Asylum (Chapter 25)
Title: Asylum - Chapter 25
Characters: Kato Shigeaki, OC, Tegoshi Yuya, Masuda Takahisa, Koyama Keichiro, Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki, Ryo Nishikido, Fujigaya Taisuke, Kimura Takuya, Gackt.
Rating: G13
Disclaimer: I own the story ONLY
Summary: Welcome to hell…
They spent two days in the house in blissful denial, at least the ones who could. Shige and Erika enjoyed the small resemblance of a somewhat semi normal couple life. Fujigaya spent a lot of time outside, even if it was increasingly cold. Maki was still almost out of it most of the time but Yamashita stayed by her side and, sometimes, she would rest her head on his shoulder and they looked nearly normal.
Tegoshi was healing. He had slept for hours. In that time he woke up, ate and then fell asleep almost immediately, nearly without fail, holding Masuda’s hand. I couple of times G’s or Erika’s when Masuda was not there. It was like he needed the reassurance that he was not alone and that he would not be left there.
His mind had not completely process the fact that they were outside the institutions ground, which was probably good. That day he woke up feeling actually rested. He tested his muscles moving tentatively his arms then he sat and let his feet touch the wooden floor. They were a little shaky but his leg supported his weight with little problem. He walked slowly to the bathroom and was proud he was finally able to walk alone; Massu had been helping him and berating him every time he tried to do it on his own.
As he went back to the room with an increasingly steadier step, he saw a window covered with deep burgundy colored curtains. He walked slowly towards them, not because he couldn’t walk faster but because he wasn’t sure what he would see outside. He had only seen the inside of the room, he had been too tired and Mussu’s shoulder had been too comfortable.
He reached out and moved the curtains away. There was only a garden surrounded by trees. He didn’t see any other construction or even people in sight. He was glad; he wasn’t sure he would be able to handle a bustling street or even neighbors right now. His memories of being out in the world were not exactly rose colored and “sane” people did not respond that well to him as a general rule.
The view was not that different from that of the institution, really. Nothing but trees as far as the eye could see, but he still felt it, the feeling of not being home anymore. He chuckled, or was more like a sob mixed with a groan. How pathetic was he that he was homesick about a psychiatric institution?
He felt a soft warm weight on his shoulder. He turned around but he knew who it was.
“You are up. How are you feeling?” Massu asked with a professional frown.
“Fine. Hardly anything hurts.”
“That’s good but that’s not what I meant.”
“Are you gonna start analyzing me? That’s not very sexy, you know? Well, maybe if you wear your white coat with nothing but a stethoscope…”
“Tegoshi…”
“I’m fine. I’m highly adaptable and that is true.”
“Okay,” Massu gave in, not entirely convinced. “Does it hurt anywhere?” Tegoshi shook his head. “Are you sure?” He nodded. “There still are a few stitches to remove…” He spoke thoughtfully, looking at Tegoshi’s head where the wound was. “You really do heal fast.”
Tegoshi nodded again. “Massu…”
“Mhh?”
“Massu.” This time Massu focused on him. Tegoshi smiled. “Nothing hurts anymore.”
“That’s good, like I said you he…”
Tegoshi didn’t let him finish. He just all but pounced and kissed him. Massu had refused to more that little pecks on the lips, and Tegoshi hadn’t insisted much because it had actually hurt when they first kissed.
Well, not anymore. Massu only let their lips barely touch before he moved away and disentangle Tegoshi’s arms from his neck.
“Tegoshi, don’t… I mean...”
Tegoshi put his arms behind his back. “I’m sorry,” he said in a small contrite voice. He knew it, everything changed in the outside. People never responded well to him in the outside. What would happen if he was possessed here? “I’m sorry,” he repeated as he backed up towards the wall. He stopped when his back hit the wall.
In the back of his head, he knew he was not being rational, but he couldn’t stop himself. He just wanted to make himself small and get out of sight so that everybody would leave him alone.
“Tegoshi,” Massu’s soft voice reached him. “What is it?”
He shook his head.
“Tegoshi, I wasn’t rejecting you…” Tegoshi shook his head again. He didn’t really understand what was happening himself. “Is… it coming, something like last time.” Tegoshi shook his head frantically. “Tegoshi, what is it? Tell me.”
“I don’t know. I want to go back. I don’t want…”
“What don’t you want?”
“Like before, I don’t want…”
“What happened with you mother?” Tegoshi looked down. He realized that at some point he had sat on the floor. “That won’t happen. No one here will hurt you like that. You trusted us before.”
“Outside is different,” his voice faltered.
“It’s not.”
“You are different.”
“No, I’m not. I told you, I wasn’t rejecting you, I just… you are still recovering and well, I do have some issues with displays of affection when anybody can come in. There are 8 other people who don’t usually knock, it’s unnerving.”
“See? Different. You never kissed me back at the institution and you didn’t blab as much.”
“I was a doctor there. If I had done those things there, I wouldn’t have lasted much, now, would I?”
Tegoshi’s chuckle was imperceptible and short lived but still there. “I’m sorry I freak out. I don’t know what happened.”
“It’s okay. It would be weird if you didn’t freak out. But it’ll be fine.”
Tegoshi nodded, wide eyes a little moist with unshed tears. He blinked them away and stared at Masuda again with big doe eyes that still held some fear in them and pouty lips, which were slightly red since he had been unconsciously biting down on them.
Masuda grabbed the back of the man’s head and brought him until their lips fused together. Right away, Tegoshi tilted his head and let his lips part and his tongue taste him. He wasn’t surprised; the other man always seemed to take the lead. Masuda wasn't having that, he deepened the kiss, he lead over Tegoshi until his head touch the wall and he had to tilt his head up a little.
They missed the first two coughs, but on the third one Masuda jumped away and had the urge to start excusing himself. What stopped him were Tegoshi’s laugh and the fact that the person who had interrupted was G and he still didn’t like the man.
“You are feeling better, right, Tegoshi?”
“Since when do you call me Tegoshi?”
“Since I asked you to do something and you ended up getting hurt.”
Tegoshi shrugged and lifted his arm to let Masuda let him up. Just like that Tegoshi had changed, like he had an internal switch. Masuda could still see a hint of fear, or maybe insecurity, but Tegoshi’s whole demeanor changed.
Once he was off the floor, Tegoshi let go of Masuda’s hand, not before lingering there, and then walked up to the third man there. He had to look up since the guy was practically a giant.
“I don’t mind about that…”
“I do,” both Masuda and G said at the same time.
Tegoshi rolled his eyes. “I’ve had worse. I’m not crazy about you lying for 8 years. I really trusted you.”
“I’m sorry. I should have told you, at least when you were old enough.”
Tegoshi nodded, looking very much like a kid looking up to his dad, all solemn. “I forgive you. But I’m not sure when I’ll forget.”
“You don’t have to forget.”
“Okay. I’m hungry. Is it breakfast time?”
“You skipped breakfast, it’s lunch time,” G laughed.
“No wonder I’m hungry. Let’s go Massu.” He extended his hand, which Masuda took and then walked to the dining room.
For the rest of the evening G and Kimura refused to talk about what he was planning or what was going on. They didn’t really push since their stay in that house was the closest thing to normal any of had had in a long time, some of them, ever. Even if they would have denied it, they wanted to at least pretend that everything was okay, they would worry about the future later.
But the future was not going to be ignored, nor put off.
They ate and went to bed. G knew the talk would come soon enough, but he wanted to let them enjoy peace a little longer. He didn’t know if he was up for it, yet, either.
The all lay down on their beds, the ones sleeping alone, let their thoughts ran until they finally fell asleep. The others drifted to sleep between whispered words and soft kisses, all of them having a feeling something would happen, but none really aware.
Koyama was in a long corridor. It looked like the asylum, but it was different somehow. He didn’t know what was going on, he just knew he had to keep walking. He was looking for someone. Who?
Him. He saw the man walking. He was wearing a white coat, black hair falling on his deep brown eyes. He was very handsome and probably some years older than Koyama himself. He looked familiar but Koyama could not quite place him. He started following and the man turned around abruptly, looking straight at him, or more like through him. The man looked around, like looking for someone, he knew instinctively that the man could sense him but not see him.
That was when it hit Koyama. He knew the man. Ouguri Shun. His grandfather. Now Koyama started to follow him in earnest. Was this a dream? Was he back in the past? Could he change anything?
His grandfather walked the halls until he met a man. He was shorter than his grandfather, jet black hair and dark eyes that looked almost black, Mishima Hiro and he was followed by someone Koyama knew well.
Shige, He tried to say but no sound would come out. The same happened to Shige. His heart was beating against his chest as they both did what they were compelled to do: follow their predecessors.
The two men had nodded a greeting and kept on walking with their future grandchildren behind. They reached a door and knocked. A “come in” was heard from inside. The room was just like any other conference room. There was nothing sinister about it, except the man preceding the table. His aura breathed mistrust even if his appearance was ordinary. There were also shadows around him and both Shige and Koyama stood as far away as possible.
One by one, they all arrived, all the doctors and the nurses that had started all this. Maki was shaking like a leaf as she stood by Yamashita. They were all there, huddled together, looking for support and maybe even protection in their closeness.
The talk had already started. Their grandparents were explained about the proposition, some looked frightened, others outraged. They didn’t believe at first until one of the entities materialized.
The cute looking nurse screamed and her hand instinctively flew to her still flat stomach. Tabe Mikako, she had been pregnant at the time, Koyama remembered. Tegoshi had been right, she really did look like Masuda sensei. Kamenashi put an arm around her protectively.
The entity, merely a shapeless shadow at first, took a more human like appearance and spoke in a hollow yet gentle voice none of them would have thought possible.
“Do not cower, Tabe Mikako, we are not looking to harm your child.”
The young woman paled. “How do you know?”
We know everything about all of you. We are not looking to harm any of you. We simply want to live. We will give you what you desire and in return, after the third cycle…”
“You will come and take our souls,” Takisawa spoke up.
“We have no interest in souls, only bodies. We need bodies fit for us. When we come back, you will have no need for the bodies we will come looking for.”
Yeah, because it is our bodies they are after, not theirs, Koyama thought.
They all resisted at first but were one by one won over. They could understand some of them. A single mother in a time when single mothers were just unacceptable. And all the time, Koyama could see the shadows, whispering into their ears without them being aware of it. They all had their reasons, but it did not change the fact that they had damned innocent people that had not even been born yet, that had never had a say in it.
There was nothing much to it. It was not like in the movies, with chanting or sacrifices. They simply accepted and then Katori sensei said:
“Now, we need to seal our pledge.” He turned around and lifted a cloth that had been lying unnoticed until now. Underneath it there was a knife.
“What the hell are you going to do with that?”
“Don’t worry, Takizawa sensei, I won’t hurt any of you. But this is no mere contract, a signature in ink on a piece of paper will not do, this requires a deeper commitment.” He turned around again to take what looked like a ceramic bowl and set it on the table. “You all need to give an offering, a blood offering.”
Again there were protests. Again, the murmur of the voices of the Suzerain whispered in their ears. In the end the knife was passed around and they all bled into the ceramic container enough so that, at the end, it was two quarters full.
In the end, their grandparents left, shaking, pale and not really knowing exactly what they had done.
Katori sensei was left alone. The shadows that had been next to every doctor and nurse in the room disappeared and the entity that had spoken before said: “You know what to do now.”
The man nodded right before there was a knock at the door. A nurse, one that had not been present for the events Koyama and the rest had witness, came in bringing a man with vacant eyes. They had all been in a mental institution long enough to recognize the signs of drugs in someone’s system.
“Thank you, Aragaki san, that will be all. Remember, you were never here.”
The nurse gave him a shallow bow and left without given the patient she had brought in a second look.
Katori sensei took the man by the arm and brought him docilely to the table and made him lay down. The man was too far gone to do much more than lay there. Whatever it was that the man had been given must have been strong because he never questioned, never seemed to care, not even when the doctor started murmuring in an unknown language and later on raised the knife and plunged it in then man’s heart. He didn’t even scream.
The unwilling witnesses cowered back. Koyama saw Erika tighten her grip and hiding behind Shige with the corner of his eye but most of his attention was focused on the terrifying image before him. The doctor was cutting the now dead man’s wrist and forcing the blood into the container until it was full.
“With the blood of the innocent and the blood of the sacrifices I seal this.” With that he drank the red thick liquid. Koyama wanted to shout, to cry, to run away. He didn’t want to see anymore but, like the rest he was frozen there, unable to move. Like in nightmares, he couldn’t escape.
“Now, it is done. I will come back.”
“Yes,” the Suzerain said, “when we rise, you will rise with us with your own powerful body.”
Right then, the image froze. Katori sensei was plastered with an evil smile, his mouth covered in blood. The entity turned and pierced them with a look.
“Now, you see, you cannot do anything but accept your fate. Give in and we will take your bodies but spare your souls. Resist and we will make sure you fall to hell and be tormented by eternity. Is that what you want?” It turned abruptly and stared at Maki. “Is it?”
The thing disappeared and so did Maki. Yamashita looked around desperately and then there was the first sound one of them could utter. Yamashita let out a loud painful scream and disappeared too.
“What is going on?” Tegoshi shouted and then, from the distance, they heard another scream. Even if it was far away they could tell it was Yamashita again calling for help. Shige and then Erika, followed by Tegoshi and Massu and finally Fujigaya, they all disappeared.
Koyama panicked until he knew what was happening. They were waking up. He had to wake up to.
“Kei chan,” a soft female voice he hadn’t heard in years called him. He recognized it right away. How could he ever forget?
“Lin?”
She smiled. Her body was translucent but it was still her, the way she had been when they were seventeen. The way she looked when he had not been able to save her from dying.
“We don’t have much time. I wanted to see you. You’ll have to come back and I don’t know what will happen.”
“You are… here. Is it really you.”
“How could I leave you? I’ve always been near you. And I will be when you come back. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“So, I’ll die?” Koyama was strangely calm while saying this. He had wanted to join her ever since she had left.
“I don’t want you too. But if you do, I’ll be waiting. Whatever you do, remember that, I’ll be waiting for you.”
And then he woke up to screaming outside his room.
~~~~~~~~~
She woke up in a startled, sitting in bed. Her felt the wetness in her cheeks. It was all a nightmare. Shige woke up in the same way next to her, but with a startled yell. They were both breathing hard but couldn’t recover before they heard screaming outside. They jumped out bed at the same time and ran out.
The screaming was coming from down the hall. Yamashita’s room. When they got to it, Kimura sensei and G were already there. Kimura sensei was kneeling next to Yamashita, who was bleeding on the floor. Right behind them, came Tegoshi and Masuda sensei.
“I’m fine!” Yamashita was shouting. “Go check on her!”
“G is with her. Now, stay still and let me see how deep it is!”
“She just wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t.”
“I know, lay down or you’ll make your wound worse.”
Erika took in the scene in the room, shifting her focus from the two men to G kneeling next to Maki. She seemed unconscious. The big mirror on the wall was shattered and the pieces were scattered about the room.
“She is alive and she seemes stable,” G informed. “I don’t think she was too hurt. She might need some stitches in her hand, but that’s all.”
“See?” Kimura sensei told Yamashita. “She is fine, now let me tend to you.” Yamashita nodded. “Good. Lay down. Masuda sensei, please help me here. We need to remove the glass.”
Erika frowned, not knowing what the doctor was referring to. Only when he moved did she see a long piece of the mirror embedded in his shoulder.
“Kato kun, help me move Maki chan. I don’t want to jostle her.”
Erika backed up against the wall just to get out of the way, or maybe she just needed some support. First the nightmare, now this. It was too much.
When she heard Yamashita barely stifle a scream as they removed the glass with a wet horrible sound, she started to shake. She felt an arm pressed across her shoulders.
“Eri chan, just breath.”
She turned to see Tegoshi’s big unblinking eyes. “Yuya, what…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence.
“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
She let her forehead fall against his shoulder, taking deep breaths, willing her heart to stop racing and failing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We have to go back,” G said looking out the window, not facing them. Shige wondered if maybe he couldn’t.
Shige tensed at those words, they all visibly tensed but none disagreed or even said anything. They had all known peace would eventually end. Running away from the asylum may have bought them time, but had not fixed the problem, they were still haunted, sort of speak.
“Do you know what to do now?” Tegoshi asked, more composed than Shige would have thought.
“I… we have an idea. However, we don’t know what we will find there or if it will work.”
“And we won’t force you to go,” Kimura sensei added.
“True, but I don’t think we have a chance, unless we are all there I’m sure it can’t be stopped. But, no, we won’t force you. If you choose you can go to the next city and start a new life.”
Shige snorted. “So much for a choice. And we will still be plagued by these… dreams, I bet.”
“Until the suzerain are returned to where they came from, probably.”
"What will we have to do?" Erica asked managing to keep any trembling off her voice.
"There are two instances. One is to recreate the original ritual in which the contract was sealed. And then we have to draw the keepers attention."
"The keeper? What is that?"
"When Tegoshi kun was possessed, he took from the suzerain's mind that the ony way to return the beings permanently, is to bring the cerberus to close the gate. At first I had no idea what that meant so I've been researching and I found that in many obscure writings there are mentions of a gatekeeper that ensures that the veil between the different world is secure and that every being stays where they belong. Sometimes these gatekeepers may fail, miss a few spots, if you will and the demons can reach our world and stay by attaching themselves to a human, either by possession or contracts. We need to get it's attention and that should take care of the problem."
"Should?" Shige asked, not very satisfied with the vague plan.
"Yes, should. We are not sure about anything. There was little record of our grandfather's research and dealings."
"And what little we could find, was almost illegible and some were rants of a crazy man," Kimura sensei added.
"I can only assure you," G continued, "that the last thing we want is for any of you to get hurt, even more than you have so far. I'll try to protect you as much as I can and I'll do everything in my power for all of you to get out of there."
"But we still have to go back." Tegoshi stated. It wasn't a question and G didn't even nod, it was obvious.
"What will happen after that? I mean, if we all survive, what will happen after that."
"You really believe we won't die," Fujigaya spit out. "Then you are as stupid as you look, Togoshi. We were all damned before we were born and if you had seen what I have, if you knew what the suzerain are like, you would know that we cannot really win."
"So you are saying we take it lying down?"
"I'm saying I don't give a fuck how we take it. The end result will be the same, at least for me. However, if you want to go in a blaze of glory, I'm all for it. Again, I don't give a fuck."
"Awesome. Gloomy speech given, pending doom acknowledge, now it's time to talk about what exactly we will have to do. Oohh can we dance around a bonfire chanting?" Tegoshi asked in the excited voiced that made Shige think about the times they had met in the asylum. A small shiver went down his spine.
~~~~~~~~~
It had been decided, they would all go back in two days. They had to say goodbye to their resemblance of sanity.
Erika was not sure how she felt. She was happy to be out, even if they couldn't leave the house where they were staying in.
On the other hand, Erika thought looking at Shige who was already sleeping next to her, he met you in there. It's not like he had many options in there. Do you actually think he would not go with someone better, prettier? He will leave as soon as you are out in the world.
"Eri, are you okay?" Shige's sleepy voice asked. She nodded. "Are you sure?" He asked once he sat down rubbing his eyes. When he ran his thumb across her cheek, she realized there were tears there. "What is it?"
"Nothing. Well, everything, I guess," she shrugged.
"It'll be fine. We'll finish this and then, I don't care how, we'll leave and get an apartment in some city. We'll figure out a way to get IDs and anything we need. Hell, you have ghosts to help us. And well, if the others come, it'll be even easier. Life would be more annoying, but definitely easier."
Erika chuckled and Shige smiled. He kissed both her cheeks before kissing her lips. Shige was really okay with being with her. He would not just start looking for someone else as soon as the possibility was there. Although with that realization, a frightening idea came. Those thoughts from before were not hers. And if they weren't hers...
She shut her eyes close and snuggled tight against the body next to her, hoping the heat from it would warm her.
~~~~~~~~~
"Do you remember what I asked you?" He asked the man on the other side of the line. "Yes, I know you don't like it, but you know what's at stake." He nodded even if the other man couldn't see him. "I'll send you an e-mail with all you need to do. It'll be from a free untraceable account. You'll have to open one too. Do you remember the username? Good, no one will trace anything back to you." A pause while the other man spoke. "You will be rewarded." Another pause. "I know but will you do it? Thank you."
Kimura turned around to look at the man sitting behind him.
"So he will do it?"
"Yes, but he doesn't like it any more than I do."
"You don't have to go or do anything, you know. I'm the son of the oldest son."
"Like I would leave now. We've always been in this together, why would I leave now?"
"Well, because now, there is a good chance of not making it."
"I know and every bone in my body is telling me to run. But I guess I'm too stupid to listen to myself."
~~~~~~~
Once Yamashita had recovered enough from his injuries, which had mostly turned out superficial, they were on their way, back to that place. They didn't know what they would find there after being all but abandoned for all that time. I would be nothing like they remembered.