Koujo Lin: The Account

Chapter 1: Migraines 

Koujo Lin absolutely abhorred headaches. They were distracting, annoying, and downright painful. They prevented him from performing as efficiently as he needed to in his line of work. That was something unforgivable as the bodyguard and assistant of Oliver Davis. He needed to be at the top of his game at all times, he always had to be able to detect trouble, and always had to know whether or not circumstances held any sort of danger for his charge. These detestable things called 'headaches' made it difficult for him to concentrate, let alone keep a trained eye on their surroundings.

He knew exactly why he got these sharp pains in his skull, and also knew that he could do nothing about them. They were linked to his third eye; his right eye, the one always dutifully covered by the lock of black fringe positioned over it like a veil. His right eye was blind to the type of light that his left eye could see; visual light, although it was not blind to other sorts of light. He had something called 'Electromagnetic Vision', he could see things that others could not, radio waves, electromagnetic waves, and other sources of light. He got headaches because humans were not meant to be able to see the otherwise unseen. His mind couldn't process what his right eye was detecting so the headaches were it's way of trying to force the information to leave it's vicinity.

This made the headaches more intense, as Lin could not easily forget what information he had seen, when he saw the same things every time he glanced at something using his covered eye. It was a constant fight between human anatomy and his powers as a psychic. Most of the time it seemed that his anatomy would win out.

Lin had a headache now, or more like a migraine, as it was proving to be more painful than the others that he'd experienced as of late. He'd been staring at the monitor of his laptop for several minutes, trying to make sense of the words that he typed on the word document regarding SPR's last case. The text muddled together in his mind, it all looked the same, and Lin realized that if only the damn overly persistent ache in his cranium would just dissipate, he'd be able to focus and get his work done.

"Lin," A concerned feminine voice said cautiously from behind the dark-haired omnyouji. He turned around to face the voice, his hand pressed to his right temple. The voice belonged to Mai, the sixteen year old girl whom Naru had hired as a replacement assistant in Lin's stead after he'd been injured while protecting the aforementioned girl. Naru had kept her as an assistant and an investigator. Though he'd never given Lin any inclination as to his reasoning for hiring her, Lin thought that he knew precisely why, although he refused to let his mind wander there. Instead he glanced down to Mai's cinnamon brown eyes and saw the worry there; she could tell that there was something off about her colleague today, "Is something wrong? You keep holding your head like you're in pain." she finished, taking a step towards him from her perch on the couch behind his desk.

"I have a minor headache. Nothing to be concerned with. I get them fairly often, so I'm used to it." Lin said, warily watching the girl as her worry changed from concern to anger and then back to the originally felt emotion

"You get chronic headaches? Have you seen a doctor about you this, Lin-San?" Mai asked, her voice hard as if she knew the answer already but was dreading hearing it.

"I have not. And even if I chose to, what would a doctor do, hmm? The only thing that one could do for my headaches is provide me the contact details for the nearest asylum. No medicine can defeat what causes my migraines." Lin replied, leaning forward on his hand as another, sharper, wave of pain shot through his head, eliciting a gasp out of the normally stoic Chinese man.

"Lin!" Mai yelled, rushing forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. His body was stiff, as if he was bracing himself against the pain, and with the loud and agonized sounding gasp that he'd let loose, she wouldn't be surprised if he was. Lin did not respond to her touch in any way, he simply concentrated on calming down his ragged breathing. He sat there with his head in his hands for several minutes, waiting until the migraine subsided into a dull ache in his temples. When he felt well enough, he turned his steely gray gaze onto Mai.

"I'm fine, Mai, though I'll admit that these pains usually aren't so severe. This one simply caught me off guard." He admitted, gently shrugging her hand off of his shoulder. Mai sighed deeply, taking a step back.

"What did you mean when you said that medicine can't help you?" She asked, hoping that he'd feel inclined to answer. Lin turned back to his laptop, determined to finish filing the case information. Although it soon became apparent to him that Mai wasn't going to back down, as the young girl had not moved an inch since he turned away from her.

"Mai, I don't get headaches because I'm sick. It's nothing related to a disease, either. That's why medicine won't help me." He stated matter-of-factly. He turned around to gauge her reaction and fought the urge to smirk when he saw her brown eyes widen. She had realized the underlying source of his chronic headaches.

"The headaches come from your powers? But how?" Mai asked, staring hard at him as she tried to figure out the answer for herself. Lin was about to reply, but was cut off as a third voice joined the conversation.

"Lin get's headaches due to the fact that he has something called electromagnetic vision. I'll explain it on terms that even you can understand, Mai." The voice said, and Lin and Mai turned to face Naru (aka Kazuya Shibuya aka Oliver Davis), who stood in the doorway of his office to the right of Lin's desk. He had a black notebook in his hand and his head bent towards it, as if he was reading whatever he had written there. He gave no indication that he had spoken until Mai let out an annoyed huff. When she did, he turned his ocean blue eyes on her and gave her a condescending look.

"Mai, patience is not one of your virtues," he said, glaring at his younger assistant. If he had been paying more attention, he would have heard his older assistant mutter the word 'hypocrite' into his hand. "As I was saying, Lin has electromagnetic vision-" Naru started again, but much to his annoyance, he was cut off.

"Yes, I heard the part about him having elect-er whatever vision. There is no need to repeat yourself." Mai muttered, still annoyed at her Boss's earlier insult of her intelligence. Naru's eyes widened then narrowed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, something that meant he was supremely annoyed.

"Mai, do not childishly interrupt someone who is trying to explain something so that a person with your level of intelligence can understand," Naru said scathingly, annoyance prominent in his voice, "it would be wise of you to listen so that I do not confuse and cause you to ask pointless questions." he added, walking into the room and taking a seat on the couch that Mai had previously vacated. Mai glanced at Lin, who shook his head slightly, as if silently telling her not to continue to antagonize Naru. Mai took his unspoken advice and sighed.

"I'm sorry Naru." Mai forced herself to say, giving her boss a false smile, one that he, of course, did not return. Instead, he sighed.

"As I was saying, Lin has electromagnetic vision which means that he can see radio waves and other types of light that otherwise, humans cannot see. His mind doesn't understand what it's focusing on, at least, the rational part doesn't, therefore, it tries to protect Lin from the things that he shouldn't be able to be aware of. It causes him headaches because he can't forget things that become imprinted in his mind; he sees these supposed to be invisible light sources every time he looks out of his right eye, that's the reason he keeps it covered with his hair; it stops him from seeing everything, thought it's obviously not an ideal solution and doesn't help him much." Naru replied, without pausing to take a breath. Mai stared hard at Lin again, then chose to ask the question that had been eating at her mind.

"Lin, would you mind showing me your eye? I've never actually seen it, and I guess now I know the reason why," Mai said cautiously, chancing a look at her stoic colleague. He'd stiffened in his chair, his eyes not meeting hers, "It's fine if you don't want to show me, I was just curious, that's all." She added, praying that she hadn't upset or offended him. To her surprise, Lin moved the lock of hair away from his eye and gestured towards her. She took the few steps that it took to get to him slowly, coming to a stop to the left of his chair. He raised his right eye upwards, and she gasped; it wasn't wasn't gray as she had expected it to be; it was a murky blue.

"Lin, why is it blue?" She asked, her voice gentle. She watched as Lin closed his right eye again, letting his black fringe fall back into place. He sighed deeply, and glanced at Naru, who for some reason, nodded.

"Mai, have you not figured it out, yet? I'm technically blind in my right eye; I have electromagnetic vision in it, though I can't see the same type of light that my left eye sees." Lin said slowly, hoping that he hadn't confused the girl standing beside him. She stared back at him warily.

"Does it have any link to your shiki? She asked as images of the white lights came into her mind. To her surprise, Lin stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled lightly, wincing a little at the noise. His shiki appeared, circling around their master's head.

"When you look at my shiki, what do you see?" Lin asked her, raising his hand up and coaxing one of them down from above him; it stretched out and coiled around his wrist. Mai stared at it, mesmerized by the flexible white light. She glanced up at Lin's eyes again, and noticed him staring at her; she'd neglected to answer his earlier question.

"When I look at your shiki, I see little white orbs of light that float around; they don't have a solid looking form, and they have no limbs." She said, looking up towards the ceiling where the other four shiki still floated. They all looked exactly the same to her. Lin glanced at Naru and laughed, much to Mai's surprise.

"You're not the only one who sees white lights; Naru and everyone else, other than myself, are only able to see a collection of small lights." Lin said, pausing to gently stroke the shiki wrapped around his wrist, "I see their true form; they are made up of electromagnetic waves that when exposed to visual light, will show a different form to those without electromagnetic vision. That form is what you see." He finished, carefully shaking off the shiki on his wrist and watching it float back up to the air above him. Mai's eyes followed it closely it as it began to participate in the circular rotation around Lin's head.

"How can you see a different form than everyone else? You only have electromagnetic vision in one eye, so how can you not see what we're seeing?" She asked, still not fully understanding the extent of Lin's power. He sighed, steeling himself for the complicated explanation.

"I meant that I can see both their true form and the form that is projected for those who can't see electromagnetic energies; the form I see depends on whether or not I am using my right or left eye. So to answer your earlier question, yes, my eye does have a sort of link to my shiki, if I use my right eye to look at them, I see something different than the glowing white orbs we discussed." Lin stated, rubbing his head again as another wave of pain shot through his skull; he really was tempted to try some pain reliever, if there was even a slight chance that it would work. He glanced at Mai then as an idea came to his mind.

"Mai, there's a bottle of pain reliever in the left drawer of the desk in my office, would you mind going and getting it for me?" Lin asked her casually. The young girl didn't respond in any way, she just continued to stare at the bound ghosts still continuously floating above her and her colleague's heads, as if she were mesmerized by them, and truth be told, in a way, she was. It was their job, her's, Lin's, and Naru's, to hunt ghost, and here Lin was keeping them as minions. The comical part of her brain briefly wondered if Lin had trained them to do tricks,. The thought almost made her chuckle, until she felt Lin's eyes on her; she slowly turned and met his steely gaze.

"Lin-San? Is there something that you need?" She asked innocently, giving her co-worker her full attention.

"I asked whether or not you would be willing to go and retrieve the bottle of pain reliever in my office- it's in the left desk drawer." Lin repeated, a barely perceptible note of impatience in his voice. The young girl's eyes widened momentarily as she realized that she had tuned Lin out so completely, but nonetheless, she scurried off towards the office to the right of his desk. Lin turned towards Naru and sighed. Noticing this, Naru gave him a quick once over with his eyes; he looked tired, something that he easily covered up with good posture, but not something that he could hide well from someone who had known him for many years.

"Lin, how long have these headaches been this excruciating? I highly doubt that this is the first of the sort that you've experienced." Naru reasoned carefully, afraid that if he pushed Lin to answer questions, his assistant would blatantly refuse to answer them. To his surprise, Lin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I've been experiencing more intense migraines for about a month now, but I don't for sure as to why they are suddenly getting worse. I've been getting headaches since I was a teenager, in fact, I began getting them even before I met you and Gene, although, they've never been quite so debilitating."

Naru nodded his understanding and relaxed against the couch, propping his elbow against the arm rest and capturing his chin in his hand, something that the young paranormal researcher often did when thinking very deeply about something.

"Lin, do you have any idea what originally brought on the headaches? You said that you were a teenager when they first started- exactly how old were you?" He inquired quietly as his mind muddled over all of the information that he'd ever read over in medical journals, trying to recall anything that could provide insight into his assistant's worsening condition. He watched as Lin pushed his chair out from under the desk, and slowly rose to his full height. His shiki followed his motions, continuing to float dutifully above their master's head. The taller man turned his gaze to his young charge and sighed warily, meeting his ocean blue eyes once before turning his head away to look out of the window directly in front of him.

"Oliver, is there any particular reason why you feel the need to ask me so many questions? I understand why Mai would want to know- she's an exceptionally curious person, but you've never felt the need to interrogate me. What changed?" He asked quizzically. Naru chuckled dryly, surprising himself and his assistant.

"Is that what this feels like to you, Lin? An interrogation? It's hardly that- I just want to make sure that you don't pass out on the floor, I'm afraid that I'd have to dock your pay if that ever happened. Becoming ill on the job is bad for business, I'm sure you're aware of that." Naru replied slyly, a smirk on his face. Lin tried to fight off his own half grin, but failed.

"Luckily Naru, you don't pay me; Martin and Luella do. Or had you forgotten about your poor parents? By the way, you haven't called your mother in weeks, have you?" Lin retorted, phrasing the last part like a question as he glanced at Naru with feigned innocence, the smirk widening into a sadistic smile, "Luella will probably get so worried that she'll make Martin drive her all the way from England to Japan. Maybe I should call and inform her that her son is overworking himself again and not sleeping." He threatened, watching as his young charge's Cerulean blue eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. Lin genuinely laughed at his friend's obvious terror of the looming threat of an unplanned visit from his nagging and overprotective mother. Hearing the sound of being laughed at, Naru snapped out of his daze and schooled his expression, forcing himself to put on his mask of stoic indifference once again.

"I'm not an idiot, Lin- I know you're bluffing. You wouldn't dare call Luella, seeing as she'd force you to rest and go see a doctor for these headaches, and you know that you wouldn't be able to refuse. When that woman wants something, she get's it. Even Martin gives into her whims." Naru proclaimed, he hoped that Lin would remember that a visit from Luella would not only cause him irritation, but the the stoic Chinese man standing in front of him as well. He knew how much Lin liked order and serenity, and with Luella around, their lives would be anything but. Likewise, the dark-haired omnyouji seemed to realize this as well, he stopped looking out the window and met Naru's blue gaze once more.

"You're right, I was bluffing. Although, I think you were aware of that already," Lin acknowledged warily, knowing damn well that though Luella had his and her son's best interests at heart, she was a very forceful person when in came to people refusing to succumb to her motherly instincts. "I'd never do anything to sabotage the relative quite of the office, it's bad enough when Monk and Ayako come here and bicker constantly." He added the last part with a slight note of disapproval in his deep voice. Sometimes he secretly wished that the self-proclaimed Shrine Maiden and Buddhist monk would realize that they liked each other and finally start dating. He had similar desires for Oliver and a certain brunette to realize the same romantic feelings that they had toward each other. It would save him the irritation of listening to two teenagers bicker all day, or so he hoped. He was broken out of his reverie as all of the sudden, loud footsteps could be heard bounding over the wooden floor of SPR's reception room as Mai dashed hurriedly into the room, a bottle of Tylenol tightly clutched in her hand. She stopped beside Lin who turned to look at her, an eyebrow quirked in confusion at her seemingly excited mood.

"Sorry it took me so long, Lin. I guess that you said left desk drawer- I was looking in the right." She said, smiling apologetically as she held out the bottle of pain reliever to her colleague. He took it and glanced at Naru, who was smirking.

"Mai, I knew you were dumb, but I thought that you were coherent enough to know your right from your left. Maybe I should cut some of your work hours so that you can spend more time in school, because apparently, you could use the extra help," Naru said condescendingly, a slight smirk gracing his lips. Mai huffed and was on the verge of saying something that she would undoubtedly come to regret, but couldn't get the words out fast enough before Naru continued to speak, "Mai, tea." he ordered, his smirk growing slightly as she turned to glower scathingly in his direction. Lin's shiki circled around his head more quickly as they sensed the growing tension in the room, signaling their master that they were ready to intervene if need be. 'Méiyǒu yǐnqǐ rénmen de guānzhù.' Lin said to them in Chinese, using the telepathic link that he shared with his shiki to send them a calming message. The shiki responded by floating a little bit closer to their master's head, as if preparing to defend him if the need arose, though they stopped circling quite so fast, and for that, Lin was secretly glad due to the fact that a severe migraine and watching something spin rapidly often had repercussions. He was not going to give Naru the satisfaction of seeing him get sick during work if he could prevent it; he'd never live it down.

At the same time, Mai blushed scarlet as Naru smirked at her. "Stupid narcissist!" She shrieked, before darting out of the reception room and beginning to run in the general direction of the kitchen. Lin shook his head slightly and ran a hand through his thick black hair, smoothing down the lock covering his right eye. Lin met Naru's scrutinizing gaze and sighed.

"You still want to try and find the underlying cause of the change in severity of these headaches, don't you?" He questioned, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes," Naru replied simply, raising an eyebrow as he paused, waiting for the revelation to sink in, "I need to know what you think caused the original headaches." Lin nodded as the headache once again became overwhelming. He sat back down on his desk chair and stuck his fingers in his mouth, and whistled as quietly as he could. His shiki evaporated and disappeared once again. He placed the still unopened bottle of Tylenol on his desktop and turned to stare at his charge, his gray eyes hard.

"When I first started getting headaches, it was right around the time that my powers started growing stronger. It was unexpected, although I'd always known that I could sense things that other people could not, but never had I been able to see spirits so clearly." Lin said as he idly rubbed his temples.

"Is is possible that a powerful spirit is trying to contact you and is unable to project itself properly, although your eye is still trying to sense it?" Naru asked, his voice calculating.

"I honestly don't know, Oliver," Lin answered, wishing that Naru would just drop the subject entirely, Talking was making his migraine worse, "Maybe I should give Martin a call. He might know what the headaches mean, and be able to sate your curiosity on the matter as well." He added, saying the last part rather sarcastically.

Naru ignored the obvious sarcasm directed at him and nodded. "As long as mother doesn't catch wind of it, then I'm quite alright with Martin providing his aid." He agreed reasonably. That's when Mai came back into the room, a tray with three mugs of Earl Grey tea situated on it. She walked over to Lin and placed a cup of the steaming brown liquid on his desk. He glanced up at her and nodded his thanks, offering her a slight smile before grabbing the bottle of Tylenol and twisting off the cap. He blew into his mug to cool down the tea some, then took a sip, and dumped two tablets of Tylenol into his mouth. He didn't honestly think that they would work, but he needed to try something to stop this distraction. He swallowed the pills and sat his tea cup down, turning his attention towards Mai, who was standing in front of Naru, the now empty tea platter held in her hand. She was gazing at the roof, where Lin's shiki had been before she'd left.

"Lin, what happened to the shiki? I was going to ask if I could touch them, you know I've never touched a spirit unless it was trying to kill me and-" She stuttered, but was cut of by her narcissistic boss.

"Of course," Naru began, shaking his head, "ghosts try to kill her all the time, yet she still feels the need to pet them."

Lin was about to reply, though to his shock and mild annoyance, his cellphone rang from his pants pocket. He slipped it out, wincing at the droning ring-tone as it made his headache slightly worse, and glanced at his caller ID. He felt his heart rise up to his throat and his stomach hit the floor; it was his father, someone whom he didn't have the best relationship with and only spoke to on rare occasions.

"Dad?" He choked out, as he watched Mai and Naru stare at each other, unspoken concern in Mai's gaze and forced stoicism in Naru's.

"Koujo," the gruff yet familiar voice of Lin's father rang through the receiver, "It's your sister. She's gone missing."

Lin dropped the phone.

Chapter 3: Repercussions 

The situation centering around Lifen had become dire indeed if anything that her older brother, Koujo Lin, had saw in his 'dreams', was to be trusted. The aforementioned Onmyouji had not moved from his position on the hotel bed where he had previously fallen asleep. His heart still beat furiously from within his chest cavity, and his breath still came out in ragged pants. His hands had stopped shaking some, however, there was still a slight tremor as the shock began to abate. In all honesty, he was terrified that what he had just seen was true. Was he the cause of this mess? Lin didn't know for certain, and truth be told, he'd rather not have to find out if he was somehow linked. Thankfully, a voice tore him out of his reverie.

"Bad dream?" The question came from Lin's left, and hung in the air for a moment. It was Noll, who had apparently awoken from his earlier excursion.

"More or less," Lin replied, turning his head and casting a glance in his charge's direction. Oliver's face appeared paler than usual in the dimness of the room, and his blue eyes were partially closed, his hand was placed loosely on his stomach; the teenager didn't look well at all to his stoic guardian.

"Oliver, you look like you aren't feeling particularly well," he said offhandedly, though the concern was evident in his expression. Noll's eyes popped open, and he lifted them up to meet his bodyguard's gaze, as if pondering the question directed at him carefully.

"I feel slightly sick to my stomach- nothing unusual. It often happens when I use my PK. As I don't remember coming into this hotel, I assume that I lost consciousness as well?" He asked, closing his eyes again. Lin's mind replayed the events of the night before, and his expression turned down into a slight scowl.

"Yes, you did. About that-" The Onmyodo began, but was cut off by a dark sigh from his charge.

"I know," Naru said, the two words spoken in a low, clipped sounding tone. Lin's gray eyes narrowed to slits; his patience seemed to have been sapped after the dream that he had just had- he was suppressing the shock of it, and it was making him wary. He did not have the sense of calm that he normally needed when dealing with Oliver.

"If you know what I'm going to say, then why the hell did you use your psychometry? What kind of logic did you apply when you decided that it would be a good idea to do something that you knew could injure you, or worse yet, kill you?" he asked, surprised with the obvious anger that could be heard in his voice. Naru raised an eyebrow, expressing his own shock that Lin had actually gotten sharp with him- he was used to the familiar scolding after he did something that his bodyguard did not approve of, however, he had never heard his assistant take on such a harsh tone.

"I wanted to know what Mai had saw- Believe it or not, I have had times when using my PK didn't leave me in an unconscious state. I did not realize that doing so this time would cause that reaction in my body," Naru replied, clutching his stomach tighter as the sense nausea he was feeling intensified. Noticing the action, Lin stared at his charge and shook his head in disapproval.

"Fine, we can talk about this later- it appears as though you could use more time to recuperate, and I could use some more rest myself," The Onmyodo stated, his gray gaze meeting Naru's blue one. The narcissist's eyes become wide, and his features more pale. He stood up from his bed unexpectedly, before making his way towards the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.

Lin sighed as a memory of a time early in Oliver's training of learning Quigong, when he had accidentally used his PK, and vomited right as Luella had walked into the living room. The motherly onslaught had been epic, as she had not understood what had been ailing her son. The Onmyouji was just grateful that Oliver was old enough to realize that he was going to be sick, and quick enough to get to the bathroom this time- he did not want to have to be the one who had to call Martin to give him the bill for the carpet cleaners.

Although Naru was the cause of his own illness, as he had known that the use of his PK almost never went in his favor, Lin could still sympathize with him, as his charge had looked extremely unwell, even before seeming to feel the urge to throw up. Lin hadn't expected Noll to be sick when he awoke- that was not something that happened often, at least not to his knowledge. Although he would definitely prefer puking Oliver to 'heart has stopped and not breathing' Oliver. The former would be easier to care for than the latter.

At that moment, a groan sounded from the otherwise quite hotel room, and Lin looked up to see Mai staring at him. She blushed when she realized that the dark haired Onmyouji had noticed her staring, and the twenty-seven year old became aware of the fact that he was sitting up in bed uncovered, shirtless. With a sigh, he reached over to the bedside table where he had left his black button up shirt, and slipped his arms into it. He swung his long legs over the side of the bed and buttoned the article of clothing, then turned his head towards Mai, who met his gaze, the blush no longer present on her cheeks.

"Where's Naru?" The brunette asked, worry present in here brown eyes. Lin stared at her for a moment, choosing his words carefully, before replying.

"Bathroom," He stated simply, deciding to see if Mai understood before divulging any unnecessary details. The teen raised an eyebrow, urging her colleague to continue.

"He's not feeling very well- it appears to be a side effect of using his PK. I'll admit that its not a common one to my knowledge, but his powers can cause near unpredictable reactions in his body." Mai's face turned sad upon hearing Lin's words.

"I want to go and stay with him, do you think he would yell at me if I tried?" The young girl asked, her voice sounding more innocent than usual. Lin thought about her question honestly- he knew how much that the girl cared about Naru, and felt like she deserved a truthful answer.

"At the moment, I'm almost positive that Noll doesn't feel like yelling, though I'm not sure if he feels like having company either," Lin began, pausing to gauge Mai's reaction. Her frown had turned into a sad stare, and was directed towards the bathroom. "So in all honesty, I cannot accurately tell you how he'll react, but I won't stop you from going to check on him. Actually, taking into account how he looked earlier, that might be a good idea," he finished, adding to his previous statement.

Mai turned her head back to her co-worker, and smiled at him sadly.

"Thanks Lin," She muttered before yawning and getting out of bed. The Onmyodo inclined his head towards her before relaxing back on his own bed. He closed his eyes warily, as he was still tired from the night before, and his not so restful slumber prior to waking up. He was not sure for how long he had been dozing when the sound of someone knocking on the door to the hotel room awoke him, but it could not have been too long as Oliver and Mai had not returned from the bathroom. Either that, or his charge was just that sick, but Lin highly doubted that as Naru hadn't eaten in several hours, and could not have had much in his stomach at the time he had gotten ill.

With a sigh of aggravation, the dark haired man stood up from his bed, and made his way to the hotel room door. He paused at the bathroom door, memories of his dream flashing through his mind, but no sounds could be heard from inside. 'I wonder if he's began feethe dark haired mang better?' the dark haired man thought, then continued walking past the bathroom and then to the entrance of the room. He looked out through the peephole, and the person he saw on the other side of the door almost made him not want to open the door at all. However, for the sake of being polite, he did so anyway.

It was the receptionist from the night before- the one whom had tried flirting with Lin until the Onmyodo's agitation had gotten the better of him.

Realizing that the dark haired man had actually opened the door, the young woman smiled at him, though the expression appeared completely professional. There was none of the earlier flirtatiousness in her pale blue eyes.

"Good morning Mr. Lin," She said, her sweet voice sounding particularly gentle. Lin stared at her warily, before inclining his head politely in her direction.

"Hello Ms...," Lin said, allowing his voice to trail off, as he had not learned her name the night before, most likely due to his anger or sleep deprivation- or both. She smiled at him, although still only politely.

"My name is Hamasaki- Hamasaki Nacora, to be precise," Ms. Hamasaki replied, a slight smile gracing her lips. Lin nodded slightly, and allowed a tiny smile to appear on his face, in attempt to express that he was no longer angry due to their earlier encounter. Ms. Hamasaki smiled, seeming to take the hint that she was forgiven.

"I recall you mentioning that you're friend- the one who you carried into the lobby last night, was drunk enough to lose consciousness. I figured that he wouldn't be feeling very well this morning- I've gotten drunk plenty of times and know how it goes. How is he?" Hamasaki asked, genuine concern lighting up her expression.

Lin sighed warily, as his mind wandered back to his sick charge.

"You have very good intuition, Ms. Hamasaki. He's in the bathroom right now- I assume that you can guess the rest." him replied, watching as Ms. Hamasaki cringed slightly.

"Yes, believe me, I can. That's why I brought this," she began, holding up a box that looked to be of full of medicine, "it should make him feel better, maybe not completely, but I'm sure that it'll help." She added, holding the box out towards Lin, who took it gratefully.

"This is very generous, Ms.-" he tried to speak, but was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"Please, you don't have to call me Ms. Hamasaki- it makes me feel old. Just call me Hamasaki, if you wouldn't mind." Lin quirked an eyebrow at the word 'old'. Hamasaki didn't look like she could be more than twenty, if that, in Lin's opinion. However, not being one to argue, he nodded in agreement.

"Fine, thank you for the medication, Hamasaki," Lin said, smiling slightly. In reality, he was very grateful for the pills- he had no way to make Oliver well otherwise, and they needed to think of a course of action- they could not live in the hotel forever. That would require his charge not feeling so nauseated that he did not want to speak.

Hamasaki smiled sweetly before holding out her hand for Lin to shake. The Onmyodo took it, squeezing it lightly. The pretty receptionist held his hand longer than appropriate. Lin quirked an eyebrow, and she smiled, still not releasing his hand.

"I'm curious, Mr. Lin. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?" She questioned, staring straight into Lin's eyes. The Onmyouji sighed, concerned that she still might be flirting with him, then saw no harm in answering- she didn't sound like she was coming onto him.

"I'm twenty-seven," he replied, his tone unsure. Hamasaki flinched slightly, a reaction utterly unanticipated by Lin.

"How old is the girl that came in with you- the one that I originally assumed was your daughter? " Hamasaki asked, her tone sounding unusually clipped. Lin also mentally noted that she released his hand at that moment.

"She's sixteen," He answered, his gaze unconsciously traveling behind him to the door that Mai and Naru still had not exited. Hamasaki's face fell, and she sighed.

"You like them young, then? You're a bit too old for her if you ask me," She stated, casting Lin an abashed look. The stoic Onmyodo head spun around, and sucked in a breath, utterly shocked.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have feelings for Mai!" He yelled, suddenly losing the ability to control the tone of his voice. "At least not like you're thinking- I'm not attracted to Mai." Hamasaki chuckled, and Lin glared, knowing damn well that nothing he had said was laughable.

"Your reaction, Mr. Lin. It was completely and utterly disbelieving. I believe you completely that you have no sexual feelings towards her, rather due to her age, or for other reasons," Hamasaki chuckled again, then smiled.

"In reality, I might be too old for you as well." Lin stared at her, his eyes as wide as saucers. Hamasaki smiled, a genuine unflirty smile.

"Mr. Lin, I'm thirty-three years old," Hamasaki replied, smiling at how Lin's jaw dropped slightly. Lin stared at her, then closed his mouth.

"You're actually my senpai?" He asked, disbelief coloring his words. Hamasaki grinned, and nodded.

"I actually am. I understand that I look younger than I appear- to tell you the truth, I often use that to my advantage. However, it seems that what I was trying to do didn't work with you. I wonder- do you have feelings for the boy that you carried in?" Hamasaki asked, a small smirk forming on her lips. Lin raised an eyebrow, and shook his head.

"No, I don't. He's my charge- I was hired by his parents as a bodyguard," The Onmyodo replied, shaking his head again. Hamasaki chuckled slightly.

"I see- so you don't have feelings for either of the people traveling with you; at least not romantic feelings, that is. To be quite frank with you, Mr. Lin, I have many more questions that I would like to ask you, however, I realize that I brought those pills so that you could make your charge feel better, and have kept you away from him." The receptionist replied, before backing away a few steps. Without saying goodbye, Hamasaki turned on her heel, and walked down the hall.

Koujo stared after her in confusion for a moment, before shaking his head and walking back inside the hotel room, closing the door behind him. He walked the few steps that it took to reach the door to the restroom, and knocked once on the wood. There was no answer from inside, so Lin sighed and pushed open the door. He walked across the white linoleum floors, forcing the feeling of dread that accompanied it down.

He glanced towards the right corner of the room, where he saw Mai, leaning against a wall with her head laid back on it, and Naru, who still looked pale, with has back to the toilet. He didn't turn around when Lin entered, however, his shoulders twitched in reaction. Mai looked up Lin and offered him a wary smile.

"He really just feels sick. I think that its been too long since he's eaten for there to be anything left to throw up." Lin nodded, and approached his charge and colleague.

"Oliver," He said, deep voice low. The teenager opened his eyes, and blinked rapidly to clear them, before focusing on his bodyguard's face. He didn't reply, but Lin could tell that he had his attention, "you're still not feeling any better? You've been in here for quite a while," he added, as Noll closed his eyes again.

"I still feel unwell to a certain degree, yes," Noll admitted warily, though he knew that he was lying through his teeth; he felt much more than slightly sick. However, he had never known how to show weakness to anyone, and Lin was no exception.

The Onmyodo sighed before walking over to the sink. He paused as memories assaulted him, and he grabbed the porcelain with the hand not holding the box of pills. He stood there for several minutes before he managed to calm down the pounding of his rapidly racing heart. Once the beats were normal again, he turned the nob of the sink, and grabbed the cup sitting beside it.

However, as soon as he saw what was really leaking out of the faucet, the beating of his heart amplified to an alarming rate. There was blood, bright red in color and metallic scented, pouring from the faucet and into the cup. Lin allowed the aforementioned to drop into the sink, as quickly as though he had been burned. The blood ran over his hand, and he stepped back, blinking rapidly.

When the Onmyouji opened his eyes, there was no blood on his hand- simply moisture from the water that was now pouring over the cup. Lin shook his head to clear it, not bothering to glance behind him at the teenagers, as he knew all too well that at least one had noticed his little episode.

He rinsed the cup off from where it had landed in the sink, then filled it with what most definitely appeared to be water thankfully, and not blood. Once the cup was filled, Lin cut off the water and and turned around, only to be met with Mai's concerned cinnamon eyes. The brunette said nothing, however, her eyes spoke the volumes of her worry.

Naru, however, was not paying attention it seemed. Lin was secretly grateful for the fact- he knew that at some point, he was going to have explain to Mai what had shocked him while he was filling the cup, but that could wait until later.

Lin approached his charge, who upon hearing his assistant's footsteps, had opened is cerulean blue eyes, and began looking in his direction. It was at that moment that he noticed the box of pills in Lin's hand, and raised a black eyebrow.

"What do you have in that box?" He asked, leaning his head back slightly to get a better view at what the Onmyodo was holding. Noticing this, Lin held the box in front of his chest, allowing his charge to get a better view at what the package entailed. After reading the words printed on the box, Naru raised his other brow as well.

"You think that this will help me feel well again?" He asked, uncertainty coloring his words. Lin shrugged slightly before reaching out towards him, allowing the raven haired teen to grab the cup before tearing off the end of the packaging of the medication, reading the drug facts, and, retrieving two of the white tablets from the box. He held them out to Noll, who took the white tablets in his own hand, before taking a swig of the water, and downing them.

Suddenly, he started to choke, as if he swallowed the pills and they had went down the wrong pipe, however, Lin could see the shock on Naru's face, and knew exactly why he was choking. The water had tasted metallic, like blood.

Jumping into action, Lin knelt down beside Noll and hit him on the back, pinning his shoulder behind him so that he would cease thrashing. Mai stared at her Boss wide eyed. Lin didn't trust the water in the tap enough to try and quite Oliver's cough with more, so it took several minutes before he was able to breath again. When the dark haired teen's coughing fit had ended, he stared at his bodyguard with an unreadable expression.

"Lin, what the hell was that?" Lin shook his head, though he could see it in Oliver's blue eyes that he was all to aware of what substance the water he had just drank tasted of. Naru wiped a hand across his mouth and sighed deeply before closing his eyes. He sat like that for several seconds before sighing and getting to his feet. He swayed slightly before turning on his heel and leaving the bathroom.

Mai met Lin's gaze warily as the normally stoic Onmyouji rose to his full height and offered a hand to help her up. She took it, regaining her own footing before lowering her head.

"What's going on, Lin?" She asked, still not looking at her coworker. The dark haired Onmyodo could hear the tears she was fighting back prominently in her voice, much like had been able to hear the unshed tears in Lifen's voice when she had appeared to him the night before. Lin forced the thought down before sighing and rubbing his temple where a slight headache had began to pulse.

"I have no clue what is happening here. Naru thought that getting away from the office would protect us from what you saw," He said, swallowing as memories of the dream where he had saw himself coated in blood and holding Lifen's necklace flashed through his mind. "But apparently, we were followed here." He added, his dark eyes scanning the white panneled bathroom. He found nothing out of the ordinary, however, he still felt...uneasy. He recognized it as being the same sensation that he had felt upon leaving Shibuya Psychic Research the day before, but he did not know exactly what was bringing on the feeling.

In reality, it didn't matter to Lin why he felt ill at ease- he had learned to trust his instincts, and if they were tellling him that something was off, he knew that he'd do damn well to trust them. So he didn't doubt that something was lurking somewhere, watching him. His dream had taught him tha he wasn't safe- not even from himself.

Lin shook his head again to clear it, then met Mai's gaze. The young brunnette was staring at him with an unusual look in her eyes. The Onmyodo quirked an inquiring eyebrow, and the girl looked down towards the bathrrom floor.

"Lin, you said, 'it seems we were followed', does that mean that you..." Mai began, still not meeting her coworker's eyes. However, the dark haired Onmyodo was all too aware of the question that hung in the air between them. Had he saw his look alike? And the brutal truth of the matter was that he had indeed laid eyes on someone who seeme to be just like him in appearance, but so different from him in personality.

Lin did not want to have to be honest with Mai about seeing his unsettling counterpart, however, he knew that scaring her was far better than leading her into a false sense of security. He looked towards the sink again, a feeling of dread ecompassing his mind, but nonetheless, he did the enevitable.

"I saw...myself in a dream or a vision. I was covered in blood and," The Onmyouji began, then paused as he remembered the familar necklace with the 'L' charm dangling from the chain, the necklace that had such sentimental value to Lifen that she would never had been willingly separated from it. Lin swallowed, and decided to keep that detail to himself, "I believe that what you saw at the office was the same as what I saw here, hence why I said that we were followed," he admitted.

Mai looked up and met Lin's gaze then; he brown eyes were wide, as if she were afraid, however, the twenty-seven year old also noticed a fierce determination in her expression.

"Whatever this thing is, I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out- we always have, have't we?" Mai asked, and Lin couldn't help but give her a small smile- the young girl's confidence in their abilities was mildly refreshing to the stressed out Onmyouji.

"Indeed we have," He said with a light chuckle before turning on his heel and exiting the bathroom. When he came back into the main area of the hotel room, he saw Oliver sitting on his bed, legs hanging off the side and head cocked to the side. He seemed to be talking softly to someone. It was at that moment Lin realized that his charge was on the phone.

He strained his ears to hear what the raven haired teen was muttering, however, the pitch of Naru's voice was too soft, and he couldn't make out the words. He resigned himself to wait until the parnormal researched had finished his call to find out what was going on. A minute or so later, he heard the door to the bathroom open, and Mai stepped out of the bathroom and came up behind him, curiosity filling her expression. She touched Lin's arm lightly, and he turned his attention his young coworker, shrugging as he saw her hand pointing towards Naru. She sighed impatiently, relinquishing her hold on his arm, and walked to her bed, taking a seat and staring towards her boss.

It took several minutes, then finally as Lin felt his patience slipping away and began making his way towards his own bed, Noll's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I just got off the phone with Takigawa, Father Brown, and Ms. Matsuzaki along with Ms. Hara and Yasuhara," the teen began, lowering his cellphone away from his ear and meeting his guardian's gaze. "They'll be meeting us at the office early tomorrow morning. I believe that recent events, including the disappearance of your sister, call for investigating. It has become quite clear to me that we are dealing with paranormal phenomenon." He stated, and paused, waiting for a response from Lin who blinked, and nodded.

"Agreed. We'll head back to the office later on today. It seems it doesn't matter where we are, whatever it is that we're dealing with seems to have the ability to bother us whereever we are." Naru sat still for a moment, pondering his next words.

"There's something else," He replied simply, his cerualean blue gaze meeting Lin's ash gray one. The Onmyouji quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, prompting his charge to continue. Naru moved his gaze towards Mai before finishing. "I called Madoka as well. I believe that we could use her...experience in the field of paranormal research."

Lin wanted to disagree- wanted to say that they didn't need the pinkette's help, however, he realized that what they were dealing with was dangerous. It seemed to be able to manipulate a person's senses, causing them to see, smell, and taste what it wanted them to. Not to mention that if whatever had manipulated his and Naru's sense was one in the same with the look alike of himself, they were dealing with something that could copy someone's identity.

He would rather Madoka stay safe in England, as she seemed to not realize how dangerous actually being on a case with the the phenomenon she researched could be, but he knew that they would need her help to find what the source of their problems was.

One thing that the Onmyouji knew for certain was that with all of the irregulars of Shibuya Psychic Research's team together under one roof, the next day's events would give him a migraine for sure.

Chapter 5: Long Live the Car Crash Heart 

The outdoor air in downtown Shibuya was cold against Koujo Lin's exposed face as he walked inside the Shibuya International Airport. Madoka's flight from Britain had arrived some forty-five minutes before, sometime between Lin's nightmare and his confrontation with Naru. Lin figured that the pinkette would have several not-so-pleasant words to say to him, once he met up with her, due to the lateness of his arrival.

Refusing to allow thoughts of an angry Madoka to cloud his already muddled mind, Lin realized that he had avoided thinking about the dream that he had had while back at the office up until that point, when he could no longer push the thought down. He had saw his entire family dead, piled atop one another on the kitchen table of the house that had before, held many fond memories for the Onmyouji. Now, Lin could only bring himself to feel discontent towards the place. Though the location of the dream itself was not the worst part of the dream, nor the most emotionally scarring to the dark-haired man. First place in that regard went to the fact that the only member of Lin's family that had not been dead on that table, was none other than his only sister, whom was currently missing, Lifen Lin.

In the dream, which if Lin was being completely honest with himself- was actually more a nightmare, Lifen had appeared to him atop the pile of corpses that were their immediate family. She had proceeded to jump down from the mound of bodies, directly in front of her brother, and then stab him in the shoulder with a knife that he had not realized that she was holding.

Lin had awoken due to a voice yelling his name, and a sharp, uncomfortable, and repetitive jab in his shoulder, that felt strangely like the 'knife' had in his dream. In his shock from the chaos of his reverie, Lin had reflexively, due to his training in the martial art of Kyusho-Jitsu, nearly strangled Naru, who had been poking and speaking to him in an attempt to awake him from his seeming nightmare.

After a vaguely heated exchange of words, Lin had left the office to pick up Madoka from the airport, after Takigawa had alerted him to the fact that the pinkette's flight had arrived some thirty minutes before, during the Onmyodo and Naru's initial altercation.

Lin was waiting for Madoka now- standing in the passenger luggage line of the terminal where the pinkette's plane was supposed to have landed. She did not appear to have arrived within the premises yet. Lin guessed that she had went to the restroom, after deciding that leaving the area would be an alright move to make, seeing as at the time, her escort had failed to arrive in a timely fashion.

Realizing that he might have a moment to put his thoughts to ease, Lin considered calling his mother- after all, it was just a dream, right? His mother, brothers, and father still had to be alive and well. If not, someone would have contacted him by now. Weighing his options, Lin decided that easing his mind would be his best bet- driving with a clouded conscience was never a good idea.

Although the rational part of Lin's brain told him that he had nothing to be concerned about, that his family was okay, and he was just letting his emotions get the best of him, the black haired man's heart still beat furiously against his ribcage as he pulled out his gray phone. He pressed the power button on the side, then promptly brought up the contacts menu, and then finally clicked on the contact named 'mom'.

For the first three unanswered rings, Lin felt hopeful that his family was unharmed. Though as soon as the forth ring sounded, and his call remained unanswered, the Onmyouji felt his composure slipping away, as if being sucked down a high power drain. After the fifth ring, his mother's voice came on the line, and for that one instant, Lin felt his worries disappear. That was until he realized that he was hearing only his mother's voice-mail recording. She hadn't picked up her phone.

Lin coughed as he felt his throat becoming thick. His natural reaction to upsetting circumstances. Forcing himself to breath, Lin ran a hand through the thick fringe covering his right eye, in an effort to give himself something else to focus on.

The action jarred a near forgotten memory in Lin's mind. One that happened when he was no more than six years old. He had been worried about something long since resolved, and had come to his mother for comfort. She had given it to him, of course, though had still sensed her son's fear. He had been brushing his hand through the black lock of hair that had begun to grow over his blind right eye.



Since he was young, that had been his tell, so to speak. Whenever her middle son had begun to distractedly fiddle around with his hair, Lotus Lin had always known, without a doubt, that something was on his mind.



Lotus had grabbed Lin by the hand, pulling him closer to her, then locked him tightly in a motherly embrace. Shocked, Lin had began to cry into his mother's warm coat, with sensations of comfort and warmth eventually calming him down.

Lin hadn't realized that he'd closed his eyes until they popped open, and he was again standing in the airport terminal. 'Right, Madoka.' He remembered, glancing around his surroundings warily. Lin wasn't exactly sure of how much time had passed while he had been in his reverie, though it didn't seem like Madoka had showed up.

Just as the thought fled him, a force knocked into the Onmyouji's back, and he stumbled forward slightly. Reflexively, the dark-haired man began to slip into a Kyusho-Jitsu stance, instinctively preparing to defend himself from his unknown assailant. Lin's lean muscles were tense, and he felt his back stiffen with the fierce discipline of his martial arts training. He was well aware that he needed to be absolutely ready fight if this was the bastard who had taken his sister.

His adversary felt the change in his posture as well. Proof to that testament was given in the form of a high pitched, distinctly feminine squeal that suddenly sounded from directly behind Lin. The slightly startled man spun around, his hands still in front of his chest defensively. Accusing slate-gray eyes met a pair of soft, rose pink ones.

Lin registered who he was locking eyes with after a moment of silence. Registering that there was no immediate threat and relaxing would be the prudent action to take, he lowered his hands to his sides and finally, properly addressed Madoka.

"Ah, I apologize for my reaction- I must admit that you startled me slightly. Hello, Madoka," said the once again stoic Lin. Madoka relaxed as well- for a moment, she had thought for a moment that Lin would not realize who had bumped into him, and would injure her before it dawned on him who he'd attacked. Relief spread through the pinkette and she giggled slightly. Lin glanced at her in confusion, however he said nothing- most likely deciding that he really didn't need to know what she thought was so funny about their prior predicament.

Ceasing in her laughter, Madoka simply smiled at Lin. The dark haired man didn't return the gesture. He simply began to fiddle around with the buttons on his black dress jacket. Sighing at her failed attempt at being friendly to the deadly stoic man, Madoka finally replied back to her escort's earlier greeting.

"Its nice to see you, Lin. You look well- how long has it been? Six months, right?" The pinkette asked, counting forward from the month of Eugene's funeral. Lin blinked at the question, before beginning his own calculation.

"Something like that," he replied after a moment. Lin did not really wish to be reminded of the demise of the other Davis twin at a time like this, when the death of his own family could be looming. Fidgeting uncomfortably with the thought prominently in the front of his mind, Lin's mind wandered back to his previous attempt at calling his mother, how her voice-mail had given him so much hope- albeit temporarily, only then to have all hope crushed in an instant. The black-haired man uncontrollably flinched at the upsetting memory, and the ever perceptive Madoka took notice. The pinkette's brow furrowed slightly in concern.

"Lin, are you alright?" she asked quietly, "for a moment there, you looked like you were in some kind of pain," Madoka found herself reaching towards him with an outstretched hand. Seeing the action, Lin met her gaze. His gray eyes were cold, emotionless even. Seeing the dark expression in his stare, Madoka thought better of her well meaning intention of physically comforting him, and quickly lowered her hand. She had no idea that the look in Lin's eyes was not because of her- had no inclination of the horrible dreams that had been plaguing him, and now seemed to be carrying over into his waking life.

Stiffening and turning his head away from her, Lin answered, although the need to was now most likely redundant.

"I'm perfectly fine," he muttered, more to himself than to Madoka. He was of course, lying through his teeth, although he thought it best to keep up the appearance of having his emotions in check. He gritted his teeth together at the prevarication- a part of him, however miniscule it may have been, wanted to be truthful with Madoka. However, the larger, more dominant part of him did not want to admit his fears and worries to anyone, especially not to her. Not yet, and maybe not ever. "we should be getting back to SPR soon. We wouldn't want to cause everyone undue concern with a prolonged absence."

Not waiting for an answer, the tall, black-haired man turned around and began walking in the general direction of the exit to the crowded airport. Madoka trailed behind, for some reason feeling as though she had been slapped. She couldn't put her finger on what made her feel that way, however she guessed that it had to do with how Lin seemed to not trust her enough to tell her what was bothering him, even after all of these years. It didn't seem that the tall Onmyouji would ever forgive her for what had turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life. Not that she deserved to be forgiven, after all. She had more or less broken a younger Lin's heart, after feeling like he had rejected her. It had taken her years of maturing to realize that his 'rejection' had actually been him trying to be smart about the situation they had found themselves in. He'd been trying to protect her, not make her feel unloved.

She had been a fool- a young girl foolishly in love. Her misunderstanding of the past seemed to have cost her the love of her life. There hadn't been a day since the event that Madoka hadn't wished that she could go back to that day, with the understanding she had now, and tell Lin that she respected the decision he had made. But as she had heard so many times, you can't remake the past; you have to make the best of your future. The pink-haired woman hoped that there would be a day when she didn't have to regret her mistake, and could move on with the future. This memory was the only thing that her optimistic outlook on life could not faze- perhaps with time, that too would change.

"Madoka, you're coming to SPR with me, correct?" a deep voice asked out of the blue, jolting Madoka from her thoughts. It was Lin, who was now standing in front of the sliding doors that were the exit to the airport. The petite woman had stalled a few feet behind Lin, and hadn't moved in several seconds.

Realizing that Madoka was not paying enough attention to answer, Lin led the way to the car, and was just about to open the trunk when a startled gasp made him whip his head in Madoka's direction. The Pinkette had a look of horror on her face, one that made Lin's stomach turn uncomfortably.

"What is it?" he asked frantically, fearing the worst from her answer. However, what Madoka had to say almost was enough to make Lin lose his composure.

"I left my luggage inside!" Madoka said, her voice near hysterical. Lin sighed irritably, before lifting up the suitcase in his hand.

"I got it off the return while you were zoned out. You're holding your purse if you weren't aware- somehow, you managed to keep a hold on it and not allow it to get stolen on the way out," The stoic man replied, dropping the luggage into the back and slamming the hood back down. "get into the car- we really should be getting back." Lin added, getting into his side of the car for added emphasis.

Obeying obediently, Madoka got in as well. Lin turned the keys in the ignition, and the car roared to life. Neither spoke as Lin drove down the rode, and entered the crowed highway. Lin drove in silence, and Madoka was lost in thought.

Lin wanted to talk to her- to tell her that he was no longer angry with her for their past. He had wanted to tell her that every time he had seen her since that fateful day, but had never had the ability to do so. Whether it was cowardice or fear of not being forgiven, he had never had the mental strength to bring the matter up. Not that apologizing would make any difference in their relationship, but it would make Lin feel like he had done all he could to make amends, instead of him feeling like he had made a half-assed attempt.

Lin was about to say something that he had wanted to say for years, but was cut off by a forceful impact on his side of the vehicle. Another car had broadsided the front end of his car. It had been going about seventy-five mph. Lin was flung sideways, and despite the seat belt around him, the Onmyouji's head slammed into the window.

Lin's vision began to rapidly go black, and he realized in silent terror that he would be unable to even attempt to fight for control over the vehicle that was quickly spinning out of control. Lin was slipping faster into unconsciousness- he could no longer see the road, nor feel his body laying sideways in the seat. He had time for one final thought before the impenetrable darkness overwhelmed his senses completely. The thought was for Madoka's well-being, rather than his own. 'Please Madoka, don't die' he begged in his mind, before passing out.

The car continued to swerve in between the lanes, as other cars attempted to maneuver out of its range. With no guidance from a driver, the car ran into the metal road dividers forcefully. The vehicle flipped over the railing, and hit the ground, continuing to revolve across the asphalt several times, before coming to a harsh stop in the middle of the road. But the damage wasn't done yet. Another driver coming from the opposite direction had not realized that there was a vehicle in the middle of his lane. He drove straight into the already wrecked vehicle going at about sixty mph. Lin's car was rammed out of the road, and into the no parking lane.

Two bodies laid still among the remnants of broken glass.

…

…

Kazuya Shibuya paced irritably across his office floor. Lin and Madoka had yet to arrive, and as much as Naru hated to admit it, he was beginning to become worried for their sakes- too much had happened recently for concern not to arise over the whereabouts of too people who were considerably late. And it was unlike Lin to be late in the first place- he hated leaving Naru unguarded, after all, everyone had become more protective of him after the death of his brother. No one wanted to bury the other Davis twin.

Starting his tenth walk across his spacious office, Naru waited silently for the door to his office to open- waited for Lin and Madoka to be standing there, one with a stoic expression and the other with a goofy grin.

Five minutes later, Naru got his first wish; the door was flung open forcefully to admit an out of breath Takigawa, who held the cordless office phone in his hand. His expression told Naru everything he needed to know.

" . .Crash. Lin an- and Madoka ," The Monk said, nearly gasping for breath. Naru froze in his tracks, his already pale face draining of color.

"Where are they?" the researcher's voice was low, and he wondered if he had spoken loud enough for Honshou to hear him. Somehow, the monk did did hear the low question directed at him.

"Still at the accident scene- the EMT called to the scene was the same on who loaded Lin into the ambulance when he hurt his leg. He recognized him and managed to find out where he worked- he called as soon as he found us," he replied, regaining some of his lost breath.

"How bad is it?" Naru asked after a moment, not really wanting to know the answer, but feeling the need to ask nonetheless.

Monk flinched at the question. "I really don't know, Naru," Something in his tone told Naru that he was being lied to, but he didn't have the presence of mind to push the issue.

…

…

EMT's worked tirelessly to stabilize the two victims of the car crash. The man who had been pulled from the wreckage was bleeding from a large wound on his head- most likely from where he had hit it on the window. He had passed out from the force- and the EMT guessed that he had a severe concussion. The EMT working on Lin was a young male in his early thirties- he had been the same one who had stabilized Lin after he had broken his leg.

That injury was tame compared to what the EMT was seeing now; Lin obviously had been through the ringer. Knowing that he needed to remove Lin's jacket and shirt physically hurt the young medic. He knew that Lin was probably severely injured from head to toe- he didn't need to proof to believe that.

Unfastening the buttons of Lin's black coat, the medic removed the garment carefully and allowed it to stay sprawled out underneath the Onmyouji. The EMT's eyes instantly fell on the pools of blood that were forming on Lin's white dress shirt.

Steeling himself, the medic unfastened the shirt, and ran his hands over Lin's sides, feeling his ribs. He must have hit a particularly sensitive area, because Lin shot up from his position on the mat. The force must have aggravated all of his injuries, because the dark-haired man screamed in utter agony, and his feverish gray eyes met the EMT's worried blue ones.

The medic carefully attempted to coax Lin into laying back down, but the injured bodyguard would have nothing of it.

"Madoka," he slurred, blinking slightly in obvious confusion. Lin sank forward slightly as a sensation of vertigo swept over him; black dots swam before his eyes, and the sound of the ocean roared in his ears. He was vaguely aware that he was about to pass out again. "Madoka kee- keep her safe," Lin muttered, his eyes closing again, and his full weight tumbled forward into the EMT's waiting arms. The medic lowered the unconscious man back onto the mat.

It was obvious that Lin had several broken ribs, if not many other broken bones. He had also shown obvious signs of a concussion- slurred speech, disorientation, dizziness. The man would be on bed rest for weeks, no doubt about it. But the worst of it was that the medic had no idea of how bad off the woman, Madoka, was. He hoped for Lin's sake that she was alright.

….

….

Twenty minutes later, Lin had been loaded into one ambulance, and Madoka in another. Lin laid on the gurney, an IV stuck into his vein and a breath mask over his mouth. A heart monitor had also been attached to Lin. He had seemed to be stabilized. Until the ambulance had made its way halfway to the hospital, all had been silent, other than Lin's labored breathing under the breath mask.

But suddenly, a sharp gasp rang throughout the small ambulance back, and the heart monitor began to beep, as Lin's back arched against the gurney.

"What's going on with him?" one of the younger medics asked, spooked out of his wits.

"He's seizing, probably due the head injury he sustained when he hit it on the window," the senior medic replied, walking over to Lin and gently moving his head to the side, to allow any excess saliva of other fluids to escape from Lin's mouth and not choke him. "it should resolve itself in a moment," he added, seeing the whitening of the younger medic's face. "You had medical training, didn't you? Calm down and use it,"

The younger man nodded quietly. "I'm sorry, its just that this is the first time that I've seen this up close,"

The senior medic nodded, his hard eyes softening a bit. "I understand- but it'll get easier. Just try to calm down, kid. The seizure shouldn't affect the patient too much- probably will just aggravate a few of the existing injuries. It'll be over shortly," sure enough, three and half minutes later, Lin's body seized convulsing, and the Onmyouji laid flat on the gurney, his breathing labored.

That he hadn't woken up during the ordeal, was a miracle in itself- he would feel like hell when he awoke. There was no need for him to hasten into the pain.

Fifteen minutes later, Lin was unloaded from the ambulance and taken to the critical care unit. Several x-rays and stitches later, he was transported to a recovery room, and tucked into bed. It wasn't long after that Naru and the rest of the Irregulars arrived at the hospital, although only Naru was allowed to see Lin due to the one visitor policy in place at night.

The paranormal researcher stared at his unconscious bodyguard- Lin had gauze wrapped around his head. His left arm was in a sling; he'd dislocated his shoulder. Lin had several broken ribs on both sides, and quite a few pulled muscles in his back, as well as in his neck. He had sustained a severe concussion from the force of his head slamming into the window, which would most likely have many unpleasant side effects of its own.

Lin had more injuries that Naru did not care to recount in his head; he assumed that they would all surface sooner or later after the Onmyouji awoke. The doctor had also informed Naru that Madoka was not much better off, but was also stable. The raven-haired teen decided that he would check on her later. For now, he had allowed Mai to be the pinkette's one visitor.

Sighing in frustration after a moment of pacing, Naru remembered what it was that he needed to do; the hospital staff had not known who else to call about Lin's accident, so Naru had promised to take the task upon himself. He already knew who he was going to call. He grabbed Lin's phone that had been left on the bedside table, and cut it on. The screen had a small crack running through it, but otherwise, seemed to be alright.

Naru flicked through the speed dial, until he found the name that he needed. He held the phone up to his ear and walked towards the door, his back to the unconscious man in the bed. It took three rings before the person on the other line answered the call.

"Koujo," a pause ensued, and Naru thought that he could barely hear someone yawning on the other line; it appeared that the researcher had awoken Lukida from his sleep. "why the hell are you calling at this hour?" Noll sighed, for it had to be done.

"This is actually Kazuya Shibuya- I'm calling.. about Lin," he muttered. He was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from the other end.

"What about him? What happened to Koujo?" Lukida asked, intense anger coloring his words. He already had one sibling to worry about; he sure as hell didn't need another.

"He was in a car wreck. He was pretty severely injured- several broken ribs, a concussion, and other injuries. The doctors say that he should make it, but I still thought that you'd like to know about his current condition," there was a long pause before Lukida regained his voice.

"Yes, thank you for calling. Draidyan, Nazuke, and I will be traveling to Japan to see him very soon. I believe our parents would like to stay home just in case there is some new development regarding Lifen. I'll see you soon, Mr. Shibuya," Lukida said, hanging up the call- Naru had heard the man's composure slipping through the cracks, and understood completely why he had gotten off the phone so quickly.

Sighing again, Naru situated himself in the guest chair by Lin's bed. He eventually curled up in the chair and fell asleep. At some point during the night, a nurse covered the young researcher with a sheet.

Kazuya Shibuya slept restlessly.

…

…

Three tall men boarded a plane along with the other passengers. It was a flight from Hong Kong to Shibuya Japan; a place that none of the three men were familiar with, but a place that they very urgently needed to go, nonetheless.

Koujo Lin, their brother- two of the men being older than Lin, and one being younger- had been in a car wreck. He wasn't at risk of dying as far as they had heard, but he would not be well when he awoke. The brothers knew that as soon as he was able, Lin was going to bombard them with questions whose answers they couldn't provide; they didn't know who took Lifen; they didn't know where she was likely to be; they didn't know if she was even still alive.

They didn't know anything about her disappearance, and it hurt like hell. They all only had the one sister, and she was missing, and there was nothing that the brothers could do about it. And now, after all of the emotional turmoil of the last few days, which if they were being completely honest, felt like an eternity, now they had been forced to tell their mother that one of her sons had been in a car crash, and none of them knew if he was truly alright or not.

The waiting only made it harder, and the three men had about four hours left of it before they could see their brother. The only thing that comforted them was the knowledge that their brother had not been killed in the crash, and that, even though it was a risk to his health, Draidyan had the power to heal injuries, at the expense of losing some of his own energy.

It was not the best, nor the most promising method, but it was an available option if Lin's condition took a sudden turn for the worst.

Without the knowledge that even if his health deteriorated, all hope was not lost for Lin, the brothers didn't know what they'd do. Most likely be damn near worked up enough to have nervous break-downs.

In silent unison, three brothers decided to sleep until they got to Shibuya; they would most likely be in for a long day when they got there, and it was best to go ahead and rest up.

…

…

~Five hours later~

Koujo Lin shifted restlessly against the white hospital sheets that he had been laid upon; the Onmyouji had yet to awaken from the drugs that had been injected into his system, however, the nurse who had been in charge of his care had assured the four people in Lin's room that it should not take much longer for him to regain consciousness.

The nurse had said that he would also feel quite ill a few minutes after waking up, due to the side effects of the concussion and drugs circulating through his blood stream.

The nurse had left them to their own devices after instructing them that if her help was needed, to not hesitate to call. Everyone in the room was worn out; Lin's three brothers from jet lag and Naru from sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital chair for several hours.

None of them had much patience; they were all worried about the injured man in the bed, and how bad off he would be once he awoke. Although it was scary, each was anxious for Lin to wake up, so they could have proof that he was not going to die.

Luckily, they did not have to wait long, for Lin stirred in the bed not twenty minutes later. Lin blinked his slate gray eyes open, and his gaze immediately fell on the visitors in his room. One of them he had expected to see, but the other three made him question whether or not he was dreaming. Nazuke was the first to be at his brother's side.

The rebellious youth had been panicking; that had been obvious to the others, but for Nazuke's sake, they had remained silent on the matter. But seeing him rush over to Lin made them wonder whether or not they should have given him some sort of comfort.


They didn't have time to ponder the question before Lin's groggy voice could be heard in the room.

"Nazie?" he asked uncertainly, addressing Nazuke with the nickname he had been given when the siblings were young.

Nazuke managed a half-smile. "Kou, its good to see you awake," the twenty-two year old said in response. Lin continued to stare at his younger brother, taking in Nazuke's 6'3 frame, familiar sapphire blue eyes, black hair and red hair styled in spiky layers. It was all familiar: Lin realized that he was definitely looking at his real brother, and not a copy. Or at least, he hoped that this wasn't the shape-shifter who had been causing him trouble.

"What are you three doing here?" Lin asked, including his two older brothers into the conversation. Upon being addressed, Draidyan and Lukida stepped forward, and smiled at their injured younger brother.

"We came to see you; Kazuya here called Lukida and told him that you were hurt. We flew here on a plane last night. We've been here for about an hour, waiting for you to wake up," Draidyan said, covering his mouth as he yawned. The oldest of the brothers was tired; incredibly so. He had only managed to sleep on the plane for about an hour, before turbulence and fear for his injured brother and missing sister engulfed him.

Nazuke and Lukida hadn't slept much better, though they had gotten slightly more sleep than Draidyan. The three were all worn thin, in both patience and energy. They would have to leave the hospital soon to get some rest, unless they all wanted to end up in the hospital along with Lin.

After a moment, Lin seemed to accept Draidyan's answer. "I see. That explains why you all look half dead on your feet. I'll assume that I can attribute you appearances to jet lag?" The Onmyouji asked, smiling slightly.

The smile remained on his face until a sudden, heart-wrenching thought made him cringe. "Madoka, she was in the car with me. Is she alright?" Lin asked, fear almost breaking his composure and leaking into his voice.

Naru, who had been standing next to the wall with his eyes closed, spoke for the first time since his bodyguard had awoken.

"Madoka was injured, though you have no reason to worry. The doctor says that she was injured nowhere near as badly as you were. I'm not sure if that last bit of information will offer you any sort of comfort, but its the truth," said the researcher seriously, "the doctor says that you can see her as soon as you both are feeling a bit more well," he added, guessing Lin's next question.

Lin relaxed against the mattress, suddenly feeling drained as another, painful thought crossed his mind.

"What about the driver of the other vehicle?"

Sapphire blue eyes narrowed angrily in Lin's question, and Nazuke's fist clenched at his side. However, his anger was not directed at Lin. "Which driver?" he asked, sarcasm venomously dripping from his words. Lin's gray eyes narrowed as well, though not in anger, but confusion.

"Excuse me?" Lin asked, shock adding an unintentional bite to his words. Nazuke blinked, seeming to come out of his infuriated reverie. The youngest of the brothers sighed, and ran a hand through his red and black streaked hair. Seeing that Nazuke did not want to be the bearer of bad new, Draidyan took it upon himself to give Lin the exposition that he was requesting.

"Lin, your vehicle was hit twice, by two separate automobiles. The driver of the first car, has yet to be found. The damaged vehicle was found abandoned a bit up the road, but the driver was nowhere to be seen. There were no trails of blood suggesting that the driver had escaped on foot. Quite frankly, its as though the driver simply vanished. As for the driver of the second car, he is in similar condition to Madoka, and should make a full recovery," Lin's oldest brother stated, leaning towards him and squeezing Lin's shoulder.

Lin was stiff as he did so- either in shock or pain, and Draidyan was forcefully reminded that his younger brother had just been in a potentially life-threatening car crash. He stared at Lin's face, however the Onmyouji seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. "Lin, are you with me still?"

Lin blinked suddenly, before focusing on Draidyan's face. "I'm here, I simply had several questions going through my mind at once,"

Draidyan understood completely; Lin had nearly lost his life, and was now finding out that the driver who had originally caused his accident, had disappeared without a trace. He was bound to have many questions that he was not asking for answers to.

"Care to ask us the questions on your mind? We might know the answers," Lukida said gently, deciding for the first time in awhile to join the conversation.

Lin shook his head, causing a sensation of vertigo to come over him. He closed his eyes in attempt to cause the feeling of dizziness to abate. Despite how he felt, Lin decided to continue the conversation, if for no other reason than to preserve his sanity; the questions in his head needed answers, before they became overwhelming to him.

"Most of the questions in my head are ones that I only I can truthfully answer. I have a hypothesis as to who caused the wreck, though I need opinions on the matter before I come to a definite conclusion," Lin admitted. He would have said more, however, he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness once again; the drugs that he had been given for more than potent enough to keep the Onmyouji laying down for a good while.

"What is your hypothesis?" Draidyan asked after a moment, as Lin had not said anything else after his previous announcement. Lin managed to open his eyes and lift his head up, making eye contact with Draidyan for a moment before re-closing his eyes.

"I'll tell you later; drugs are kicking in- I'm about to go out again." As Lin said that, he could feel his head rolling to the side as his muscles relaxed. The last thing that he heard before fading out was the sound of the door to his room closing.

…

…

Lin awoke surrounded by complete darkness. The scent of sterilization encompassed his senses. It took a moment for his memories to return to him, though once they did, he only had one thought on his mind; the desire to fill his need to see Madoka.

The doctor had told Naru that he would be allowed to see he when both of them were healthier, though the Onmyodo didn't want to wait that long. He felt the need to see the pink-haired lady, if not for only a moment, to prove that she was alive.

Resigning himself to the task at hand, Lin reached to his right in the darkness of the room, his hand groping for the switch to the lamp that should have been on the bedside table. Lin found the switch after a moment, and the light flickered on, illuminating the tidy white-walled hospital room.

Lin removed the blanket from his torso using his good arm, then gingerly pulled his long legs out. He was wearing a hospital gown. The stoic man wanted to shake his head in disapproval, though refrained from it; the concussion made it difficult to move his head very much without making himself feel dizzy and sick.

Sighing in pain and frustration, Lin managed to pull himself off the bed, and rise to his full height. Pain burst behind his eyelids as pressure in his head threatened to overwhelm him. Lin breathed harshly for several seconds before the pain alleviated enough for him to gently lift his head up.

It was not until a moment later that Lin remembered the monitors hooked via wires to his veins. If he pulled them out, an alarm would go off, and most likely alert the on-call doctor, and wake up all of the other resting patients in the process. Lin couldn't risk detection if he wanted to see Madoka unhindered.

Weighing his options, Lin decided to call Draidyan. He knew his oldest brother well enough that he was certain that even if Lukida, Nazuke, and Naru, and the Irregulars had gone back to SPR to rest, Draidyan would have stayed. He was most likely in the waiting room, waiting for visiting hours to start again.

Lin reached behind his back for his cellphone laid on the bedside table. He grabbed it, and flicked through his contacts until he came to the one he needed. It rang only twice before Draidyan answered.

"Koujo?" Draidyan's groggy sounding voice came through the line, uncertainty seemingly coloring the thirty year old's words. "why are you calling this late? Are you alright?"

Lin sighed deeply. "I'm fine, though I have a preposition,"

Draidyan was silent on the other line for a few moments, before answering. "May I take an educated guess as to what that preposition entails?"

"I'm not stopping you,"

"No, I guess you aren't. But you want me to help you see her, don't you?" Draidyan asked, a knowing tone replacing the underlying tired one.

Lin stiffened slightly as the truth was thrown into his face. He had always known that Draidyan was smart, and kept a watchful eye on his younger siblings, however Lin had 'grown up' many years before. He had assumed that he and Lukida were out of the stage where Draidyan felt the need to watch them like a hawk.

Apparently, he had been very wrong, and there was no hiding the truth of the matter from his oldest brother any longer. "Yes, I do want to see her. I just have to see for myself that she is alright,"

Draidyan didn't respond to Lin's honest answer for awhile- long enough that Lin began to wonder if Draidyan had hung up without his knowledge. Just as Lin was about to say something, Draidyan spoke up.

"I'll do my best to help you get out of the room, but you should realize that you're connected a monitor- I'm not sure if its mobile,"

Lin glanced at the monitor in front of him; it appeared that if it was unplugged from the wall, that the machine could be transported out of the room. "It appears as if they are, though I'm not positive,"

A second lapsed.

"Alright, I'm on my way. Should be there in three to five minutes," a beep sounded as Draidyan disconnected the call.

Moments passed and the door to Lin's room was gently opened. A disgruntled Draidyan stood in the doorway, his black hair in disarray, and his black leather jacket wrinkled. He didn't hesitate as he carefully closed the heavy metal door, then walked over to Lin. It was in this moment that Lin realized that he was holding two articles of clothing.

"Figured you'd want to be slightly more.. covered then they have you now," he said, smirking as he took in Lin's hospital gown. Irritated, Lin grabbed the pants and undergarment from his brother's grasp, and dressed himself.

When he was finished, Draidyan stared at him, as if he was trying to see the inner workings of Lin's body. "How do you feel?" he settled on asking.

Lin blinked at the question. "I feel fine," he answered, gritting his teeth about the lie. However, Draidyan was no fool.

"And how do you honestly feel?"

"Like hell," Lin answered truthfully, "I'm both mentally and physically drained; I have something after me and I have no idea what it is, but I know that there's a damn high chance that its what took Lifen,"

Draidyan sighed warily. "I know what is physically draining you, but I only know parts of what is affecting you mentally. Care to enlighten me?"

"Dreams," Lin answered simply. "I've been having terrible dreams about Lifen. In the last one, it appeared as though she had killed the rest of you, and then stabbed me, although that last part might have been influenced by an outside force," seeing Draidyan's questioning look, Lin laughed humorlessly. "Naru was jabbing me in the shoulder, trying to wake me up. My Kyusho-Jitsu kicked in, and I responded by nearly strangling him to death,"

Draidyan stared at his brother, his face frozen between amusement and horror. "You make a living in part as a bodyguard, yet you nearly kill the one you're assigned to guard? Anti climatic, wouldn't you say, dear brother?"

Lin stiffened. Sarcasm. He was definitely hearing sarcasm in his brother's voice, and it made him angry. Lin did not allow his anger to seep into his voice.

"This is a serious situation, in my opinion. It amazes me how you still have the audacity to speak so sarcastically about our predicament," Lin realized that he hadn't sounded angry- but severely condescending.

Draidyan, despite the harsh words directed at him, simply smiled, and his silver-gray eyes twinkled from behind his glasses, even in the dimness of the room. "Audacity, eh? What if I told you that I wasn't being audacious at all, but trying to use humor to diffuse the tension?"

The look in Lin's eyes told Draidyan that he had no intention of solving the riddle of what Draidyan was trying to say. Draidyan removed his glasses from his face, and preoccupied himself for a moment by cleaning them on his black shirt, then returned them to their previous position. "What I mean is that after the dreams that you've been having, and the general worry for Lifen and your own safety, as well as those around you, I highly doubt that you have been able to relax much lately. You're tense with fear, yet your too damn stoic to show it,"

Lin stared at Draidyan, before cutting his gaze to the floor. 'How can he always read me so well? How does he know exactly what I'm thinking?' Lin thought to himself, seeking an answer to questions that after twenty plus years, Lin had still not gotten any closer to figuring out.

Draidyan smirked again. "I'm not the mind-reader in the family- you know all too well that Nazuke can read minds when he applies himself. I simply have a great sense of intuition; I've known you since we were children, Koujo. I understand the basic principles of how your mind works,"

"I realize that, though sometimes I wish you weren't quite so accurate," Lin replied, meeting his brother's gaze again. "You make me see the truths that I'd often rather avoid." Draidyan smiled- genuinely this time.

"I'll take that as a compliment." a pause ensued, then, "you still haven't told me your hypothesis from earlier,"

Lin nodded. "I realize that; I'm not saying anything until I can have a meeting with everyone involved- the other members of the research team included,"

Draidyan shook his head in aggravation, but didn't complain. Instead he turned his attention to the machine Lin was hooked up to. "If you pulled the wire out, an alarm would go off and alert the doctor, and I assume that you don't want that. I believe that I can unplug it from the power outlet without setting of an alarm, because it should be equipped with a backup battery," Draidyan didn't wait for Lin's approval, instead he went straight to the outlet and unplugged the cord. No alarm sounded, and Lin sighed audibly in relief.

"Thank you, Draidyan,"

"Not a problem, Koujo. I wrapped the cord around the machine, so it shouldn't drag. You're good to go,"

Lin was about to leave, before he decided to show a rare moment of affection towards his oldest brother. He turned towards the older man and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Draidyan responded by squeezing Lin's good shoulder gently.

"I'm admittedly, a tad afraid of hugging you right now. I'd rather not have you writhing on the floor in agony," Draidyan chuckled lightheartedly, and Lin found himself smiling slightly before grabbing hold of the machine that he was connected to, and leaving the room.

Once in the darkened hallway, Lin walked past each door, reading the name-tags of the patients inside until he found the one labeled 'Mori, Madoka'. Breathing deeply, the dark-haired man pushed the door open, stepped inside, and carefully shut the door.

He turned towards the bed, and saw what he had been looking for. Madoka laid in the bed, pink hair pushed behind her, and covers pulled up to her chin. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Lin couldn't help but feel disappointed; he had been hoping to hear her speak for further proof that she was alive, however, he did not wish to wake her up.

Not sure of exactly what else to do, Lin walked next the bed, and stared at the pinkette's sleeping face. She was as beautiful. In fact, she was so beautiful that Lin found his hand caressing her face gently as she slept. Sh was still as beautiful as she had been when she was seventeen, when her and Lin's relationship had been ended.

Lin rubbed careful circles into her face, not really understanding what he was doing. Seconds passed before he glanced at Madoka's face again. Only this time, a pair of pink eyes stared up at him.

Lin stumbled backwards in shock; so Madoka hadn't been sleeping. He was a fool- a damn fool for not making certain. What had he been doing, anyway?

Madoka appeared startled, yet she reached for the stunned Onmyouji's wrist, grasping it in an iron-clad grip. Lin attempted to turn around and leave the room, however, with Madoka pulling his arm and him being fairly far away from the monitor he was hooked to, Lin felt the resistance, and allowed himself to be pulled forward. He assumed that he'd be able to catch himself before coming closer to Madoka, but he was wrong.

Lin landed above Madoka, his good arm beside her head. The impact jarred his injured shoulder, and he winced, but didn't cry out in pain. Instead, he took in his suggestive position above Madoka.

Madoka noticed it to, though instead of pushing him away, she reached up and began brushing Lin's hair from his blind eye. The half-blind man stiffened, and was about to pull away, until he felt lips against his own.

Madoka was kissing him, and took only a moment for him to realize that he was kissing her back. Hidden, painful memories assaulted Lin, and he fought to force them back into his subconscious to where they belonged, but to no avail.

The memories just kept coming- images of one of the defining moments of Lin's life. He couldn't deal with it. Not then, and maybe not ever. It was just too damn much.

"What the hell are you doing?" an infuriated voice yelled, and Lin cringed, because he realized that it was his own. He had broken the kiss, and cried out. He was angry, furious even. Madoka had kissed him after what she had done in the past.

It wasn't right- she didn't have the right. Who was she to confuse his head so much? He didn't know what he wanted to. He had thought that he'd gotten over the past. It had been a hit and miss, and he hadn't been able to do anything about it.

But after being kissed by Madoka again, Lin was no longer sure about anything. He became vaguely aware that Madoka was speaking to him, with tears in her eyes, but Lin couldn't bring himself to care.

He grabbed the machine hooked to his arm, and fled the confines of Madoka's room, not even bothering to make sure that the door didn't slam shut.

He'd had enough shock for one day.

Chapter 7: Affairs of the Heart 

So he finally knew the truth. Koujo Lin had found out the truth behind what had been slowly tearing his life apart bit by bit. The realization brought him no relief- it was something he should have known all along, really. It was his own ignorance on the subject of his powers that had caused his family so much suffering.

If he had known that his shiki had broken away from his control, none of the events that had transpired lately would have happened. Nazuke would be as healthy and snarky as ever.

Enraged thoughts coursed through Lin's brain. Plans that he could not act upon clouded his mind, frustrating the Onmyouji to no end.

He wanted to do something- make a difference in his situation. But he truly was powerless, wasn't he? He didn't have the smallest idea of how to fight off a shiki who had broken away from his master and was hellbent on destroying the foundations of his life.

How did one fight off a creature that was on the loose due to their own negligence? The answer didn't throw itself at Lin in the form of a sudden well timed epiphany. This was real life, not some anime that Lin could simply cut off when it got too violent for his liking.

Lin knew that he needed to tell Naru about what Gene had told him during his astral projection; however he also knew that the paranormal researcher would have a difficult time accepting the news. Despite the front that the teenager put on, he truly did miss his twin. When Gene had died, he had taken his telepathic link to his brother- Naru had been forced to deal with having only his own voice in his head for the first time in his life.

The Onmyouji intended to avoid telling his charge the new information for as long as possible. What difference did it make when he told him? They wouldn't know how to fight the rogue shiki anyway.

In reality, there was nothing that Lin could do while confined to the hospital except for sleep, which was in truth, something that the chronic insomniac had not been doing much of before being hospitalized. Knowing that it was the only option that would have even the slightest chance of giving him peace of mind, Lin closed his eyes and allowed his mental exhaustion to lure him into a light slumber.

In a room a few doors down the hall, Madoka Mori got up from her bed. She had already been detached from all of the wires that had been put on after the car wreck. She had been lucky- she had no internal injuries, just simple bruises and cuts from the glass.

The man who it was her intent to go and visit was the one who had taken the brunt of the damage from the car wreck, as the vehicles had hit the car on his side, though the nurse had informed Madoka that both of them would be healthy enough to go home the next day if all went according to plan. Lin would be forced to remain on work leave for several weeks with no heavy lifting until his shoulder had healed.


The thought made Madoka wince. She had not seen Lin since their altercation the previous day. How would he react to seeing her now? She knew deep in her heart that he probably wanted more time away from her to get his bearings straight, but she couldn't find it in herself to give it to him. She herself needed the peace of mind that would hopefully come with apologizing for her unjustified action of kissing him without his explicit permission.

It was selfish, she knew. But she couldn't help that the heart needs what it needs, and right then it needed for her to have the very conversation with Lin that she should have had with him years before.

The realization made the pinkette's heart race. She was finally going to get this huge weight off of her chest, after all of the years that she had been forced to endure the torment that had come with being separated from the man she had once viewed as her soul mate.

How had mistakes, misunderstandings, and pride changed her life so drastically? No. The pink haired woman knew so much better. All of those factors had changed more than her life. They had changed the very foundations of her personality, making her afraid of falling in love again, and terrified of trying to make things right with the one who had caused the permanent change in the very mold of her existence.

Taking a shuddering breath, Madoka Mori took the first steps out the door of her hospital room, while forcing her expression to remain painfully neutral. Luckily it was late at night, and there seemed to be no nurses or doctors roaming the spacious hallway- the coast was completely clear of prying eyes.

Refusing to stall a moment longer, Madoka walked to the door marked with the name tag 'Koujo Lin', and pushed the door open. It was dark and silent in the room- the only noises that could be heard were the loud sounds from the machines and... there was something else. Breathing- so relaxed that Madoka could barely hear it, but subtle enough that she definitely wasn't imagining it.

The pinkette moved her gaze towards the sound of the breathing. She was met with a figure laying on its side in the hospital bed. Upon closer inspection, Madoka realized that it was indeed Lin. The Onmyouji's gray eyes were closed, and the steady breathing that she had heard seemed to be coming from him.

It was obvious that the black haired man was asleep. Madoka was surprised at how relieved she felt- he was injured and needed his rest, right? She had no real reason to wake him up- after all, she had waited years to come even this close to bringing up the subject, what was another day, or maybe two?

It would give her more time to gather her bearings as well. She really was not ready to have this conversation with Lin after all. The event that had tore them apart had been a traumatic part of her life- she would be crazy if she were eager to relive something so painful to her heart.

Though it would be difficult, Madoka's heart also told her that she needed to speak to him. They had almost died not too long before- Lin had seemed like he was finally going to open up, then disaster struck. Then that spur of the moment kiss set him off again, and Madoka knew that he would no longer be willing to take the first step of getting their relationship back on track. If it was going to happen, Madoka had to be the one who took the initiative.

Even though she came to that realization, she could still not bring herself to wake Lin up. He looked like he was at peace sleeping, and she didn't want to be the cause of him not getting enough rest. Though the obvious choice was to wait until he woke up, Madoka found herself not being able to remain silent- she needed to say something before she backed out.

"Um..." she began, her voice sounding small and weak; not the best way to start off. She closed her eyes, clenched her fist and took a deep breath, gathering strength. When her eyes opened again, she was ready.

"Koujo," she continued, addressing the sleeping man by his first name, as she had done years before, before events that made them become formal towards each other had transpired, "this might seem out of the blue, but its something that I've been needing to tell you for awhile. In fact, I should have told you this about eight years ago," Madoka began again, taking a brief moment to gather her thoughts- she had so much that she needed to say.

"I'm going to be honest. When you called off what.. you were trying to get me to do, it hurt. More than I let on. I wanted you to explain to me why you suddenly changed your mind, but I didn't have the courage to ask why I'd been rejected by the one I thought loved me unconditionally. I understood years after we broke up what you were trying to do. The more I thought about it the more it made sense, but it didn't fall together completely until it was too late,"

A choked sob escaped her lips. "I wish I had realized what you were trying to do before I ended our relationship. I broke your heart- you never admitted that to me, but I could tell. You changed so much after it happened. You barely looked at me, and only talked to me when you absolutely had to. You probably would have cut me out of your life completely had you not remained in Britain to train Naru. That.. hurt more than anything. I could deal with you rejecting me, but I couldn't deal with you hating me,"

Tears were now streaming undeterred down her face, though the pink haired woman made no attempt to wipe them away. "Maybe I'm being dramatic, but you've been cold towards me for a long time. There hasn't been any warmth when you speak to me- just formality. I miss you, Lin. I really wish you'd talk to me,"

And with those last pain filled words, Madoka turned around and rushed out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, a pair of dark gray eyes slowly opened, revealing that the man they belonged to had been awake throughout the entire conversation directed at him. As soon as Madoka had entered the room, Lin's shiki had become wary towards the intruder. Their feeling of uneasiness had made its way to Lin's subconsciousness via his telepathic link with the bound creatures, which had awoken the sleeping Onmyouji.

Reliving the words Madoka had said to him while thinking that he was unable to hear her caused Lin to blink furiously at the burning sensation that had been slowly pulsating behind his closed eyelids. The feeling was familiar- and very unpleasant. He realized grudgingly that he was close to tears.

Madoka's words had stung his heart, moreso than he'd ever be inclined to admit. Her heart wrenching speech brought back barely concealed memories that the black haired man didn't want to see- flashbacks of a happier time in his life, before one mistake had taken it all away from him.

The memory that had torn apart Lin's heart took place eight years before, when he was still a student at Cambridge University, working on his Biology degree. He was nineteen at the time, though he had the mental capacities of someone twice his age- in truth, that had sometimes been his downfall. The then rookie Onmyouji had never been very adept at socializing with people his age, and therefore remained silent, avoiding interactions with everyone but a select few.

One of those few people that Lin felt comfortable around was his girlfriend, seventeen year old Madoka Mori. Madoka was a senior in high school, which gave her a hectic enough schedule to match Lin's own. Luckily when given the option, Lin had opted to remain at the Davis's house rather than move into a dorm at the large college. Though he was a full time student, during his hours away from school, he was a teacher of quigong to a powerful psychic named Oliver Davis, or Noll.

Teaching Noll to control his powers took up much of the younger Lin's time, making it difficult for him to have a life outside of school and work. Thankfully for him, Madoka was also one of Noll's teachers. She tutored him in her studies of the paranormal on request of Martin Davis.

Martin had said that the pink haired lady was an adept study, and proficient enough even as just his apprentice to be taken on supernatural related cases as a full-time investigator.

Lin and Madoka had met through Luella Davis, who had been a long time friend of Madoka's. When Luella and Martin had jointly decided that their son would need external help if he was going to learn to control his powers before they killed him, they had contacted Lin. They had found him through a website dedicated entirely to practicing Onmyoujis as there were so few still selling their services.

Luella had informed Madoka that a young Chinese man would be living in the house from then on, to act in as Naru's part time guardian and quigong teacher. Madoka's motherly figure had alluded to the fact that Lin was quite handsome, and around her age.

Madoka had instantly taken to Lin, and him to her. Six months after moving to England from China, Lin asked Madoka to be his girlfriend. She had easily agreed, and the two fell quickly for each other.

His being in college had not changed their relationship much, other then making them happier to see each other when their hectic schedules allowed them to go on the rare date. That was the case on that particular night. It was Saturday night, and Lin was free from the cold clutches of studying.

He had called Madoka and asked her to come to a restaurant with him. She had excitedly agreed, much to Lin's pleasure. He had driven to her house in the car that Martin had loaned him and arrived at her house at 7:30 pm.

They enjoyed a peaceful meal at the restaurant, then left. Lin had decided that he'd rather have more time with Madoka in private rather than return home immediately. At the beginning of the week he had received his paycheck from the Davis's, and had no shortage of money.

On a whim, Lin decided to rent a hotel room for them to stay in for the night. He had intended for them to share separate beds, though that had not happened thanks to something that he had hidden away in the trunk of the car.

After convincing Madoka to stay at the hotel with him, Lin had retrieved a bottle of alcohol from his trunk. He had gotten it from one of his older friends at the college- he hadn't asked for it, but the friend had given it to him nonetheless.

Realizing that he'd never want to drink it with anyone else, Lin had decided to open the bottle and enjoy it with Madoka. When he had showed her the bottle, she had been wary, but with only slight convincing from her boyfriend, she had agreed to try the substance.

Several shots later, both teenagers were intoxicated. The bottle had been the first taste of alcohol that either had been exposed to, and neither had known their limits.

Under the influence of the alcohol, one thing had led to another, and before long, Lin had coerced Madoka to have sex with him. It wasn't until the the seventeen year old was completely naked and lying on the bed that Lin sobered up enough to realize that he wasn't ready to perform the act.

He was brutally honest with Madoka, telling her that they couldn't have sex while she was still underage- and to add to that, they were drunk, and neither would remember the event clearly in the morning. He didn't want her to have to live with the regret of losing her virginity in such a way that it would take away from the factors that were supposed to make the event special, like enjoying it with someone you were sure you loved.

Even though Lin had tried to let her down gently, Madoka had felt rightly betrayed and used. Lin had waited until she was naked and completely ready to lose herself to him before he told her that as a couple, they weren't ready. Why couldn't he have changed his mind sooner?

Embarrassed, confused, and hurt, Madoka had gotten dressed back in the clothing that she had so hastily discarded. Then she had fled the hotel, leaving a distraught and half naked Lin standing in the doorway.

Two days later, she had asked Lin to come to a small cafe for coffee. When he had arrived, Madoka had taken him to a booth in the corner of the cafe, far away from listening ears and prying eyes. Lin had immediately assumed that she had called him there to calmly have a conversation with him about their altercation at the hotel.

He could not have been more wrong, as in reality, Madoka had called him there to give him some of the most devastating news of his life; she was breaking up with him.

Her reasoning for ending the relationship was that Lin had used her- gotten her drunk, then convinced her to have sex with him, had decided to call the entire ordeal off as soon as he knew that she wanted to.

The accusation had stung. Lin had not been using her at all- he had genuinely been ready to have sex with her, though that had been under the influence of the alcohol. Sober Lin had not been ready at all for what drunken Lin had been trying to do. Sober Lin just happened to take over Lin's personality too late.

Sober Lin had wanted to protect Madoka's chastity- she was a student in high school. So many girls around her were getting pregnant and dropping out, causing them to miss out on a high school education simply because they were babies caring for babies. Lin had not intended to have sex that night, and therefore hadn't had any sort of sexual protection.

If they had done the deed that night, Madoka could have gotten pregnant, and her life as a senior would have been cut short. Lin had been trying to protect her from that, but also had been trying to protect her from having future regrets. Once you lose your virginity, you cannot under any circumstances get it back. He knew that she might want to share that moment with her husband in the future, and despite their wonderful relationship, he very well might not have been the man she would decide to marry.

To top all of those factors off, Lin himself had been a virgin, and hadn't know whether or not he was mentally ready to not be. He was in college for god's sake- why was he even thinking about it at that time in his life? It wasn't a good time- there were two many risks when he was already more than a year into his college education. It would have been suicide to risk becoming a father at that time- he would not have been able to continue school and help care and provide for a child at the same time.

Despite his avid protests, Madoka had been too hurt to listen to his reason. She had left him at the cafe with his head down on the countertop and shoulders shaking.

His shoulders were shaking in present time, much as they had been in the painful memory. He was now definitely fighting tears, refusing to cry over the past that could not be changed. There was no use crying over spilled milk as it were, how was this any different?

No. That wasn't the case and Lin damn well knew it. This was important to him- Madoka had been suffering so much throughout the years. He couldn't let her pain continue any longer when there was a chance to fix everything.

Jumping up from the bed, Lin stood his full height. Luckily the nurse had told him that if he needed to get up, he could disconnect the wires connected to him without taking the monitors with him as long as he reconnected them once he got back.

This came in handy now as he undid the IV connected his vein, then rushed to the door as quickly as his injured body would allow. He might as well have sprinted towards Madoka's room with the pace at which his long strides carried him.

He reached Madoka's room and threw the door open. Madoka was inside the room, standing beside the bed. She spun around to face the intruder in her room, tears still streaming down her face. Her expression changed to one of shock when she realized who was standing in her doorway.

Without pausing in his stride, Lin walked to his ex love and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest, not uttering a single word. Madoka gasped and stiffened in his embrace, but didn't pull away. In fact, she relaxed against the man holding her- comforting her though he was the one who had caused her tears.

She cried into his chest, finally venting all of her pain and frustrations that she had bottled up for eight years. She had missed the feeling of his arms around her- feeling them again made her feel like she was home, and that it was okay for her to be honest with herself.

The honest truth was that she still loved the man whose embrace she was tucked so tightly into. During their eight year long separation, she had never stopped loving him. Her pride had prevented her from telling him that she understood why he had broken up with her.

She could never express her regret for that enough. She had wasted eight years of her life that she could have spent being freely in love with the man she loved. Instead she had spent those years alone, never actively pursuing another relationship though she got many requests to date several men she knew would never capture her heart in the way that Lin had.

She loved him. It really was that simple- no science could explain why she loved him and no one else, and had not been able to get over their past relationship.

In reality, Madoka had no idea if Lin felt the same way about her anymore. Why had he rushed into her room after her so quickly that it had seemed like wild dogs should have been after him? What other reason was there than that he loved her too, and had wanted her to know that she was forgiven?

Better yet, how had he known to come and comfort her anyway? Hadn't he been sleeping when she had spilled her heart to him? Madoka shook her head against Lin's chest as the answer became blatantly clear. His shiki had woken him up- she had known that since their time dating that Lin's shiki were very wary of people and would alert Lin if anyone came near him during times he was vulnerable, like when he was sleeping.

He had been awake throughout their entire one-sided conversation, allowing her to rant at him while saying or doing nothing to defend himself. She realized that this was his way of apologizing and telling her that he forgave her.

The realization brought her eight years of relief. It overwhelmed her to the point that her knees became weak. She began to fall towards the ground and expected to plummet towards the linoleum, but suddenly felt hands wrap around her waist. She looked up into the face of the man who had became her rock. Lin's eyes were open- not open as in the opposite of closed, but open like she could see the emotions behind them. The feelings that Lin usually hid so adeptly from her.

They were exposed to her, and Lin made no effort to hide the way he felt. She could see his pain, relief, longing, and his love for her. The last one made her heart flutter in a way that it had not since her days being his girlfriend.

Seeing the realization on Madoka's face made Lin's heart leap. He could see the forgiveness in her eyes even before he could see it on her face. It was his turn for a spur of the moment action. And this time, he had a feeling that both of them would accept it.

The tall Onmyouji leaned down towards Madoka and captured her lips with his, kissing her like he should have the day before when she had made the same decision as he was making now.

The pair stood in each others arms kissing for several minutes, before Madoka broke the kiss to take a breath. When she did, she smiled openly at Lin, who in a rare moment, returned the gesture, flashing his teeth in the expression.

Madoka felt lighter than air as she laid her head back on his chest. Lin stroked her hair comfortingly for a moment until she broke away and gestured at the bed. Lin raised an eyebrow as he watched her take a seat. Following her lead, he sat beside her.

They sat like that for a few seconds before Madoka took a deep breath.

"Lin, what does this mean?" she asked carefully- she was secretly terrified. This was what she had been waiting for during those eight long years. She was not ready to shatter the illusion, but also not ready to get rid of the chance that it might be reality.

Lin didn't answer right away- he took a moment to carefully consider her question. Did he love her? Yes. He knew without a doubt that he loved her, and had wanted her back all of the years that they had been apart.

So the answer to her question was simple, and rolled off Lin's tongue as naturally as if he had been born to say the words.

"I want to resume our relationship, Madoka. I've missed you- I was wrong to hurt you like I did, and even more wrong to never rectify my error,"

More tears spilled from Madoka's eyes as she laid her head on Lin's shoulder. The onmyouji wrapped his arms around her and held her until dawn broke and the light began streaming in through the closed blinds.

"I've missed you too," she muttered through the tears. The comment caused Lin pain. He had made her miss him even though they had never lost contact. But she didn't mean she had missed him as a person, did she? No. She meant that she had missed their relationship- which Lin was the reason that it had been called off.

He could regret that as much as he wanted, but he could not go back in time and make sure that their relationship didn't go down that path. He could only move on with the future and hope that after all of the events with his shiki were settled, that he could have a happy life with Madoka.

He had her now, and that was all that really mattered. The past could wait, and the future had yet to be written.