Post by Sierra Peyton Refit on Oct 11, 2015 23:28:17 GMT -6
Chapter without flashback scene
“You mean to tell me that what has been causing all of the supernatural phenomenon that's been happening of late is your own shiki?” Kazuya Shibuya asked incredulously as he stared at his bodyguard in disbelieve. “and the person that you got this knowledge from is none other than my deceased brother? What kind of sick dream was this exactly?”
Lin sighed. He had known that telling Naru about the presence of Gene in the equation would hinder his charge's acceptance of where he got his knowledge. However, it was the truth. Although he did not have a history of consciously astral projecting, Lin's subconscious had known that his physical body was in danger. It had taken him to the one place that it had known that Lin could get aid in his situation. To the one person who truly knew what was causing everything in his life to go to hell.
The only problem with that was that even though he would never admit it, Lin knew that Naru still had a hard time accepting the demise of his twin brother nearly two years before. The two had been close, as twins often are. Not only that, but Gene had literally taken a piece of Naru when he had died- he had taken Naru's telepathic link to him, so that Naru only had one person in his head for the first time in his life.
Lin was now trying to convince him that Gene was the reason he knew what their enemy is. It was hard enough for the paranormal researcher to believe that Mai could connect to his dead brother on a level that he could not. He seemed hellbent on not believing that Gene had found a way to communicate with Lin as well.
“Look Noll, it doesn't matter if you don't believe my claim. That doesn't make it any less true. I told you everything I know about what happened,” Lin wasn't really trying to persuade his charge all that much- in reality, he didn't need anyone to believe what he was saying. He just needed to find a way to fight off his antagonist and save his sister before anyone else got hurt.
Naru pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “I see. So is that all that you needed to tell me so that I can pass on your theory? Also, your 'hypothesis from earlier; what was it?”
“My hypothesis has already been proven correct. I assumed that whatever caused my car wreck, as it most certainly was not my fault, was the same thing that took Lifen. According to what you told me regarding the account of the incident, Draidyan reported my shiki taunting Nazuke about Lifen,”
Naru nodded. “Yes.. shiki or not, it does seem like none of this has been random. We'll continue to look into recent events and I'll contact the Hong Kong and Shibuya police departments respectively to see if they can match a person on their records to the man that attacked SPR, once Draidyan and the others have recovered. Now if that's all, I need to depart now- John's flight will be arriving in about twenty minutes time, and I need to ensure that I'm present to help Takigawa escort him to the base,”
Lin considered that for a moment. “I believe that is indeed all I needed to inform you of- have a safe trip back to SPR,” a pause ensued, and then, “Take precaution measures to ensure your safety,” what Lin was allowing to remain unsaid hung in the air between the two men. 'Don't let yourself die like Gene did'.
Lin was smart enough to keep that very valid thought to himself. Naru would have no patience for a lecture on safety due to the fate of his brother, that sometimes, though it was pointless, he still blamed himself for.
Instead of acknowledging his bodyguard's unsaid warning, Naru simply nodded curtly in Lin's direction. Right before opening the door, Naru turned back to Lin one last time.
“Oh, I almost forgot- doctors say that if you pass inspection tomorrow, you'll be allowed to be discharged from the hospital, though you'll be restricted to no work for quite a few weeks. As I'm sure you don't feel the need to ask, your pay will be handled, as will the cost of your medical bills,” and without further ado, Naru left the room.
Being left alone with no direction eventually got to Lin and he decided that he needed something to get his mind off of things. A visit to Draidyan seemed like it was in order. His oldest brother was recovering from the severe burn across his back, though still in excruciating amounts of pain.
Last time Lin had checked, Nazuke was being kept sedated so that he didn't feel the pain that he would inevitably be subjected to were he awake. Lukida was being kept passive by morphine due to the large quantity of stitches that had to be sewn into his torso from where Kanon's sharp claws had raked across his bare flesh.
Draidyan was also taking pain medications to ease his suffering, however he had asked doctors to limit his intake of said medications to prevent possible withdrawal symptoms. Out of all of Lin's brothers, he should be the most aware one of the lot.
Coming to that conclusion, Lin stood up from his bed, grabbed the monitor he was hooked to, and unplugged it from the wall before opening the heavy metal door and stepping into the hallway.
Outside of his door stood a nurse, who smiled when she saw Lin, and unasked question present in her green eyes. Lin's returned her smile with a small one of his own. “I was wondering what room that Lin Draidyan is being treated in?” Lin said, phrasing the last part of his statement like a question. The nurse who Lin noticed was named Koba by the name tag on her uniform, raised an eyebrow at his question.
“I'm sorry, are you family to Mr. Lin?” she asked politely.
Lin almost smiled at the irony of it. “I am family- I'm also a Mr. Lin- my name is Lin Koujo. I'm actually Draidyan's brother,”
Koba blushed in embarrassment. “Of course you are! I'm so sorry Mr. Lin, I was aware that there were four brothers here all with the last name Lin, I just didn't assume that you were one of them. Though you do share similar characteristics to the other Mr. Lin, I didn't presume that you were his brother. I apologize- that was my fault,”
Lin chuckled lightly. “No problem at all- our father is also a Mr. Lin,as are his brothers, so my brothers and I are simply one of many 'Mr. Lin's'. But if you don't mind, what Draidyan's room number?”
Koba checked the clipboard in her hand. He's on the other side of the hallway, if you'd like me to take you to him, I certainly can. Lin accepted her offer, and began following her to his older brother's room.
Several minutes later, they arrived at room 633. Koba smiled at Lin before taking her leave. The recovering Onmyouji knocked on the door once before pushing it open.
Inside the white walled room, Draidyan laid on the bed in the center of the room. His eyes were closed and his glasses were laid on the table beside the bed. The thirty year old's breathing was steady, and Lin began to realize that he was sleeping. Just as he was about to leave the room, a very awake sounding voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Koujo?” Draidyan asked curiously, opening a single silver gray eye to peer at his younger brother.
Lin turned back to look at him, feeling much more relieved than he allowed his expression to appear. “Hey,” Lin said casually, offering Drai a small smile. “it good to see you awake.”
Draidyan rubbed his eyes before slipping his sleek black glasses onto his face. He stared at Lin incredulously. “You came in here to tell me that its good to see me awake, after waking me up?” he shook his head. “I don't see the point in that, but if it brings you some sort of comfort, then more power to you,”
Lin chuckled in response. “No, that actually wasn't my intention. Actually, I wish my purpose for being here was more lighthearted than what it really is,” a dark look passed over the Onmyouji's face, something that was in no way missed by his brother.
“What exactly is your purpose for being here then, Kou? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but you usually wouldn't drop in unannounced,”
Lin sighed at the truth of Drai's statement. The thirty year old's hawk-like vision never had allowed Lin to keep things hidden from him. Once he learned people's typical behaviors, he didn't forget them in the slightest. Seeing no point in trying to work his way around what he had to say, Lin cut straight to the dire point. “I know who it was that took Lifen and injured the lot of us,”
Draidyan blinked in surprise. “How? What is he? How do we fight him?” the healer's voice became more angry with each question he asked, and it was Lin's turn to be shocked. Draidyan had always kept his emotions under tight wraps- a trait that Lin had very much picked up from him, even before the incident that had made him cease socializing.
Hearing so much rage in his voice was unnerving to Lin, and briefly wondered if it had been his brightest idea to tell Draidyan in the matter that he had. Had sugarcoating been in order..?
Draidyan answered that question before Lin could ponder it. “I apologize for my outburst. Its just that after that man grabbed Naz, I saw my youngest brother's life flash before my eyes. He's young- far too young to die before he's really experienced the world. I was powerless to do anything to help him- I was forced to watch as he fell to the floor, bleeding and near death. I don't think I've ever hated anyone so much, except for....-” Draidyan cut off what he was saying, however Lin already knew the answer all too well.
“Dad,” he muttered, and Drai's expression tightened.
“Indeed. There have been times that I have hated the very existence of him, and other days where I just wish that he had been able to put aside his own superstitions for the sake of having a relationship with his children,” Draidyan's hand fist tightened and his expression became distant and cold. “Its gotten worse now, as well. I'm glad you weren't there, Kou.. I really am, because if you had been, Dad might be dead right now,”
Lin laughed humorlessly. “He wouldn't die if you killed him- stubborn fool that he is sometimes,”
A distant look came over Draidyan's face. Lin couldn't explain the look, however it appeared almost.. nostalgic.
“Dyan,” Lin said gently, addressing Draidyan with another one of the nicknames bestowed on him during their childhood.
Drai turned his head and blinked in surprise, as if just waking up from some far off dream. “I'm sorry, I was just thinking of something,”
“Mind if I ask what?” Lin asked cautiously.
“Actually, I do. You'll find out sooner than later. Its not the right time for you to know,” Draidyan's face gave nothing away, however Lin heard the undercurrent of emotions in his voice that were flooding it like a torrent crudely being kept back.
“I'm not a child you know. I've been grown up for quite a few years- you don't even keep things from Lifen like this,”
Drai couldn't help but smile- it was a rare occasion that Lin complained about things being unfair, as he often had when he was a child. Although the other thought on Drai's mind was far from something to smile about.
“Sadly, Lifen already knows what I've yet to tell you, but that isn't the point. There's something that I can tell you right now that you might not handle well,” Drai muttered wearily, causing Lin to narrow his eyes suspiciously.
“Which would be?” Lin prompted him insistently.
Drai shook his head. “Kou, mom and dad are on their way to Japan. They'll be here within two hours,”
Lin stiffened. His dad was coming to Japan? No coherent thoughts made their way to Lin's scrambled brain except for one.
“Why?”
“Isn't it obvious?” Draidyan asked uncertainly. Gaining no response from Lin, he sighed.
“Koujo, he's still our father, despite how our relationship with him has been in the past. All else aside, at the end of the day, I think he still loves his children,”
Lin nearly choked on the harsh laughter that exploded from his mouth. There was no humor in the sound, only barely concealed anger towards his father. “He has an exceptionally peculiar way of expressing his 'love' for us,”
Drai couldn't deny that fact, nor did he want to try and disprove the the validity of the claim- he knew that Lin's statement was all too true.
“He does. That much is true, but maybe that's what he's trying to rectify by being here when we're all in the hospital,”
Lin closed his eyes, feeling completely defeated. “I don't know if I want to see him right now. Too much has gone on lately- *Nothing good ever comes of me being left in a room with him.*...” Lin said, allowing his sentence to trail off.
Drai nodded. “I realize that, and I know it'll be difficult, but just try and be civil,”
“Civil? I can be civil- I just won't enjoy him being here. You know that he is the reason in part that I so readily took the job offering in England. I wanted away from him- now he's coming into my domain again. *I thought putting a few continents between us would be enough, but apparently I should have tried a few galaxies," *Lin replied in frustration.
Draidyan's face became nostalgic. “Do you remember when Nazuke was born, Kou?”
Lin pondered the question for a minute. “I do- some details aren't very clear, but I remember some of when mom was pregnant with him, and then dad taking you, Lukida and I to Uncle Choi's house while mom was giving birth to him. But what does this have to do with anything?"
Draidyan snapped out of his reverie. "You had a normal relationship with dad. Your powers hadn't manifested like mine and Lukida's had,"
Lin froze at the realization that Draidyan was telling the truth. Before, when he had been very young, he had loved his father very much, as any boy his age was supposed to. The thought shocked Lin and he stared at Draidyan.
“You're right, I did- as did Nazuke and Lifen for a time. Then as soon as we began exhibiting our powers, he began accusing us of being frauds- children who refused to grow up. You have no idea how much that infuriated me,”
“Actually, I do. When you were born, my powers had already solidly manifested. I knew that I could injuries- I'd experimented on myself several times,”
Excluded Flashback Scene:
'A young boy of about five years old ran through a field in Hong Kong China. The boy was being chased by a tall man- his father. The father was trying to catch his young and rambunctious son, who insisted on not taking his afternoon nap.
“Koujo, stop this nonsense and come to me, child,” Dajun- the boy's father, commanded with as much authority as he could muster. It was to no avail as his son did not slow down his escape. If anything, his short legs began carrying him faster through the tall grasses of the field.
Dajun sighed in irritation, however he continued to pursue his disobedient son through the grass. After a certain amount of time had passed, even with his six foot six height, the exhausted and aggravated father could no longer see his son over the height of the overgrown grass in the field. To add insult to injury, it was also getting dark.
“Koujo?” Dajun asked worriedly. Several seconds passed and he could hear nothing other than crickets chirping. Then suddenly, a strangled cry echoed throughout the area.
“Daddy!” Koujo screamed from somewhere nearby. Dajun took off running in the direction that his son's voice had come from. After a few seconds of running through the field, he found his son lying on the ground, cradling his knee.
He had tripped on a large rock and fallen, scraping his knee across the ground. The wound was swollen and red, steadily flowing blood even as the injured five year old pressed his small hands over it.
Dajun didn't think- he simply took the jacket that he was wearing off and wrapped it across his son's shoulders. He proceeded to haul his child into his arms and cradle him to his chest. Once Koujo was situated, he grabbed his leg from under the jacket and stared at the wound.
It had began to clot some, however it still appeared to be causing Koujo pain. The small boy was still whimpering against his father's comforting shoulder.
Beginning to walk back towards their home not far away from the field, Dajun ruffled his son's black hair. Koujo laughed a little bit, though the tears were still flowing from his visible eye. When his mother had cut his hair for the first time, she had left Koujo's hair long on the right side, to cover up the blindness of that eye.
Dajun smiled at his son tenderly- he loved the boy very much. In fact, he loved his other two sons dearly as well, he simply got frustrated with their teenage antics. They thought that they had 'supernatural powers' or something akin to that, and refused to grow out of the phase.
Dajun sighed and pushed the thought away- his sons would eventually straighten their acts out. Right now, he had to focus on getting his youngest son back to the house that his injury could be cleaned and bandaged. Plus, Koujo still had not had his nap, and was beginning to doze off against his fathers shoulder, though he still whined in pain occasionally.
Realizing that even though he had already paid for his mistake by getting injured, Dajun realized that he still needed to scold his child so that the past did not repeat itself.
“Koujo, do you see what happens when you disobey your father?” Dajun asked gently. He felt his son nod his head carefully against his shoulder, and heard the sleep tinged reply a moment later.
“Yes daddy.”
Dajun continued to walk towards home.
Then the flashback fast forwarded two years. Koujo Lin was now seven years old, and miserable. His head ached frequently- sharp, debilitating migraines that made him sick and would not go away unless he remained laying down. His parents were getting worried- before their young son had almost never been unhealthy. Now he seemed to be sick all the time, and had missed countless days of school.
The doctors had said that there was definitely something wrong with the boy, however they had been unable to pinpoint what illness was plaguing him. The two older boys- Draidyan and Lukida, claimed to know exactly what was causing their brother to be sick, however their father would have none of their nonsense.
“He's not sick due to the witchcraft that you two seem to wish to dabble in. He's ill due to a perfectly explainable sickness,” Dajun has scolded his sons repeatedly.
The boys would not be silenced, however. They knew deep in their hearts that the reason that Koujo was having such terrible headaches was because he wasn't having them for any medical related reason. It had to do with his powers- the powers that seemed to run in their family. They were awakening, and Lin was too young to understand what was happening.
Many ears of having severe headaches passed- Lin turned sixteen years old. Up until that point, he had manged to bear the headaches with powerful pain medications. However, he could no longer treat the pain that coursed through his skull.
He laid in his bed, unable to move for fear of the overwhelming nausea overcoming him. His parents were beyond frantic, although he and his father had been at odds for awhile. Lin had started telling them the truth; he could sense things around him that no one else could detect.
His father had despised his older boys speaking about being able to sense things outside of the natural realm. Now his two younger boys and daughter were claiming to be able to do it as well.
It infuriated him, although Dajun was still exceptionally worried about his ill son. He tried to push his aggravation aside for the sake of his son's health.
That changed after some time. Dajun could not longer hide the anger that his son's talk about ghosts and the supernatural brought him. He and Koujo fought often, and it had drove a wedge in-between the two men.
“You mean to tell me that what has been causing all of the supernatural phenomenon that's been happening of late is your own shiki?” Kazuya Shibuya asked incredulously as he stared at his bodyguard in disbelieve. “and the person that you got this knowledge from is none other than my deceased brother? What kind of sick dream was this exactly?”
Lin sighed. He had known that telling Naru about the presence of Gene in the equation would hinder his charge's acceptance of where he got his knowledge. However, it was the truth. Although he did not have a history of consciously astral projecting, Lin's subconscious had known that his physical body was in danger. It had taken him to the one place that it had known that Lin could get aid in his situation. To the one person who truly knew what was causing everything in his life to go to hell.
The only problem with that was that even though he would never admit it, Lin knew that Naru still had a hard time accepting the demise of his twin brother nearly two years before. The two had been close, as twins often are. Not only that, but Gene had literally taken a piece of Naru when he had died- he had taken Naru's telepathic link to him, so that Naru only had one person in his head for the first time in his life.
Lin was now trying to convince him that Gene was the reason he knew what their enemy is. It was hard enough for the paranormal researcher to believe that Mai could connect to his dead brother on a level that he could not. He seemed hellbent on not believing that Gene had found a way to communicate with Lin as well.
“Look Noll, it doesn't matter if you don't believe my claim. That doesn't make it any less true. I told you everything I know about what happened,” Lin wasn't really trying to persuade his charge all that much- in reality, he didn't need anyone to believe what he was saying. He just needed to find a way to fight off his antagonist and save his sister before anyone else got hurt.
Naru pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “I see. So is that all that you needed to tell me so that I can pass on your theory? Also, your 'hypothesis from earlier; what was it?”
“My hypothesis has already been proven correct. I assumed that whatever caused my car wreck, as it most certainly was not my fault, was the same thing that took Lifen. According to what you told me regarding the account of the incident, Draidyan reported my shiki taunting Nazuke about Lifen,”
Naru nodded. “Yes.. shiki or not, it does seem like none of this has been random. We'll continue to look into recent events and I'll contact the Hong Kong and Shibuya police departments respectively to see if they can match a person on their records to the man that attacked SPR, once Draidyan and the others have recovered. Now if that's all, I need to depart now- John's flight will be arriving in about twenty minutes time, and I need to ensure that I'm present to help Takigawa escort him to the base,”
Lin considered that for a moment. “I believe that is indeed all I needed to inform you of- have a safe trip back to SPR,” a pause ensued, and then, “Take precaution measures to ensure your safety,” what Lin was allowing to remain unsaid hung in the air between the two men. 'Don't let yourself die like Gene did'.
Lin was smart enough to keep that very valid thought to himself. Naru would have no patience for a lecture on safety due to the fate of his brother, that sometimes, though it was pointless, he still blamed himself for.
Instead of acknowledging his bodyguard's unsaid warning, Naru simply nodded curtly in Lin's direction. Right before opening the door, Naru turned back to Lin one last time.
“Oh, I almost forgot- doctors say that if you pass inspection tomorrow, you'll be allowed to be discharged from the hospital, though you'll be restricted to no work for quite a few weeks. As I'm sure you don't feel the need to ask, your pay will be handled, as will the cost of your medical bills,” and without further ado, Naru left the room.
Being left alone with no direction eventually got to Lin and he decided that he needed something to get his mind off of things. A visit to Draidyan seemed like it was in order. His oldest brother was recovering from the severe burn across his back, though still in excruciating amounts of pain.
Last time Lin had checked, Nazuke was being kept sedated so that he didn't feel the pain that he would inevitably be subjected to were he awake. Lukida was being kept passive by morphine due to the large quantity of stitches that had to be sewn into his torso from where Kanon's sharp claws had raked across his bare flesh.
Draidyan was also taking pain medications to ease his suffering, however he had asked doctors to limit his intake of said medications to prevent possible withdrawal symptoms. Out of all of Lin's brothers, he should be the most aware one of the lot.
Coming to that conclusion, Lin stood up from his bed, grabbed the monitor he was hooked to, and unplugged it from the wall before opening the heavy metal door and stepping into the hallway.
Outside of his door stood a nurse, who smiled when she saw Lin, and unasked question present in her green eyes. Lin's returned her smile with a small one of his own. “I was wondering what room that Lin Draidyan is being treated in?” Lin said, phrasing the last part of his statement like a question. The nurse who Lin noticed was named Koba by the name tag on her uniform, raised an eyebrow at his question.
“I'm sorry, are you family to Mr. Lin?” she asked politely.
Lin almost smiled at the irony of it. “I am family- I'm also a Mr. Lin- my name is Lin Koujo. I'm actually Draidyan's brother,”
Koba blushed in embarrassment. “Of course you are! I'm so sorry Mr. Lin, I was aware that there were four brothers here all with the last name Lin, I just didn't assume that you were one of them. Though you do share similar characteristics to the other Mr. Lin, I didn't presume that you were his brother. I apologize- that was my fault,”
Lin chuckled lightly. “No problem at all- our father is also a Mr. Lin,as are his brothers, so my brothers and I are simply one of many 'Mr. Lin's'. But if you don't mind, what Draidyan's room number?”
Koba checked the clipboard in her hand. He's on the other side of the hallway, if you'd like me to take you to him, I certainly can. Lin accepted her offer, and began following her to his older brother's room.
Several minutes later, they arrived at room 633. Koba smiled at Lin before taking her leave. The recovering Onmyouji knocked on the door once before pushing it open.
Inside the white walled room, Draidyan laid on the bed in the center of the room. His eyes were closed and his glasses were laid on the table beside the bed. The thirty year old's breathing was steady, and Lin began to realize that he was sleeping. Just as he was about to leave the room, a very awake sounding voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Koujo?” Draidyan asked curiously, opening a single silver gray eye to peer at his younger brother.
Lin turned back to look at him, feeling much more relieved than he allowed his expression to appear. “Hey,” Lin said casually, offering Drai a small smile. “it good to see you awake.”
Draidyan rubbed his eyes before slipping his sleek black glasses onto his face. He stared at Lin incredulously. “You came in here to tell me that its good to see me awake, after waking me up?” he shook his head. “I don't see the point in that, but if it brings you some sort of comfort, then more power to you,”
Lin chuckled in response. “No, that actually wasn't my intention. Actually, I wish my purpose for being here was more lighthearted than what it really is,” a dark look passed over the Onmyouji's face, something that was in no way missed by his brother.
“What exactly is your purpose for being here then, Kou? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but you usually wouldn't drop in unannounced,”
Lin sighed at the truth of Drai's statement. The thirty year old's hawk-like vision never had allowed Lin to keep things hidden from him. Once he learned people's typical behaviors, he didn't forget them in the slightest. Seeing no point in trying to work his way around what he had to say, Lin cut straight to the dire point. “I know who it was that took Lifen and injured the lot of us,”
Draidyan blinked in surprise. “How? What is he? How do we fight him?” the healer's voice became more angry with each question he asked, and it was Lin's turn to be shocked. Draidyan had always kept his emotions under tight wraps- a trait that Lin had very much picked up from him, even before the incident that had made him cease socializing.
Hearing so much rage in his voice was unnerving to Lin, and briefly wondered if it had been his brightest idea to tell Draidyan in the matter that he had. Had sugarcoating been in order..?
Draidyan answered that question before Lin could ponder it. “I apologize for my outburst. Its just that after that man grabbed Naz, I saw my youngest brother's life flash before my eyes. He's young- far too young to die before he's really experienced the world. I was powerless to do anything to help him- I was forced to watch as he fell to the floor, bleeding and near death. I don't think I've ever hated anyone so much, except for....-” Draidyan cut off what he was saying, however Lin already knew the answer all too well.
“Dad,” he muttered, and Drai's expression tightened.
“Indeed. There have been times that I have hated the very existence of him, and other days where I just wish that he had been able to put aside his own superstitions for the sake of having a relationship with his children,” Draidyan's hand fist tightened and his expression became distant and cold. “Its gotten worse now, as well. I'm glad you weren't there, Kou.. I really am, because if you had been, Dad might be dead right now,”
Lin laughed humorlessly. “He wouldn't die if you killed him- stubborn fool that he is sometimes,”
A distant look came over Draidyan's face. Lin couldn't explain the look, however it appeared almost.. nostalgic.
“Dyan,” Lin said gently, addressing Draidyan with another one of the nicknames bestowed on him during their childhood.
Drai turned his head and blinked in surprise, as if just waking up from some far off dream. “I'm sorry, I was just thinking of something,”
“Mind if I ask what?” Lin asked cautiously.
“Actually, I do. You'll find out sooner than later. Its not the right time for you to know,” Draidyan's face gave nothing away, however Lin heard the undercurrent of emotions in his voice that were flooding it like a torrent crudely being kept back.
“I'm not a child you know. I've been grown up for quite a few years- you don't even keep things from Lifen like this,”
Drai couldn't help but smile- it was a rare occasion that Lin complained about things being unfair, as he often had when he was a child. Although the other thought on Drai's mind was far from something to smile about.
“Sadly, Lifen already knows what I've yet to tell you, but that isn't the point. There's something that I can tell you right now that you might not handle well,” Drai muttered wearily, causing Lin to narrow his eyes suspiciously.
“Which would be?” Lin prompted him insistently.
Drai shook his head. “Kou, mom and dad are on their way to Japan. They'll be here within two hours,”
Lin stiffened. His dad was coming to Japan? No coherent thoughts made their way to Lin's scrambled brain except for one.
“Why?”
“Isn't it obvious?” Draidyan asked uncertainly. Gaining no response from Lin, he sighed.
“Koujo, he's still our father, despite how our relationship with him has been in the past. All else aside, at the end of the day, I think he still loves his children,”
Lin nearly choked on the harsh laughter that exploded from his mouth. There was no humor in the sound, only barely concealed anger towards his father. “He has an exceptionally peculiar way of expressing his 'love' for us,”
Drai couldn't deny that fact, nor did he want to try and disprove the the validity of the claim- he knew that Lin's statement was all too true.
“He does. That much is true, but maybe that's what he's trying to rectify by being here when we're all in the hospital,”
Lin closed his eyes, feeling completely defeated. “I don't know if I want to see him right now. Too much has gone on lately- *Nothing good ever comes of me being left in a room with him.*...” Lin said, allowing his sentence to trail off.
Drai nodded. “I realize that, and I know it'll be difficult, but just try and be civil,”
“Civil? I can be civil- I just won't enjoy him being here. You know that he is the reason in part that I so readily took the job offering in England. I wanted away from him- now he's coming into my domain again. *I thought putting a few continents between us would be enough, but apparently I should have tried a few galaxies," *Lin replied in frustration.
Draidyan's face became nostalgic. “Do you remember when Nazuke was born, Kou?”
Lin pondered the question for a minute. “I do- some details aren't very clear, but I remember some of when mom was pregnant with him, and then dad taking you, Lukida and I to Uncle Choi's house while mom was giving birth to him. But what does this have to do with anything?"
Draidyan snapped out of his reverie. "You had a normal relationship with dad. Your powers hadn't manifested like mine and Lukida's had,"
Lin froze at the realization that Draidyan was telling the truth. Before, when he had been very young, he had loved his father very much, as any boy his age was supposed to. The thought shocked Lin and he stared at Draidyan.
“You're right, I did- as did Nazuke and Lifen for a time. Then as soon as we began exhibiting our powers, he began accusing us of being frauds- children who refused to grow up. You have no idea how much that infuriated me,”
“Actually, I do. When you were born, my powers had already solidly manifested. I knew that I could injuries- I'd experimented on myself several times,”
Excluded Flashback Scene:
'A young boy of about five years old ran through a field in Hong Kong China. The boy was being chased by a tall man- his father. The father was trying to catch his young and rambunctious son, who insisted on not taking his afternoon nap.
“Koujo, stop this nonsense and come to me, child,” Dajun- the boy's father, commanded with as much authority as he could muster. It was to no avail as his son did not slow down his escape. If anything, his short legs began carrying him faster through the tall grasses of the field.
Dajun sighed in irritation, however he continued to pursue his disobedient son through the grass. After a certain amount of time had passed, even with his six foot six height, the exhausted and aggravated father could no longer see his son over the height of the overgrown grass in the field. To add insult to injury, it was also getting dark.
“Koujo?” Dajun asked worriedly. Several seconds passed and he could hear nothing other than crickets chirping. Then suddenly, a strangled cry echoed throughout the area.
“Daddy!” Koujo screamed from somewhere nearby. Dajun took off running in the direction that his son's voice had come from. After a few seconds of running through the field, he found his son lying on the ground, cradling his knee.
He had tripped on a large rock and fallen, scraping his knee across the ground. The wound was swollen and red, steadily flowing blood even as the injured five year old pressed his small hands over it.
Dajun didn't think- he simply took the jacket that he was wearing off and wrapped it across his son's shoulders. He proceeded to haul his child into his arms and cradle him to his chest. Once Koujo was situated, he grabbed his leg from under the jacket and stared at the wound.
It had began to clot some, however it still appeared to be causing Koujo pain. The small boy was still whimpering against his father's comforting shoulder.
Beginning to walk back towards their home not far away from the field, Dajun ruffled his son's black hair. Koujo laughed a little bit, though the tears were still flowing from his visible eye. When his mother had cut his hair for the first time, she had left Koujo's hair long on the right side, to cover up the blindness of that eye.
Dajun smiled at his son tenderly- he loved the boy very much. In fact, he loved his other two sons dearly as well, he simply got frustrated with their teenage antics. They thought that they had 'supernatural powers' or something akin to that, and refused to grow out of the phase.
Dajun sighed and pushed the thought away- his sons would eventually straighten their acts out. Right now, he had to focus on getting his youngest son back to the house that his injury could be cleaned and bandaged. Plus, Koujo still had not had his nap, and was beginning to doze off against his fathers shoulder, though he still whined in pain occasionally.
Realizing that even though he had already paid for his mistake by getting injured, Dajun realized that he still needed to scold his child so that the past did not repeat itself.
“Koujo, do you see what happens when you disobey your father?” Dajun asked gently. He felt his son nod his head carefully against his shoulder, and heard the sleep tinged reply a moment later.
“Yes daddy.”
Dajun continued to walk towards home.
Then the flashback fast forwarded two years. Koujo Lin was now seven years old, and miserable. His head ached frequently- sharp, debilitating migraines that made him sick and would not go away unless he remained laying down. His parents were getting worried- before their young son had almost never been unhealthy. Now he seemed to be sick all the time, and had missed countless days of school.
The doctors had said that there was definitely something wrong with the boy, however they had been unable to pinpoint what illness was plaguing him. The two older boys- Draidyan and Lukida, claimed to know exactly what was causing their brother to be sick, however their father would have none of their nonsense.
“He's not sick due to the witchcraft that you two seem to wish to dabble in. He's ill due to a perfectly explainable sickness,” Dajun has scolded his sons repeatedly.
The boys would not be silenced, however. They knew deep in their hearts that the reason that Koujo was having such terrible headaches was because he wasn't having them for any medical related reason. It had to do with his powers- the powers that seemed to run in their family. They were awakening, and Lin was too young to understand what was happening.
Many ears of having severe headaches passed- Lin turned sixteen years old. Up until that point, he had manged to bear the headaches with powerful pain medications. However, he could no longer treat the pain that coursed through his skull.
He laid in his bed, unable to move for fear of the overwhelming nausea overcoming him. His parents were beyond frantic, although he and his father had been at odds for awhile. Lin had started telling them the truth; he could sense things around him that no one else could detect.
His father had despised his older boys speaking about being able to sense things outside of the natural realm. Now his two younger boys and daughter were claiming to be able to do it as well.
It infuriated him, although Dajun was still exceptionally worried about his ill son. He tried to push his aggravation aside for the sake of his son's health.
That changed after some time. Dajun could not longer hide the anger that his son's talk about ghosts and the supernatural brought him. He and Koujo fought often, and it had drove a wedge in-between the two men.
