Log: An Accident

[whinymist]

Who: Katou Julie, Suzuki Adelheid, Fran, Mammon
What: Something terrible happens while Julie and Adelheid are sparring. Our two illusionists, however, work better together than they'd like to admit.
When: June 20th
Where: Hibari's cursed training facility
Rating: PG-13


When Adelheid had suggested that the two of them go down to the training facility to spar, Julie had been surprised to say the least. Though she had been getting better in the time that Hibari had been in the hospital, this was the first time she had suggested going over to the facilities.

Julie was worried, to say the least. He still wasn’t sure how she would react to being in the same place where the incident had occurred. But he dare not voice that. He didn’t want to bring that back to the forefront of her mind. Instead, he kept the smile on his face and agreed to the proposition.

Now though, he was having second thoughts. He had a bad feeling about this. “Adel, are you sure you want to do this? I’m not going to go easy on you~,” he said. Though there was a teasing quality to his voice, there was concern in his eyes.

"As though I'd ever forgive you if you did that." Adelheid stretched her legs, giving him a small smirk. To tell the truth, she wasn't entirely comfortable, still. She'd brought him to one of the smaller training halls; it would suffice for a basic work-out. "I need to do this, Julie. I'll go crazy if I stay cooped up one more day." And perhaps, despite the thought of the big halls just on the other side of the corridor, it would help her not think of Hibari just for a moment.

“Alright, Adel. I said I would spar with you didn’t I?” He looked down at the training clothes he had pulled on and tugged at the t-shirt, his nose wrinkled. “Really though, couldn’t they come up with something more stylish to train in? These clothes are awful.”

"Some of us don't train for the sake of appearances only." She smirked, adjusting her own top before she stood still, feet a bit apart, looking at him seriously. "Ready?" She slipped her fans from their holsters at her thighs.

Julie was fixing on his claws, adjusting them to just the right way when she asked. He rolled up onto the balls of his feet and smirked. “Give me your best.”

The only response he got was a curl of Adelheid's lips before she rushed forward, her weapons at ready.

She always gave every battle her best.

He dodged when she got close, laughing a bit. It had been some time since he had sparred against Adelheid and it was always a fun experience. “You’ll have to do better than that, darling, if I can dodge you without using my flame.”

"Oh, I'm just letting you warm up." And, just to counter that, at her attack her fans were engulfed in a faint cloud of ice.

His arm came up to block the attack, the faint sound of metal on metal as the two weapons hit. “But baby, I’m always warm~,” he teased, the claw on his other hand swiping at her midsection.

A crude shield of ice blocked his attack, deflecting it away from her even as she moved to kick him. He might have been taller, but her legs were longer, which was a good thing when it came to reach.

Julie grunted as the kick connected with his side and it took everything he had to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground. His arm was quick to drop, encircling around her leg and using it to tug her close. He teased her by running his fingers along her bare thigh, careful to keep the claw away.

“Darling, you should have just said you wanted to be close. I would have obliged~,” he turned, slamming her against the wall, but leaving her arms free.

Well, if that was how he wanted to play this... She threw her weight at him to get away from the wall, then used his hold on her thigh as a pivotal point to kick herself off the ground, her free leg aiming for his head as she took to the ground on her hands.

He didn’t even have time to enjoy how flexible his lover was as he let go of her leg to dodge the kick to the head. That would have hurt if it had connected. He jumped back to get out of range of her legs for the moment before he charged at her, claws at the ready.

Adelheid smirked as she took a defensive position this time, blocking each strike of the claws with her fans. Striking up at Julie's weapons, she dropped down, herself, making a sweep towards his ankles.

As he hadn’t been quite expecting that, he couldn’t dodge the leg coming at his ankles, and grunted as his back hit the ground hard.

Adelheid practically danced away, smirking at him. "Careless, careless~"

Julie pushed himself up, taking a moment to stretch out his back. That had stung a little. “I just let you get that hit in. Now, it’s my turn~”

"Your turn to what? Get thrown to a wall?" It was cocky of her, yes, turning her back to him, but then her instincts would warn her the moment he attacked. If there was one thing she had honed to perfection during her battles with Hibari, it was detecting harmful intentions.

...Bad girl. No thinking about Hibari now.

Julie quirked an eyebrow when she turned her back to him. It seemed that she wasn’t taking him all that seriously. With a bit of a smirk, he rolled onto the balls of his feet and rushed at her, knowing she would dodge the attack. Then he could really catch her, hug her, maybe even end this spar in a rather...pleasant manner.

Adelheid's ears caught the sound of his steps, but she could not focus properly on them; her mind was more concerned with pushing the thoughts of Hibari aside. Besides, there was no danger. She felt no intention for actual harm from him, not even what little there was during their usual spars.

When Julie realized that she wasn’t going to move, it was far too late. Thinking she was waiting until the last minute to move, he brought his arm around in a motion to catch her as she moved to the side. But...she didn’t and at that point, he couldn’t stop the movement of his arms. He watched in horror as his claws dug deep into back.

Adelheid only realized the danger at the last moment, when it was far too late to do anything about it. In her mind's eye she saw Hibari's expression, which had shown a sign of surprise just a split second before her attack had struck.

Feeling sharp blades sinking to either side of her spine, she could have sworn they felt cold as ice.

For a moment, he just stood there, his eyes wide. This couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be. He had to be stuck deep in his mind, Spade showing him his deepest fears. He didn’t...he couldn’t have just stabbed Adelheid. He never would have...

It was the blood on his hands that clued him in to the fact this wasn’t really a dream. He pulled his claws from her, knowing that they would cause as much damage coming out as going in, but not able to stop himself.

Adelheid's fans clattered to the ground with ominous clangs mere moments before she fell to her knees, the lack of focus from her memories replaced by a feeling of dazed disbelief. This couldn't... surely this wasn't...

Her trembling hand reached for her back, the pain hidden beneath pure shock as she felt blood and mangled flesh beneath her fingers. Feeling dizzy, she still managed to turn her head, one arm barely bracing her in a sitting position.

"Julie... why..."

Perhaps, suggested a mocking voice at the back of her mind, beneath the shock, perhaps he thought she deserved to be punished for putting the Shimon in such danger.

He fell to his knees as well, tearing off his claws and throwing them away. He didn’t want to look at them anymore, not after this. An arm came around her, uncaring about the blood.

“You were...you were supposed to move. Why didn’t you...”

"I... I never thought... you'd strike at me from behind." Blood. So much blood, again. Except this time, it was her own.

"I felt no... harmful intention..." Her head was swimming as she struggled against unconsciousness. The pain was biting through the initial shock, now, making every move a wave of agony.

“I wasn’t...I wasn’t going to. You were supposed to move, you always move. I wasn’t going to...I never was going to hurt you. Adelheid...” He held her close, unaware and uncaring that his clothes were being soaked in blood. Her blood.

“Oh god. I....Someone help, please!” he shouted, his voice desperate and tight with tears. This wasn’t supposed to be happening.

"I... I remembered..." She closed her eyes, the image of a surprised, shocked face dancing behind her eyelids. "I remembered Hibari...sensei..."

She had pretty much collapsed against him now. "It... hurts..." Stay awake, Adelheid. Stay awake.

You don't know if you'll wake up again.

“I know baby, I know. I...we’ll stop the pain, I promise.” It was taking too long. No one was getting there fast enough. Mindful of her injuries, he brought an arm under her knees and one under her back, lifting her as he stood. He rushed out into the corridor, praying that there was someone there.

"Julie?" It hurt. It hurt so much. "Julie... I... love you..."

“I love you too, Adelheid. Don’t...don’t pass out on me now.” Where the hell was everyone?

Mammon was looking around the training hall where Hibari had been injured. He hadn’t felt any traces of a mist user yet, but that didn’t mean anything. If they were any good, they could hide their presence well enough. Still, he had to make sure since all the mist users had been accused of the attack. That didn’t quite explain why there was someone with him.

“I can take care of this myself. I don’t need some half rate amateur getting in my way,” he snapped at Fran, glaring at the younger man.

"Oh, really. I only fooled the Vendice," Fran pointed out with a bored tone. If there were any hints, they would have long since faded to most people, but then they were two of the best. "Don't worry, though, I'll let you do the work. I'm only here to make sure you don't plant evidence against me."

He walked lazily about the hall. This particular room had not been in use since the incident; the splatter of blood was still visible on the floor. Sniffing the air, he made a face.

"Well, someone certainly has been doing something at a regular basis here," he murmured. "More power than control, though. Lacks finesse. Why does everyone always think it's better to break through with force than pay attention to the details? So wasteful."

Mammon snorted as he watched the other. “I’ve been fooling the Vendice since long before you were born, multiple times. You can’t compare. And I don’t need to plant evidence to prove it was you.”

The illusionist sighed, closing his eyes. The only one he felt here was Hibari, which would make sense as this was the training hall he used the most. “He’s a student that has just begun to learn control and finesse. His main technique is combat, not illusions. He’ll learn though.”

Mammon was about to say something else, but was cut off by a sudden pain in his head. It was if someone was shouting in his mind. Had he not been as strong as he was, he would have fallen to his knees. “Check...check the corridor, you stupid brat. There’s someone out there looking for help.”

"Ah. Newbies." Fran snorted, then frowned at Mammon's sudden reaction. "Huh? Fine." He walked to the door, never one to hurry much, still with an utterly bored expression.

As he opened the door only to see Julie carrying a heavily bleeding Adelheid, though, his eyes did widen a fraction.

Julie saw the door opened and quickly hurried over to the young man standing there. “You’ve got to help me. She’s...she’s been hurt.”

Mammon walked over when he heard the voice. It sounded like the one that was shouting in his mind. “Calm down. We can’t do anything if you don’t keep calm.” He took one look at the woman and realized that it was Hibari’s student. Something wasn’t right here. “You, frog boy. Go and get help.”

"Yeah, yeah..." Fran nodded, then slipped into the corridor and was away in a flash. Just because he rarely moved fast didn't mean he couldn't.

Adelheid, in the meantime, had lost her struggle against unconsciousness.

Julie’s heart tightened as she fell unconscious. “Adel, baby, wake up. Please, wake up.”

Mammon rolled his eyes. Really, did no one listen to him. “Calm down, idiot. He’ll be back with help soon.”

Help, help... where do you find help when someone is bleeding to death? Fran only had experience with causing such things, not stopping them. Think, now. What did everyone do if they got injured on missions?

Oh, right. Nurses. Nurses and bandages. To the infirmary!

Faster than should have been possible, Fran made his way back to the training building. The two nurses who had been conveniently shrunk to be carried in his pockets looked quite surprised, but at least they managed to hold onto their first aid kits.

Mammon was surprised to see Fran already back. But without help. “...I sent you to get help. Why is there no one with you?”

"There is." Fran picked the two nurses from his pockets, settling them on the ground. They immediately returned to their real size, looking a bit dazed from their experience.

Julie could care less where they had come from, as long as they were there to help. “Please, help her! She’s already...”

The nurses got over their daze quickly, directing Julie to place the passed out Adelheid down so they could work on her.

As Mammon watched the nurses attempt to stop the bleeding, he said, “Did you really have to be so ridiculous?”

"It was the quickest way I could think of," Fran said with a shrug, watching the hustle around Adelheid without much of an expression. "I don't know much about injuries."

Julie waited to the side as they worked on her. He didn’t know what he could do right now and it was driving him crazy.

“There were far more dignified ways to do it than put them in your pockets,” Mammon shot at him. Really, was there no illusionist now that knew anything of finesse anymore?

"It was the best way to keep them from falling," Fran pointed out calmly. "They would have just fallen off my shoulders, and I'm not quite strong enough to carry them around in real size."

He glanced at the distressed, blood-splattered man. "What happened?" At least for once, he and Mammon couldn't be blamed.

...Who was he kidding? Of course they could be blamed. They were Mist users.

Julie barely heard the young man, he was so focused on Adelheid. He almost told them exactly what happened, but stopped him. Maybe that wasn’t a smart idea.

“She was attacked from behind.” He didn’t elaborate. She had been attacked from behind.

Mammon narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but didn’t ask the boy to elaborate. He wouldn’t get a straight answer anyway.

"Where?" They could just as well check that location as well.

“It was...” Julie trailed off. “I...I can’t remember. She was hurt and I didn’t...”

Mammon had the distinct feeling that he was lying, but he wasn’t about to bring it up to Fran. If he couldn’t sense it, that was on him.

Fran looked at Julie with an impassive expression. "It's all right. I'm pretty sure I can follow the blood trail easily enough." It was quite an impressive trail.

Julie nodded a little bit, his eyes still on the nurses. It looked like they were done stopping the blood and calling for someone to move Adelheid. “Go ahead, I don’t care.”

Mammon, seeing that they were being dismissed, headed toward the door. “Let’s leave them be, Fran.”

"Mm. As though I have any interest in bothering them." Instead, he followed the trail of blood into a little side corridor, and then into one of the smaller training halls. There was a whole lot of blood there, but no signs of recent mist use.

And no weapon, aside from two discarded metal fans.

Mammon followed him inside, looking around. “I don’t sense anything, do you?”

"Nothing." Fran walked further, looking around. Nothing was out of place. There were some dying traces of flames, but they were nothing he was familiar with. "Certainly no illusions."

Mammon nodded. “I’ve felt these flames before. These are the girl’s. I feel none of our own. Maybe everyone is wrong about it being a Mist user.”

"Well, if someone used mist to fool Hibari Kyouya, the number of suspects would be very small and include us both," Fran pointed out. "For someone to be both skilled enough to pull it off and stupid enough to give such obvious clues to their identity is pretty damn unlikely." He crouched down, examining the blood more closely. "No sign of a weapon, again. Just a lot of blood."

“Maybe, but people have been known to make mistakes before.” Mammon glanced around, searching for something. “Where are the boy’s weapons? The fans are the Shimon woman’s. With the way she fights, there’s no way that he was weaponless. So where are they?”

"I didn't see anything on him." Fran shook his head. "You have any idea what he fights with? I'd assume something close range if they sparred together; mismatching ranges don't do well for spars."

“I have no idea. But I intend to find out. Still, he probably wasn’t the one to attack her, unless he is a very good actor.”

"He didn't seem to be acting," Fran agreed. "And I know a lot about acting." His gaze drifted up to the ceiling. "Think this place is haunted?"

Mammon snorted. “No, I don’t. I think someone is playing games with us.”

"Someone?" Fran echoed, hand brushing against the fresh blood. "Only one?"

“I think something this elaborate would be difficult to have more than one person. But it’s entirely possible.” Mammon rolled his eyes. “And don’t touch that.”

"More than one person would make it easier to establish alibis, though." Assuming their perpetrator was trying to hide what they were doing, that was. Maybe the criminal had just been lucky. "Oh, honestly. Like I'm going to mess up things any more than a frantic little teenager hoisting his girlfriend around while she bleeds."

He stood up. "It would be interesting to get some statements if and when one of the victims wakes up."

“I very much doubt Hibari will speak to us about the incident. And I don’t know the woman well enough to get her to trust me.”

"That's why I said would, not will." Fran shrugged. "Hibari is weird. He never had any problems cooperating with Master, but still he claims to hate illusionists."

Mammon quirked an eyebrow. “Hibari actually getting along with Mukuro? That sounds like something out of a fairytale.”

"Oh?" Fran blinked. "Why so? They work together a lot. They do snark at each other, sure, but never seriously."

“In this time, Hibari would sooner eat glass than to work with Mukuro, so excuse me if I don’t believe you.” He looked around. “There’s nothing more we can find here. We should leave.”

"I have no reason to lie, though. But I'll concede I know little about the Hibari in this time." Fran shrugged. "Maybe the boy will calm down at some point enough that we can ask questions."

“If they’re still here. I doubt that he would stay behind since I believe that girl is his lover.”

"We can track him down later. I doubt he's able to say anything sensible just yet, anyway."

Mammon nodded a bit and began to head out. “I’m going to attempt to find Bel again. Don’t follow me this time.”

"This isn't good enough?" Fran held out a box.

“...No, that stupid box isn’t good enough. Just because you can satisfy yourself with something like that, it doesn’t mean that I can.”

"I don't 'satisfy myself' with it. But it is a Bel-senpai." Fran paused. "Also very good at finding him."

Mammon paused for a minute, looking at Fran thoughtfully. “Is that so?”

"It annoys him when he can't get away. Of course I'd have a way to track him."

“...Fine, you can stick around for now. But you leave when we find him.”

"Or, you know, I can lend this to you," Fran pointed out. "It's easy enough to use, but I do want it back afterwards. I don't have any other boxes." Oh, he knew very well Mammon did not like him, so it might be a good idea to try to make amends. Usually he didn't care if someone hated him, but if he didn't get on Mammon's good side he might never get around Bel-senpai again.

Honestly. He wasn't even trying to steal him away. Nobody could turn Bel-senpai's head once it was set.

“I’ve never been much for the boxes. I rarely use even mine. I suppose I can deal with you for now if it means I can find Bel.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m curious though, what do you want with Bel.”

"What do you mean, what I want with him?"

“You seem awfully adamant to find him and there are very few people who would.”

"...Bel-senpai's the one who first dragged me into Varia." Fran's expression was entirely indifferent. "Well, him and Squalo-senpai. I usually worked with Bel-senpai, so besides annoying him, I had a legitimate reason to want to find him." He paused, his eyes flickering to the side. "It should still work here... even though the Bel-senpai here only knows me from some stolen memories you and the other Arcobaleno gave him." He didn't care. Of course he didn't care.

“Is that the only reason why?” Mammon didn’t believe him of course, but he was having a difficult time looking into his mind. There were no strong emotions for him to sneak in with.

"I'm not going to steal him from you." That was what Mammon was after, anyway.

Mammon stared at Fran for a moment before snorting. “Like you even could.”

"Then why so concerned?"

“I’m not concerned at all. You’re just imagining things.” When he turned away though, there was a faint, satisfied smirk on his lips.

"You keep asking, though." Even then, Fran fed some flames into his box. The little doll popped out with a very distinctive laugh, glancing at first at Fran, then at Mammon, then back at Fran. "Find Bel-senpai." The doll looked around before pointing its little hand. "This way, Mammon-senpai~" What? It was a logical name.

“I ask because I’ve never seen anyone other than myself actually like Belphegor.” He stared at the little Bel. “Well, I suppose we should go then.” He walked in the direction he was pointing. Maybe, just maybe, Fran wasn’t so bad.

"Well, his knives hurt less than Squalo-senpai's sword..."