Part Four
Seimei had just left Omi’s room as Hokuto and Ame came barreling up. “What’s going on? Is he okay?” Hokuto demanded.
Seimei leaned wearily against the wall. “Hai, hai, he’s all right. They gave him a sedative and he’s sleeping. They’ll have to do surgery to fix the ribs.”
Hokuto paled. “But he’ll be okay?”
“Yes, he’ll be fine.” Seimei managed a smile. “It takes more than that to knock Omi down.”
“What the hell did you stand up for anyway?” Ame asked.
Seimei glared at her. “He was out of weapons. He was a sitting duck anyway. And the only thing I could think of to do was Father’s blood spell, and I needed to stand up and get a clear shot at them. Believe me, I feel bad enough about it, but he would’ve gotten shot anyway if I hadn’t done anything. And then he wouldn’t have had a chance.”
Hokuto hugged him. “Don’t worry about it, Sei-chan. Omi understands.”
Seimei sighed and slumped into a chair. “Who wants to call Dad and Father?”
Hokuto’s eyes widened. “Oh no . . .”
Seimei sighed again, seeing the unshed tears making his sister’s eyes glisten. “Okay, I’ll do it. If you’ll call Hayashi-san.”
“That’s fair.”
“The doctor said I could call from his office,” Seimei said. “Come on, I’ll show you.” They followed him to the doctor’s office, where he dialed his parents’ house. It only rang a few times before Seishirou picked up.
“I didn’t wake you again, did I?” Seimei asked anxiously.
“No, you didn’t,” Seishirou said. “But isn’t it the middle of the night over there?”
“Hai . . .” Seimei said. “But, um, we had a little . . . problem . . .”
“What’s going on? What happened? Are you two okay?”
Seimei heard Subaru’s voice in the background. “What? Hey, is that Seimei and Hokuto?”
“Pick up the other phone,” Seishirou told him.
Subaru’s voice came over the line a second later. “What’s wrong?”
“Uhm . . .” Seimei couldn’t think of a way to phrase it that wouldn’t put both of his parents on the next plane to England. He took refuge in babbling. “See, Omi woke up and said he heard something, and he told us all to get down and so we did, but then the door burst open and I think there must’ve been at least twenty people all crowding into our room and they all had guns and - ”
Seimei paused for breath. Subaru took this opportunity to ask, “Guns?”
“Assassins?” Seishirou chipped in.
“But you’re both okay?” Subaru asked anxiously.
Seimei irrationally felt the urge to burst into tears. Hokuto saw it and put an arm around his shoulders. “Hai . . .” Seimei managed. “We’re fine. We got down in time. Omi-kun is hurt though.” He sniffled. “He got shot knocking me out of the way . . . then I managed to beat them off with that blood spell you taught me, Father . . .”
“Twenty men?” Seishirou sounded a bit startled. Seimei was much better at the Sumeragi magic than the Sakurazuka.
“Well, Omi managed to beat about half of them down before he ran out of weapons,” Seimei explained. “And I was really upset . . .”
“Is Omi going to be all right?” Subaru asked.
“Hai, the doctor said so,” Seimei said vaguely. “But we won’t have a bodyguard for a few days and we’re not sure what to do . . .”
“Do you want us to come?” Subaru asked.
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Seimei rubbed his eyes. “You can’t, anyway. You have to protect the country and all that . . .”
“Sei-chan, you are far more important to us than the fate of our country,” Subaru said firmly.
“I know . . . but we’re okay, I think. We’re just not sure what to do.”
“Well,” Seishirou said, “how much longer will this take?”
“I don’t know, a day or two. If I can just get some rest I can do the tracking spell in the morning and track it that afternoon . . .”
“Do you think you could manage that long without a bodyguard?”
“Seishirou!” Subaru protested.
“Subaru-kun, I don’t have a better solution, neither do you, and they do have to learn how to take care themselves some time.”
“But! Are you sure we shouldn’t go?”
“We’ll be okay,” Seimei interrupted, starting to get a hold on himself. “Really, Dad. Don’t worry. Father’s right.”
“Are you sure?” Subaru repeated, sounding suspicious.
“Yeah,” Seimei said. “I was just upset, that’s all. We can manage on our own. We’ve got Ame with us, too. I just . . .”
“Needed a little moral support?” Subaru supplied.
“Yeah. ‘Sides, we figured you should know. And call Omi’s father.”
“Oh. Yes.” Subaru sounded distinctly less than pleased at the thought of delivering this news to Suoh.
“I’ll do it,” Seishirou said. “He won’t try to kill me.”
“Well, he wouldn’t try to kill either of us,” Subaru said. “I mean, Omi’s a bodyguard. He was bound to get hurt sooner or later. It’s hardly our fault. He might fly to England and start hunting for people to kill there . . .”
“Anyway,” Seimei said. “We need to go check on Omi and call the Japanese ambassador and tell him what happened and . . . ugh.”
“Get some sleep before you collapse,” Subaru advised his son.
“Right,” Seimei said. He paused, then turned to his sister. “Do you want to talk to them, Hokuto-chan?”
“I’m all right,” Hokuto said.
“Okay. We’ll call you, um, in a few hours?”
“In a few hours we’ll probably be in bed,” Subaru told him.
“Call anyway,” Seishirou said calmly. “We’ll wake up. If either of us can sleep at all.”
“Okay,” Seimei said. “I’ll talk to you later. We need to make sure Omi isn’t going to wake up and try to come looking for us or anything stupid like that.”
“All right. We love you.”
“Love you too,” Seimei said. “Jaa.”
His parents said their farewells, and Seimei hung up the phone, nearly wilting. Hokuto put an arm around his shoulders again. “Let’s go see Omi-chan,” she said. “Then you need to get some rest. Doing that blood spell must’ve wiped you out. You were never any good at the offensive stuff . . .” She chattered away gently, pulling her brother down the hall, trying to distract him from how tired and worried he was.
The doctor was in Omi’s room. Seimei stuck his head inside. “Excuse us, Dr. Litton . . . is it all right for us to come in?”
“Yes, come on in,” he said. He looked pleased. “It was all I could do not to keep this idiot from getting out of bed to look for you.” His tone was friendly, keeping his words from being too insulting.
“Omi-chan!” Hokuto burst into the room and ran over to his bed. “Are you feeling all right?”
He tried to glare at her. “I’m fine. Where have you two been?”
“Calling our parents . . .” Seimei said, walking a bit more sedately into the room.
“Don’t go anywhere without telling me.”
“Omi-kun . . . you were out cold,” Ame told him.
“That’s besides the point.” He looked at the doctor. “And while we’re on the subject, don’t sedate me anymore.”
“Oi,” Hokuto said, “geez, Omi, you get irritable when you’re down and out, dontcha?”
“I’m not down and out,” Omi said, trying to sit up.
“Baka.” Hokuto pushed him back down. “We’ll be fine for a few days on our own.”
“A few days?” Omi asked. He looked suspiciously at the doctor. “I’m not going to be here for a few days, am I?”
“Mr. Takamura, you did just get shot, you know. It’s not normally something most people get up and walk away from.”
Omi glared. “But - ”
“No buts. If you’re not going to let me sedate you, you have to relax and get some sleep on your own. We have to fix your ribs tomorrow morning.”
Omi blinked. Now that his attention had been called to it, his side was definitely throbbing. It hurt to breathe. “What happened to my ribs?” he asked. “Are they broken?”
“A couple. Nothing we can’t fix. And the bullet didn’t do much other damage. Blood loss, of course, but that’s what the IV is for.”
Omi glanced over at the IV, then down at the bandages wrapped around him, then reached up and pulled the cover over them. He was a little pale.
“Omi, for crying out loud, take some painkillers,” Ame told him.
“I don’t want any sedatives,” Omi insisted stubbornly.
“You know what?” Hokuto asked. “If an assassin came in here right now, you’re not going to be able to do anything. Ame will fry them.”
Ame nodded eagerly.
“You can take painkillers that won’t put you to sleep,” Litton said.
“Give him some,” Seimei said, then gave Omi a don’t-you-dare-argue-with-me glare.
Litton looked questioningly at Omi. “You want them?”
“Aa,” Omi said weakly. He had to admit that he was pretty useless in his current state. Painkillers couldn’t make things much worse.
Seimei gave an approving nod and Hokuto ruffled Omi’s hair.
“Just don’t go anywhere,” Omi mumbled.
“Where are we supposed to sleep?” Hokuto asked.
“In here,” Omi said firmly. Then his eyes softened and he asked, “Please?”
“Okay, Omi.” Hokuto took his hand. “We won’t make you worry for once.”
Seimei nodded. “Oh, and . . . sorry. For standing up. And thanks. For saving my life.”
“For one thing, it’s my job,” Omi said. “For another, you saved mine first; they were about to shoot me when you pulled that spell. And for a third . . . I can’t think of a third. I think it was going to be something sappy . . .”
“Go to sleep.” Hokuto smoothed his hair. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Nnngh.” Omi closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Seimei drooped.
“Naa, Sei-chan, take the other hospital bed,” Hokuto said. “You need sleep the most; you’re the most tired and you need to be able to do that spell in the morning.”
Seimei nodded and climbed up onto the other bed, glad that there wasn’t another patient in the room.
Hokuto offered the doctor as much of a smile as she could manage. “Thanks,” she said. “We’ll see you tomorrow!”
He nodded. “Make sure he gets some rest.” With that, he left the room.
Seimei had already fallen asleep, so Hokuto set up wards around the room. “Not that this’ll protect against assassins,” she muttered. “But it’ll at least keep out the whatever-it-is.”
Ame nodded. “We’ll be okay.”
Hokuto’s head drooped onto the mattress, next to Omi’s. “I hope so.”
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Seimei and Hokuto agreed to wait until after Omi was out of surgery to do the spell. Seimei needed the rest and they were both worried about Omi, to the point that Seimei was afraid his concentration wouldn’t be as good. Dr. Litton arrived in the early morning and woke them all up. Omi got irritated about having to be sedated, but even he agreed that he didn’t want to be awake for the surgery. He did, however, demand that hospital security be brought to watch the twins.
The next hour was followed by much pacing and worrying. Nurses kept trying to reassure them, with little to no effect. They didn’t wait for Omi to wake up after the surgery, but merely got an assurance from Dr. Litton that everything had gone fine and he’d be awake in a few hours.
“We need to leave before he wakes up,” Hokuto explained. “Or else he’d try to stop us or insist on coming with us. One or the other.”
“Okaaay,” Litton muttered, watching the three strange kids walk out of his hospital.
“Let’s go back to Hayashi’s,” Seimei said. “Dad said it would work best there.”
“Oops, we forgot to call him,” Hokuto said. “We were too worried about Omi to remember . . .”
Seimei sighed. “Oh well. We’ll just have to explain what happened to him.”
“Sounds like my idea of a good time,” Ame said.
“Oh, stop being so sarcastic,” Seimei said. “It’s been a long day. Let’s go back to the hotel first. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re all still wearing pajamas under our coats.”
“You do have your wallet, ne, Sei-chan?” Hokuto asked anxiously.
“Hai, I keep it in my coat pocket,” Seimei said absently, waving at a taxi. They went back to their hotel and asked the taxi to wait while they changed clothes. They put none of their usual effort into their attire. Seimei grabbed his robes and some other things he needed. “Let’s go.”
They took the taxi to Hayashi’s and rang the doorbell. “Oh, hello,” Hayashi said. He frowned. “Where’s Takamura-san?”
“We’ve had some difficulties,” Hokuto said. “We were attacked by assassins last night in our hotel room.”
Hayashi paled. “What happened? Is everyone all right?”
“Omi-kun was wounded,” Seimei told him. “He’s all right, though. We just left the hospital. The rest of us are fine.” Seimei’s finger was bandaged; it was the only wound any of them had.
“What we figure,” Ame said, covering what she and Hokuto had discussed while Seimei had slept, “is that after they couldn’t get to you because of Seimei’s wards, they realized we actually are a threat. And since we can obviously keep their supernatural methods from working, traditional methods seemed to be a viable option. Fortunately, Omi-kun and Seimei’s magic protected us.”
“Hey, hey, I summoned a shikigami too!” Hokuto protested.
Ame nodded. “Yes, Hokuto-chan, you’re very impressive.”
“Don’t patronize me!”
“Anyway,” Seimei interrupted, “I called my parents and they gave me a spell on how to track whoever disturbed the wards. So can I come inside? I need to change into my robes.”
“Of course,” Hayashi said, standing back to let them in. Seimei changed quickly, then knelt on the front lawn in front of the pile of ofada.
“What’s he going to do?” Hayashi asked.
“No clue,” Hokuto answered.
Seimei arranged the ofada in a pentacle and poured water on them, then put the ceremonial dagger in the center, digging it into the earth. He closed his eyes, put his hands together, and began to chant.
“This spell isn’t very impressive,” Ame muttered.
Seimei picked up the handful of ofada and calmly ripped them into shreds. He let the strips drift through his fingers, still chanting. Then he placed both hands firmly on the ground, among the torn ofada, and concentrated.
A minute later, he opened his eyes. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Huh?” Hokuto asked. “That was it? Where are they?”
“That way.” Seimei pointed, then resolutely marched toward Hayashi’s car.
“Shouldn’t you be tired?” Hokuto asked.
“I’m too angry to be tired,” Seimei answered, getting in the car. He sat in front; Ame and Hokuto in back.
“Well, when we find the guy, I get to kill him,” Hokuto said firmly.
“Not if I get there first.” Seimei’s voice was flat.
“Sei-chaaan . . . I’m better at the whole killing thing. Plus you got to waste fifteen people last night!”
Seimei turned around and looked at her with cold green eyes. “And I’m still angry. They tried to kill us. They hurt Omi. If I get the chance, I get to kill whoever it is that caused this.”
“In true Sakurazukamori style?” Hokuto raised an eyebrow. “I thought you weren’t going to kill anyone that way again.”
“Whoever this is deserves to find out what he’s been putting other people through,” Seimei said. “Besides, I’ll let his soul go. He can face whatever judgment waits for him.”
Hokuto sighed. “You know, people think that because I got to be head of the Sakurazuka clan, that I’m the ruthless one. Clearly, they’ve never seen you pissed off.”
“Clearly they haven’t. Take a left turn next chance you get.”
Hayashi knew better than to argue. Since they were operating under the hot-and-cold system and Seimei’s intuition, but Seimei didn’t know the street system in London, it took them almost an hour to get to the office building that Seimei declared was their destination.
“Ame, maybe you’d better stay out here,” Hokuto said.
“Hell no,” Ame retorted indignantly. “I told Omi I’d protect you while he was gone, ne? Besides, I’m just as angry as the two of you.” She looked at Seimei. “Okay, maybe not as angry as him.”
Seimei shrugged. “Come if you want. Hayashi-san, stay in the car and lock the doors. We’ll be back in fifteen minutes or we won’t be back. If longer than that goes by, leave.”
“But - ” Hayashi started to protest, then saw the look in Seimei’s eyes. “All right.”
Seimei made a quick bow, then turned on his heel and headed towards the building. He got into the elevator. His fingers hovered over the buttons for a minute, then pressed the button for the thirteenth floor.
Seimei guided them down the hall to an office labeled “Li Xiang.” Underneath that, in smaller letters, it read “private.”
“Is this it?” Hokuto asked.
“This is it,” Seimei said, and kicked the door open.
The man sitting at the desk looked up, not seeming startled in the least. There were six or seven men standing around in the room. “We’ve been expecting you,” he said to Seimei.
“That’s pretty obvious,” Ame said, electricity crackling at the ends of her fingertips.
“Please, come in,” Xiang said. “Shut the door behind you, if it’ll still close, that is.”
Seimei muttered obscenities and walked in.
“I don’t like this,” Hokuto whispered, following him.
“Well, we’re not going to kill him if we’re standing in the hallway,” Seimei snapped. He kicked the door shut. It was hanging on one hinge. Then he took three determined steps towards Xiang.
Hokuto grabbed his arm. “Shouldn’t we figure out how he was doing it first?”
“He’s not going to tell us and I don’t care anymore,” Seimei said sharply. He raised his hand and power surged from his fingers.
Just before it reached Xiang, it dissipated.
“Oh shit, he’s got wards up,” Hokuto muttered.
Before anyone else could move, the group of men moved in, forming a tight circle around the three teenagers.
“This,” Ame stated, “is a problem.” She raised a hand and aimed a bolt of electricity at the closest man. He staggered backwards and fell. Ame looked at the twins. “How about giving me a hand here, you two?”
Seimei lifted his arm into the air; his shikigami appeared a second later. Hokuto followed suit. The twin falcons attacked in unison.
“Impressive,” Xiang said, lifting an eyebrow as two more of his men fell.
“Thank you.” Hokuto smiled sunnily. “I’m going to rip your heart out.”
“You have to get to me first.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Seimei said sharply. “You may be good, but you’re not better than us.”
“You’re quite belligerent,” Xiang said. “It’s a fault, you know. Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson.”
One of the remaining men grabbed Seimei’s arms from behind, holding him firmly. He pulled out a knife and held it to Seimei’s throat.
“You might want to call off your shikigami,” Xiang said. “Since if my men are startled, they might . . .” He drew one finger across his throat.
Seimei twitched his fingers. His falcon settled on a chair and watched the scene distrustfully. “Hokuto,” Seimei whispered. “I think you’d better.”
Hokuto was watching in agonized indecision, trying to figure out if there was anything she could do. Then she nodded. Her own shikigami also settled on a chair.
“Now,” Xiang said. “I must confess I’m curious. Who, exactly, are you? You protected the Japanese Council member, didn’t you? And somehow managed to beat over twenty of my best men. I’m quite impressed so far.”
Seimei opened his mouth to speak. Xiang interrupted him with, “No, you can keep quiet. Let the others answer.” The man holding Seimei pressed the knife harder against his throat. Seimei swallowed hard and fell silent.
“Perhaps you’d like to answer my question?”
Hokuto glared daggers at him and said in a voice as cold as ice, “I am the Sakurazukamori, and you will let my brother go right this instant.”
“I thought the Sakurazukamori was a middle-aged man,” Xiang said. “His reputation has spread very far.”
“Then you should know how powerful he is, and he taught me everything I know,” Hokuto snapped.
Xiang looked at Seimei. “Is he the Sakurazukamori as well?”
“No,” Seimei said, risking his throat by speaking. “I am the fourteenth head of the Sumeragi clan.”
Xiang raised an eyebrow. “Opposing clan heads working together, and brother and sister, no less. How intriguing. Who are you?” He looked at Ame.
“Pissed off,” Ame answered calmly.
“Of course.” Xiang considered. “You three are quite powerful.”
“Thanks for the news flash,” Ame said.
“I don’t suppose I could convince you to work for me, so I suppose I’ll just have to kill all three of you.” He nodded to the man holding Seimei.
Seimei didn’t have time to think; he only reacted. He tilted his head as far back as it would go and dropped. His arm wrenched terribly as he fell and the knife glanced off his chin, but he made it to the ground with his throat intact.
Hokuto’s falcon immediately shrieked through the air and dove into the man who had been holding Seimei. The last two men fell to crackling bolts of electricity.
Seimei tried to stand, but his shoulder throbbed and he felt certain for an instant that he was going to pass out. He had forgotten exactly how tired he was. Putting his weight on his good arm, he pushed himself halfway up. The world wavered before his eyes, but he managed to remain conscious.
Hokuto glanced at him. “Daijoubu, Sei-chan?” Her voice was cold and dispassionate. Whatever she was feeling, it was put away until after business was done.
Seimei wanted to be sarcastic, but he wasn’t feeling well enough to manage it. All he said was, “Aa, daijoubu.” He put one hand up to his chin and wiped the blood away.
“Good.” Hokuto marched forward. She put her hands together for a second, then separated them, parting the shield made by the wards.
Xiang gaped, getting to his feet. “You can’t - ”
“I told you.” Hokuto smiled coldly. “I’m the Sakurazukamori. Your wards mean nothing to me.”
“You don’t want to kill me,” Xiang said quickly.
“Actually,” Hokuto replied, “yes, I do.” She grabbed one of his shoulders and gathered energy in her fingers.
“No, you don’t. I - ”
“I don’t care.” With that, she shoved her hand through his chest. He let out a little gasp and coughed once, blood appearing on his lips. Then his eyes went blank and he folded.
Hokuto withdrew her hand and let him drop to the floor. She looked down with distaste at the blood on her hand, then walked over and knelt next to her brother. “Sei-chan?” Her voice wavered, emotions starting to set back in.
Seimei looked up. His eyes were dazed and glassy. “Hokuto-chan . . .” he managed.
Ame walked up and knelt on his other side. “I’ll go tell Hayashi what happened.” She looked around. “Do something about your clothes before we get arrested, Hokuto-chan. And don’t touch anything. We don’t want to leave fingerprints.” With that, she turned and walked out of the room, carefully pulling her shirt sleeve over her hand before touching the doorknob.
“At least we did this quietly,” Hokuto muttered. Not being one for modesty in emergencies, she pulled her shirt over her head. Then she reached for Seimei’s backpack. He’d changed into his robes when he’d reached Hayashi’s; his street clothes were still in his backpack. She pulled his shirt over her head and went into the office bathroom. She used her bloody shirt to turn on the water, then washed the blood off her hand. She dried her hands as best she could on the shirt, then shoved it into Seimei’s backpack.
By that time, Hayashi had reached the room. He looked around at the bodies and paled. “What in God’s name . . .”
“We found your murderers and we took care of them,” Hokuto answered grimly. “We need to get Seimei to the hospital. I think his shoulder is dislocated.”
“Omi’s going to have a fit,” Ame muttered.
Hokuto knelt next to her brother. “Hayashi-san, do you have a handkerchief?”
“Of course . . .” He handed it to her.
Hokuto wiped the blood off of Seimei’s face. “Sei-chan,” she said firmly. “Compose yourself. We need to leave, and if we’re carrying you, we’ll attract suspicion.”
Seimei looked at her with pain glazed eyes. Hokuto and Hayashi gently lifted him to his feet. He wobbled for a second, then regained his balance and put one hand up to cover the wound on his chin.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ame said. She nudged the door open with her foot and used her shirt to pull it closed behind them.
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