and again gently restrained him. "You do not. It is not your choice to make."

Celty set his glasses right and ran careful fingertips over Shinra's now pointed ears. She felt boneless with relief.

“Then whose choice is it?” Mikado demanded.

"Kida Masaomi's."

Mikado nearly choked. “Masaomi,” he said, “take the Mask off. Please . . .”

The Mask turned away.

“No, God damn it, I am talking to you,” Mikado snarled, grabbing Masaomi by the chin and forcing him to turn his face back towards him. “This isn’t one of those times when you can just let something go because you don’t want to talk about it, because you don’t want to upset me. I’m not going to let you go! Take the damned thing off!”

The empty eyes met Mikado's. "He isn't ready to do that.”

“Why not?”

"He is unsure of how much he wishes to know."

“What - what does that mean?”

"It means that you will wait and abide by his choice."

Mikado grit his teeth in frustration. “No! I won’t! Masaomi makes stupid choices when he’s left on his own. I’m done talking to the Mask; I want to talk to Masaomi!” He was only peripherally aware of his audience, most of them trying not to watch the painful scene, and had Masaomi’s face now cupped in his hands so the teenager couldn’t try to look away again. “Please don’t leave me,” he choked out. “I know you’re strong enough to do this. I don’t - I can’t - ” His voice trailed off into a whisper. “Please come back to me.”

The empty eyes blinked and then the black started to fade. Mikado held his breath and asked, a little more hesitantly, “Masaomi?”

There was an unsteady laugh. “I guess."

“Can I . . .?” Mikado hesitantly slid his fingers under the edge of the Mask. This time it came away from Masaomi’s face easily. It shivered once and then lay still and reflective in Mikado’s hands. “Are you . . . are you still there?” Mikado asked, not sure what he meant by the question but somehow knowing that it needed to be asked.

There was another laugh. "All of me. Some of everything else." He gave Mikado a perplexed look. "Why would anyone want to know everything?"

Mikado opened his mouth to say that he had no idea, but couldn’t get it out past the lump in his throat. He settled for wrapping his arms around Masaomi and hugging him as tightly as he could, despite the horrible ache in his ribs.

Masaomi was limp in his arms for a moment and then he suddenly hugged back, his hands fisting in Mikado's shirt. "My head hurts."

“My everything hurts,” Mikado said. He suddenly remembered Shinra, and looked over just as the doctor was gingerly trying to sit up, one hand on his chest where the wound had been. Masaomi didn't bother to look up. He knew exactly what he would see.

Celty put an arm around Shinra's shoulders and helped him upright. Shinra blinked around the room. “That felt really weird,” he said.

Celty gently took her PDA back. 'Do you feel all right now?'

“I feel great, actually, which is odd when you consider that there is a hole in my chest and a dead guy on the carpet right next to me,” Shinra said, blinking at Ceallach’s body in some puzzlement.

'You should heal quickly. And we can pick out a new carpet later.'

“That’s . . . great?” Shinra said.

'I traded his life for yours.' There was a long moment and then she gently took one of his hands and guided it up to his own ear.

There was a long pause. “My ears are pointy,” Shinra said, blinking at her.

'Yes. He was a sidhe. I took his life and gave it to you.'

“Oh,” Shinra said. It looked like he might say something else, but then he rolled onto his side and began coughing. Blood splashed onto the floor. He coughed again, weakly, and closed his eyes, feeling his stomach churn. “Oh God,” he said, trying not to pass out.

Celty knelt behind Shinra, so he could lean on her, but still lie on his side. This was the first time she had actually seen his back, which was soaked in blood. Fae healing abilities or no, Shinra was still in rough shape with all the blood he had lost, much of which he would have to cough out of his healing lung. She gently lifted his glasses free so they wouldn't press uncomfortably into his face and ran a gentle hand over his hair.

Mikado’s phone let out a chirp, and he jumped and grabbed it. “Hello?” he asked.

“Mikado-kun! Are you all right?”

“Anri-san!” Mikado breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, I’m okay, Masaomi and I are both okay . . . somehow,” he added, looking around the room. “What about you and the rest of the Dollars?”

“We’re all right, most of us anyway,” Anri said. “Some of them had to go to the hospital because of the fight. Kadota-san helped me take care of everyone. My phone only just now started working again. Where are you?”

“We’re at Celty’s,” Mikado said. “It’s kind of a long story . . . why don’t you text Saki and then the two of you can meet us here?”

“Okay,” Anri said. “We’ll be there soon.”

Masaomi looked up a little at Anri and Saki's names. He opened his mouth to speak but found that he didn't know what to say or even how to say it. Suddenly there was so many options. So many choices and paths that nothing he said would seem right or relevant. So he closed his mouth and leaned his head again Mikado's shoulder because the world was tilting in an alarming fashion. Mikado hung up with Anri and looked at him in concern. “Masaomi? Are you okay?”

After a long moment of consideration, Masaomi shrugged. His head hurt like nothing before, but he didn't think anything was actually wrong. Or maybe something that had been broken had finally been set right. He couldn't decide, so he only shrugged and kept a hold of Mikado's shirt.

Shizuo looked around at the disaster, then calmly pulled out and lit a cigarette. "Do we know another doctor?"

“I know a guy who’ll come pick up the bodies,” Izaya said, almost grateful for something to do as he pulled out his phone and started texting.

Shizuo thought about making a snide comment, but somehow, given everything that had happened and the genuine need to clean house, it didn't seem worth it.

Shinra pushed himself up with one hand, but didn’t manage to go very far before he started coughing again. “Celty, in my phone . . . Moriyama is a doctor I’ve worked with a few times. He can come see . . . to Mikado-kun and Masaomi-kun.”

'Lay down.' Celty pushed him down and then fished his phone out, scrolled through the numbers and sent a text.

“No, I shouldn’t lay down,” Shinra said, struggling upright again. “Easier to cough all the blood out of my lung if I’m sitting. Also, easier to breathe. Chest muscles don’t have to work against gravity.” Shinra was the doctor and Celty knew better than to argue, so she helped him sit up. He leaned against her rather heavily. “Is faerie blood compatible with human blood? Because if so, I’m thinking a unit or two would not hurt me right now.”

'I think so, but I'm not positive.' Celty wrapped one arm around his waist to keep him upright.

“Yes,” Masaomi said into Mikado’s shoulder, as she was typing. Everyone blinked at him.

Izaya snapped his phone shut. “Clean-up crew will be here in about ten minutes.”

“Wonderful,” Shinra said. “I needed new carpets anyway.” He sounded a little woozy. “I’m thinking painkillers and two units of blood for me, painkillers for Mikado-kun and Masaomi-kun, body removal, and then everyone can let me sleep for a while.”

Mikado realized that he was still clutching the Mask in one hand. “Uhm,” he said. “What do we do with this thing?”

One of Masaomi's hands covered the hand Mikado was holding the Mask in. "It needs to go home."

“Oh . . . do you know where home is?” Mikado asked.

Masaomi looked up and was quiet for a long minute. "I don't have one."

“I - what?” Mikado asked, blinking. Masaomi didn't seem inclined to repeat himself. Mikado had to take a deep breath, which would have worked to calm him if not for the fact that it made his broken ribs start screaming at him again. He winced involuntarily and tried to stay focused on Masaomi. “What do you mean, you don’t have one?”

Opinions were beyond him. There were too many choices. Questions, those came with a steadying of the universe and clear answers there in front of him. "I don't live anywhere."

“Yes, you do,” Mikado said, confused. “You live with your parents. And sometimes with me. In my apartment.”

That didn't seem quite right to Masaomi, but again, he had no ready answer because there was no question. Mikado was left simply staring at him, not knowing what to say. After a few moments, he instead turned his gaze to the others. “What . . .” he managed.

Celty had to admit, at least to herself, that what she was hearing was not exactly reassuring. She knew the Mask broke minds, but she also got the impression that no one had ever taken it off before death or complete raving lunacy. Masaomi wasn’t raving and he had only worn it for a few moments. 'Give him time. That sort of magic is very hard on people.' She considered what she had heard. 'He seems to be able to answer direct questions. Stick to those when you need to know something, but for now I think we should let him rest.'

Mikado nodded, trying desperately not to think too hard about what had happened to his friend. He couldn’t imagine a universe where Masaomi didn’t joke and make fun, where he could only answer questions and have that horribly vague look on his face. He pushed all that away. “The Mask will be safe here for a few days, right?” he asked. “Since Ceallach . . . won’t be trying to get it anymore,” he added, his gaze skirting around the Sidhe’s body.

‘It should be safe,’ Celty agreed.

“Okay.” Mikado leaned against Masaomi and decided that he was done for a little while. Masaomi rested his head again Mikado's and closed his eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~