Tokyo Demons Book 2: Chapter 5, Part 2

After her transformation in the clinic, Ayase had slept like the dead. Despite her desire for a shower that morning, she’d found the bathroom occupied–by a shirtless Kiyoshi, no less, which made her run down the hallway in a panic. She was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed her, which was the only thing that spared her some dignity.

Was he…shaving? she wondered miserably. Why does he have to take his clothes off for that?!

She remembered Jo making some joke about Kiyoshi and locker rooms, and athletes being gross in general. But Ayase couldn’t wrap her head around guys who were comfortable half-naked. Kadoyuki was a boy, and he wore more layers than Aisha.

She distracted herself with the food she found in the kitchen. Half of the church was in the sick room, for some reason, and she heard Shouri vomiting in a bucket in the girl’s room…she’d peeked in there to offer help, but Adam was already holding back her hair while Emi watched a heart monitor. Ayase left them alone.

She didn’t know how bad Shouri’s detox was going to get. Nick had warned everybody that it would be worse than Kiyoshi’s, but other than that, the adults had been tight-lipped about it. Ayase wondered if maybe Shouri wanted privacy or something. Ayase knew that if she was going to be deathly ill and leaking body fluids, she’d want plenty of space, too.

The main sleeping room was empty. Ayase was debating turning on the TV when Sachi walked in.

“Oh.” She smiled, reflexively happy to see him. “Morning.”

Sachi had a dazed look on his face. When he didn’t answer, she noticed the beads of sweat on his temples.

“Sachi?”

He blinked. His eyes shifted up behind his glasses.

“Huh?”

“You okay?” Ayase asked carefully. “You’re pale.”

Sachi took a breath and shook his head. “Yeah, I’m…fine.”

She noticed the loose bandage wrapped around one arm. An ugly, wet bruise peeked out from behind it.

“You’re unraveling,” she warned him. “You should probably get another bandage.”

He lifted the arm. “Crap,” he murmured. “I went to get one, but then…” He furrowed his eyebrows as his mouth twisted.

Ayase remembered the portable med kit she kept in the closet. She pulled back the door on its sliding hinges; a lot of the boy’s personal effects had been crammed in there, so it was more cluttered than ever. She dropped to her knees and started pushing through the piles.

Other than a video game system, toiletry kids, and a disturbing number of cigarette cartons, it was mostly clothes. Her med kit was nestled somewhere in the middle, on top of a thick hardcover book. When she finally lifted the basket, she paused.

The book was a Japanese-Arabic dictionary. She assumed it was Zayd’s, then realized the base language was Japanese…which meant it probably wasn’t his. Was someone trying to learn Arabic to talk to Aisha better?

Ayase recognized a beat-up clear file from some kid’s anime sticking out like a bookmark. That was definitely Kadoyuki’s.

She paused on that. Okay, she thought. If I need Arabic in a pinch, maybe I can ask Kadoyuki. That could be…helpful.

“I’ll clean you up,” Ayase called as she closed the closet again. She gestured to her kit. “Emi-san said I did a good job with Kadoyuki’s bite.”

Sachi smiled weakly. He pulled up a chair as she rummaged through her supplies.

For several minutes, Sachi sat in silence as she cleaned his wound. It was odd for him to be so quiet. Her concern was probably stronger than she realized, because he eventually twitched at her touch and looked up.

She swallowed. A hint of that bold affection welled up inside her again, because she suddenly wanted to brush some of the limp hair from his forehead. He blushed as she thought of it, so she decided to hold back.

“Nn.” His mouth slanted. “We should probably talk.”

Ayase bit the inside of her cheek and taped his bandage closed. “Right.”

In an unexpected move, Sachi didn’t say anything. The silence stretched. As Ayase waited, increasingly uncomfortable, the air grew heavy with unspoken questions. With unspoken…regret, maybe. She couldn’t read him, especially when he ducked his head to rub at his eyes.

The tingling mix of anticipation and fear finally pushed breath up her throat. She steeled herself.

“I…I’m not sure that kiss was a good idea,” she mumbled.

Sachi sighed. He removed his glasses with a tiny click.

“I know,” he replied, wiping the lenses on his shirt.

“And it’s my fault, Sachi. I was kinda high from endorphins, and it made me…I don’t know. Weird.”

Sachi bit his lip. “Not that weird, I hope.”

Ayase quickly shook her head. “No. I mean…I like you, Sachi. You’re really important to me.” She averted her eyes, her willpower suffocating the butterflies in her stomach. “And I should probably…tell you that more often.”

“Oh. Th-thank you.”

“But it’s the romantic part. I’m afraid I’m rushing it.” She hesitated. “I-I’m not good at that sort of thing. And I don’t…I don’t want to ruin what I have with you, especially when our lives are so dangerous.”

Sachi slid his glasses back on. “I know,” murmured. “It’s too hard to know what we feel when things are so crazy. And we definitely don’t want to start something that could blow up in our faces.” He spread his hands. “Team unity’s really important.”

“Right,” Ayase agreed. “Exactly.”

“So…maybe we shouldn’t talk about dating or anything until things settle down.”

Ayase nodded. I can live with that.

“We’ll just stay friends for now,” Sachi offered.

“Sure.”

“And we won’t…kiss anymore.”

Ayase opened her mouth to agree, but the words died in her throat. She stared at him. At the slight flush behind his skin, at the little bandage hugging his cheek. As his dark eyes softened behind his glasses, affection bloomed in her chest; she was suddenly too hot as warmth snaked through her veins.

Sachi swallowed. He gripped her hand, then turned even redder.

No, she told herself. Her knees started to shake. No, her mind repeated, more adamant this time.

But her mind, her safe space, suddenly seemed far away. She felt the rush of blood in her ears. Sachi stared up at her, his eyes glassy, and pushed his fingers into her palm.

Dammit!

She leaned down to kiss him the moment he leaned up. Their mouths hit with a little force; he mumbled an apology and pushed his glasses up his forehead before catching her open mouth with his. She kissed him, suddenly hopeful, suddenly desperate as his lips fumbled with hers.

It was…weird, really. After all the time they’d spent together, all the little things about him that had seemed familiar and safe felt…new. Exciting. Like a part of her heart had opened up, and it wanted to swallow him whole. Her hands ached to cradle his head, while he was blissfully shorter than her in that chair…her fingers trembled through his hair, feeling the slight wave to his haircut that gave him those lazy spikes. He gasped into her mouth, which sent a jolt of electricity down both her legs.

He suddenly wrapped an arm around her and stood from his chair. He lifted her against his body, not breaking the contact. As he dragged her feet up until she was on her toes, he slid his tongue into her mouth.

Ayase twitched unconsciously and pulled her jaw back. But her knee-jerk panic was swiftly drowned in desire, and when he tried to withdraw, she dipped her tongue tentatively against his. He groaned and her mind went white.

Sachi suddenly stiffened. He grunted against her mouth and dug his fingers into her shoulders.

“Mmph…wait,” he gasped. “Waimph…mm!”

The sudden panic behind his voice sent alarm racing through her veins. Ayase immediately pulled back, quashing the sudden, mortifying instinct to burst into insects.

“A-are you okay?!” she panted.

Sachi laughed nervously, but there was a little fear behind his voice. He shifted his hips so their lower bodies weren’t touching.

“I’m…fine,” he breathed. “It’s just…um…”

She loosened her arms from around him. When she tried to pull back, he shook his head and kept his grip on her shoulders.

“Sorry, Ayase. I didn’t mean to ruin the moment.” He blinked hard. “I just…get overwhelmed pretty fast. Since I’m feeling things, and I feel you feeling things…I can’t take a lot of it. I mean, my body can’t, if you, um…”

She tried to piece together his words with what she knew about male biology. For better or worse, she thought she understood.

Like, prematurely…

Her old panic returned–it had softened with desire, but she definitely noticed it now that her head was clearing. The step between kissing and the rest of sex was suddenly much too small.

“Sorry,” she blurted, and put more space between them. When she dropped her arms, Sachi finally released her.

Sachi smiled weakly and lowered his glasses back onto his face. “Okay,” he breathed. “W-we said we weren’t gonna kiss anymore.”

Ayase swallowed. She could still feel the foreign taste of him in her mouth.

“Should we maybe…revise that part?” he continued. “We can put off the relationship talk, but a little making out is fair game if we’re both into it?”

Ayase curled the edges of her mouth. When Sachi leaned down to press his forehead against hers, a pure, gentle affection swelled in her chest.

“Deal,” she said.

Sachi hummed, sending a pleasant vibration through her skull. He tentatively tilted his jaw down; she caught his lips in a tiny kiss.

That was when Daniel’s voice cut through the room. “Sachi-kun?” he called over the chak of the door.

Crap!

Ayase jerked away from Sachi, but it was already too late. Daniel froze in the doorway.

“Y-yeah?” Sachi laughed awkwardly as he tugged his shirt to his thighs.

Daniel cleared his throat. “Oh,” he murmured. “I didn’t realize…” He deliberated for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

“Zayd’s right,” he declared. “Maybe it’s time I sat down with you kids and discussed…intimate relations.”

Ayase wanted nothing less on earth.

“We’re fine,” she told him abruptly.

“We’ve gotten that in school,” Sachi argued.

Daniel frowned and closed the door. “Yes, but–”

“FINE,” Ayase repeated. It sounded more like a threat than she intended.

Daniel recoiled a bit, but thankfully dropped the subject. He leveled blue eyes on Sachi.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “After, well…Kadoyuki-kun’s outburst.”

Sachi blinked. “Huh?”

“We spoke with him after you left. We tried to argue that the benefit of including you in our conversation outweighed the risk…but he’s been adamant, I’m afraid.” Daniel’s voice softened. “I think he’s trying to protect you, in his own way.”

Sachi furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Daniel paused. “Twenty minutes ago,” he clarified. “In the sick room. We were talking about…” His gaze flicked to Ayase, and he trailed off.

“I…I tried to go to the sick room, but I knew it was occupied. Ayase redid my bandage here.” Sachi lifted his arm, as if to show the man.

“Yes, but I’m referring to when you stepped inside. And Kadoyuki-kun got upset.”

“I didn’t go inside,” Sachi insisted. “I haven’t seen Kado all morning.”

Something dark and alarmed settled over Daniel’s face. Ayase tensed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Daniel checked the closed door behind him. Then he ran up to Sachi, surprising the boy badly enough that he stumbled back a step.

“Sachi-kun,” Daniel said thinly. “Why are you lying to me?”

Sachi threw up his hands. “I’m not lying!” he insisted.

“Then describe the last hour for me. In detail.”

Ayase didn’t know what was going on, but the look on Daniel’s face scared her. It seemed to affect Sachi, too; it took him a second to catch his breath.

“I…f-fine. I took a shower after breakfast, then let Kiyoshi have the bathroom. I messed up my bandage by taking it off, so I went to the sick room to get a new one. Someone was in there…”

Sachi’s voice got quiet as his eyes grew distant. Then he furrowed his brow and looked down.

“Someone was talking, but I didn’t hear anything. So I left and came here.”

Daniel reached out and grabbed Sachi’s arm. Sachi looked up.

“You didn’t hear anything?” Daniel repeated.

Sachi shook his head.

“How did you know someone was in the sick room if you didn’t hear anything?”

Sachi opened his mouth to reply, then froze. His forehead creased.

“I…uh…”

Ayase didn’t understand his hesitation. “Did you hear sounds?” she offered. “Like, muffled words that you couldn’t make out?”

Sachi swallowed. “I didn’t…hear anything,” he repeated weakly. “I won’t ask you to tell me.”

What?

That didn’t even make sense.

“Sachi, you didn’t answer the question.”

“Sachi-kun, answer the question!”

Sachi gripped his temple. “I-I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t…remember!”

“You just said you–” Daniel stopped. His eyes went wide.

“Which part? Which part can’t you remember?!”

Sachi gritted his teeth. “Anything at the door. I know I didn’t hear anything, but I can’t…remember if I heard voices, or if I…” He squeezed shut his eyes. “It’s just a blur. Like a bad dream.”

Daniel abruptly let Sachi go. He ran his hand up his forehead in disbelief.

“You talked to Kadoyuki-kun,” he assured Sachi, but not as an accusation. “But he insisted we let you go–he was more severe than I’ve ever seen him. He looked into your eyes. And he said…what was it? To get out. That you didn’t hear anything.” Daniel paused, his lips moving as he whispered to himself. “He told you to leave, to ‘not ask us to tell you’…”

Ayase stared at Daniel, mortified. What the hell had happened in that room?!

“Almost like a compulsionist,” Daniel continued. “But that doesn’t fit the bill, since you don’t remember the action and complusionists can’t affect memories. I think…yes, he ordered you to forget. You were rapt, you marched out of the room. And now the memory is gone. Almost like he…hypnotized you?”

A chill ran down Ayase’s spine. She suddenly flashed back to a crumbling safehouse, and a blindfolded psychic sobbing on the floor.

Ayase gripped Daniel’s sleeve. “Are you saying…Kadoyuki’s power isn’t hearing thoughts?”

“He definitely hears thoughts; he’s proved it many times.” Daniel swallowed. “But it seems that he can possibly do more than that. Like manipulate memories through direct orders…”

Like Wipe.

Like Wipe.

Sachi clenched his fists. “But…Kado said that was Wipe’s power!”

Ayase’s mind raced through the scenes of that day like they were a deck of shuffling cards. Of the abandoned handcuffs. Of Nick’s face twisting in confusion. Kadoyuki and Wipe struggling on the floor, and Wipe’s teeth sinking into his arm…

“You don’t think…Wipe could pass Pitch onto Kado like that, could he?!”

Kadoyuki had been strange that night. Flush, but not hot. She’d thought his wound had been infected.

“I feel…crowded.”

“I don’t want to be anyone’s gateway.”

His intense, glassy eyes, boring into her in the dark.

“People push their way in and I can’t keep them out. They think that I can lead them to power, to freedom, to peace, but I’m not a gate. So they just tear into me and never break through…”

Ayase shakily gripped her mouth. Her stomach churned.

“He felt crowded,” she breathed. “Wipe bit him, and he said he felt…crowded. He looked infected.”

Something dawned on Daniel’s face. “Kadoyuki-kun has the same power as his mother!” he cried. “Psychics never inherit the exact same ability from their parents! Unless…”

“They fill me with their poison until it floods my body and I drown from the inside.”

Kado.

Gateway.

“Please,” he’d begged. “Just keep them out!”

“Unless…” Ayase swallowed bile. “Unless…” Her blood ran cold.

“He’s a vessel for other powers.”

The phone rang.

Daniel jumped. Ayase cried out and grabbed Sachi; he clutched his heart and stumbled back.

“Lord God, deliver me.” Daniel wiped sweat from the back of his neck as he ran for the landline. He carefully lifted the receiver and put it to his ear.

“H-hello?”

Ayase heard a smooth voice murmur something over the phone. Daniel’s eyes went wide.

“Wait,” he blurted. “We can’t just–”

Daniel cut himself off, his words vanishing into a frustrated grunt. A moment later, she heard the hollow sound of a dial tone.

Daniel slowly lowered the receiver.

“Wh-who was it?” Sachi asked, as if afraid to hear the answer.

Daniel looked sick. “Touya,” he said weakly. “He…wants to meet at the hotel again. Tonight.”

Ayase clenched her teeth. “Not now!” she growled. “What the hell does he want?!”

“We have six hours, God help us. And he…” Daniel let out a breath. His voice dropped in volume until it was barely more than a whisper.

“He wants us to send Kadoyuki.”

To be continued in Chapter 6.

Discuss this chapter in the Sparkler Monthly Public Forums or leave a comment below.