Alliances and Companions (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

It hadn't taken long for the ambulance to get one Tohru Adachi to the hospital. After all, now that they'd finally gotten a new one put up, it was almost a stone's throw from anywhere in the city. Ambulances had the right of way even on Dimension Island, after all.

There had been no argument tolerated from the man. If he had fought, they would have given him a tranquilizer. Odds are he wasn't in much condition to though. Now that the adrenaline from nearly being beaten to death had been given a chance to fade, the man was likely barely conscious. They worked quick at the hospital, and the fifteen minutes after arrival had been all the time needed to get him bandaged and hooked up to a machine.

The man wouldn't get a chance for much peace. This included if he was out cold, as what came next was as much in his mind as really there. He wouldn't really be able to tell, it would just seem like he was awake. He wouldn't be feeling much pain, they'd given him medication for it... in fact, if he had all his sensed about him it was quite possible he'd find it odd how very aware he was as a presence appeared on the shelf next to him.

Lucius sat there, his legs swinging back and forth. He looked towards Adachi and gave a low whistle. There was that ever present all too wise smile though. Today, it seemed a bit more like a smirk.

"That 'Shadow' did quite a number on you, didn't he?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi hadn't struggled much on the way there. They'd given him something to ease the pain, but even still he wasn't in much of a condition to move. Now that he was in his hospital bed, he'd thought he'd finally be able to rest. Of course, nothing was ever that easy for him, and he found himself strangely aware of a presence nearby him. He looked absolutely pissed as he realized who it was.

"...You... Why the hell didn't you help me!? Seta would have beaten me to death if that stupid bear friend of his hadn't stopped him!" Adachi yelled. He was seething. Lucius had told him he'd protect him from Izanagi when they'd first made this deal, and this was twice he hadn't carried through.

Before Lucius could reply, Adachi realized something had been off about that statement of Lucius'. "Wait, did you say Shadow?"

Now that he thought about it, Seta's eyes had been glowing yellow. Adachi had found it strange, but at the time, he'd been too busy trying to stop Seta from killing him. But now Adachi realized that the way his eyes had been glowing was not unlike one of the Shadows people's minds manifested in the TV World.

[mugenginga]

The corners of Lucius' lips curled up more as Adachi chewed him out. So he thought he'd let him die? Adachi had many years ahead of him. If he became useless, he'd make the rest of those years a living hell. Adachi thought his life was hell now? His eyes were slitted and he looked the definition of evil as Adachi continued. He chuckled as Adachi hit on the exact meanings of his words. He continued to swing his legs as he looked forward, talking as if he didn't have a large investment in the conversation.

"Seems to be what Izanagi considers him, despite his autonomy..." Lucius looked towards Adachi and tapped the side of his head with his left hand, "I'm aware of what goes on with my things. I told you I'd protect you, but there hasn't seemed any harm in sharing."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi actually looked amused at Lucius' explanation about Seta. That... explained so much about Seta. No wonder he was a fucking psycho. He was a goddamn Shadow, just like the bear. No wonder he'd never made a Shadow, despite his obvious mental issues. He already was one.

He looked annoyed again as Lucius continued. "Sh-Sharing?! You mean you didn't have a problem with some asshole god running around in my body?!"

"I'm going to need to borrow him for a bit longer, if that's alright."

Adachi flinched at that voice. It sounded oh so similar to Seta's but something about it was different. It seemed more authoritative. He looked toward where he heard the voice. Leaning up against the wall was what looked like Seta, only wearing that same outfit Seta's new Persona did, minus the mask.

"Hey! What the hell's Seta doing in here?!" Adachi yelled. Izanagi scoffed.

"Are you stupid?" Izanagi growled. "Seta's lying bleeding on his kitchen floor. I'm Izanagi-no-Okami."

[mugenginga]

Lucius' grin remained as Adachi flipped over his last words. He then chuckled to himself as Izanagi showed up. He put his hands on the counter and pushed himself off it. He walked over to the side of the bed and put his hands on the guardrails. He paused to let Adachi continue to rant before looking towards Izanagi again. His smile remained, but his eyes were serious.

"I've got no special need for him at the moment, I don't see a problem with loaning him for a bit longer," Lucius was talking about Adachi as if he wasn't even there. More accurately, perhaps, he seemed to be talking about him as a thing. Well, he'd made his feelings on that clear before, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to get him killed again. He's worth more alive than dead."

Lucius' smile widened, but his eyes continued to betray his true identity, "Remember, he's on loan. He belongs to me, and I can expel you at any time. Keep it in mind."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi was glaring at the demon and the god as they continued to speak. They were treating him like an object. And to Lucius, that was what he was. Property. It was infuriating.

"I wasn't intentionally trying to get him killed. I hadn't expected to encounter that insane Egyptian while going after Anpu, nor had I expected to encounter my sister. At least Izanami's avatar is dead, though I doubt she's wasted any time in making a new one." Izanagi scoffed.

By this point, Adachi had decided that this was all in his head, simply because it was just bizarre seeing Seta standing there, speaking like that. He blinked at Izanagi's comments about an "insane Egyptian." Who did he mean by that...?

"In any case, I'll try to be more careful with your pet," Izanagi finally stated. "You should be a bit more careful with your human form. I heard about your little encounter with the Court of Bel earlier today."

[mugenginga]

Hiroto Honda stood nodding as the hospital staff explained to him for the third time where he was. He'd been in the hospital for over a week with head truama. From what they had told him, something very large and heavy had hit him in the head. He had to tell them who he was, how old he was, where he was from, and all after explaining how he'd gotten there. It was bordering on annoying. He'd forgotten how many things he'd signed. He got he'd been injured, he got he was stuck in some alternate dimension. He just wished they would answer some of his questions... they hadn't seemed to hear him ask about his friends.

----------

Yuugi pushed open the door to the small room. He didn't have to read the display, he'd been through here once before. After a moment, he vanished in a swirl of light. He appeared in the waiting room and began looking aroun. He could probably ask about people who had come in at the reception.

"I get that, I get that. I know that it's not likely, but I'm looking for my friends. The most noticable is named Mutou Yuugi, and..."

"Honda-kun!?"

----------

Lucius gave no indication of caring or even noticing as Izanagi went on about the recent events. Insane Egyptian, that thief, and Izanami's avatar being dead. The most he did was glance at Adachi and silently chuckle at the man's reaction. He straightened up, pulling his hand off the guardrail. He raised an eyebrow as Izanagi tauntingly suggested he be more careful. That knowledge was likely a result of the time spent in control of Adachi.

"That was merely playing with a teething puppy. I've been bitten by far worse, and pulled the teeth of worse than that," Lucius chuckled and said his next sentence in a mocking tone, "Thank you for your concern."

"Be a good boy, Tohru. You've seen what I can do when you act the idiot," Lucius smirked. He was purposely treating Adachi like a dog or object for the reactions the man was having over it.

Lucius vanished, and Izanagi would seem to vanish as well. However, the god was more than present. He was just back in Adachi's mind. He could force Adachi to see him again if he wished, and the conversation channel was as open as ever. Lucius' presence was gone, but it would only really be Izanagi aware of that.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi glared at Lucius as he referred to him the way one might a dog. Worst part he knew Lucius was doing it because it got a rise out of him. And it was working, which was the worst part. At least that damn Ameno-Sagiri hadn't taunted him and treated him like property.

Finally, Lucius and Izanagi disappeared, and Adachi sat back in his bed. He was tired of dealing with gods and demons...

I'm still here.

Adachi squeezed his eyes shut. Aaand of course that damn bastard had to talk again.

"Why me?" Adachi asked out loud.

You have another aspect of myself for your Persona. Had the man known as Nametame been on the island, I could have used him as my host as well.

Adachi groaned. This was... lovely. Just lovely. If he had a time machine, he'd go back in time and punch his past self for even thinking any of this was a good idea.

[mugenginga]

Honda blinked and looked up. That level of coincidence seemed impossible, but that voice and the usage of his name was too much to ignore. Beyond that, it wasn't a lot of people that attached that specific honorific to his name. His eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed, and he gave the first real smile he'd had in days.

"Yuugi!?"

"Honda-kun! I can't believe it's... Honda-kun, what happened!"

Honda realized where Yuugi was looking. The bandages still wrapped around his head. He gave a goofy smile and pointed at them. The man behind the reception desk he had been talking to looked a bit puzzled with the situation as the short teenager ran up.

"Got hit in the head with a large rock. Beats being posessed by ghosts, tell you what,"

Yuugi looked about ready to cry, "Tha-that means everyone made it out! Everyone's okay!"

"Made it... hold up, you mean everyone that was in that place with the tablet is here?"

"Yeah! Jounouchi-kun, Anzu, Kaiba-kun..." Yuugi paused for a moment and looked away.

"So, Bakura is...?"

Yuugi winced, "H-he might... he might be... be dead..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi groaned and squeezed his eyes shut again. He'd almost gotten to sleep when Izanagi spoke up again. The god seemed to be laughing, which was infuriating, mostly because it sounded like Seta was laughing at him.

"What now?" Adachi growled.

I suppose it was about the right time for them to find him... He's probably lying in a pool of his own blood by now.

...Seta then. "Is he dead?"

Not if I did it right. In any case, I expect he'll be here soon enough. Ten minutes at most.

"What did you do to him, anyways?"

I sliced his arm open to make it look like he tried to kill himself. Worked beautifully, too. That stupid bitch who found him immediately jumped to it being an attempted suicide. From the looks of things, one of that Shadow's stupid friends is already here, too.

Adachi smirked. He could see himself getting along with this god a bit more... for one, he wasn't possessed anymore, and for another, they shared a common dislike of Seta. Though Adachi wouldn't have hated Seta so much if he hadn't tried to kill him not an hour previously.

[mugenginga]

Honda looked at Yuugi for a moment, almost puzzled. Bakura... might be... dead? That wasn't something the spiky-haired teenager would have said lightly. He wouldn't make a joke that untasteful. And his expression... Honda tried to find a less brunt way to ask things. He failed.

"...What?"

"The Ring got back to Bakura-kun, and there's another spirit inside of it. That tanned version of Bakura from Atem's memory world," Honda grimaced at those words. Speaking of being possessed by ghosts, "A whole bunch of stuff happened and Adachi-san tried to save him... and now its possible Bakura-kun or Malik are dead because they were the two that might have had the Ring... and it got stolen..."

"Yuugi, what are you talking about...?" Honda paused as something clicked, "Are you here looking for Bakura and Malik?"

Yuugi nodded.

"I don't really know Malik very well..." Honda frowned. There were anything but pleasant memories about the man though. He'd almost cost Yuugi and Jounouchi their lives, "But I'm sure he's fine. And if that Egyptian guy is anything like Dark Bakura, he's fine too. Guy was a cockroach..."

"Y-yeah..." Yuugi said. He didn't sound convinced. But Honda didn't know abuot the interference of gods. He looked past Honda and walked past him so he was at the reception desk, "E-excuse me..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Izanagi's spirit presence was sitting down at the end of Adachi's bed again. Adachi had fallen back asleep soon enough. That Shadow really was an idiot. Didn't seem to realize just how much of this was his own fault. And now it looked like he was going to get himself arrested... Well, that or get himself killed. Izanagi honestly had no problems with Souji dying like that. Even if he didn't consider Seta his avatar anymore (and his anger from before had finally mostly faded), he was still stuck on this earth until Seta's death.

Well, might as well enjoy it... He'd have to go a bit easier on Adachi's body, though. It would cause problems if Adachi was injured too badly, particularly with the true owner of it.

----------------

Minato had run as fast as he could to the hospital, leaving Ryoji behind for the most part. If there was one thing he could do, it was run fast. The ambulance had left them far behind long ago, but he'd still managed to sprint pretty far in a short amount of time. He didn't even realize just how far behind he'd left Ryoji behind until he got to the hospital and took the warp into the actual lobby.

He ran over to the reception desk, where he saw Yuugi and someone he didn't quite recognize standing. "Yuugi! Souji's...." He stopped to catch his breath. His legs hurt. "...Souji's injured... Police found him in his apartment... They think he tried to kill himself..."

[mugenginga]

Ryoji had lost track of Minato halfway there. He was a bit dizzy from trying to keep up. Right, Minato had been in track. He wasn't in the same kind of shape. His legs felt heavy and the sweat drenching his hair wasn't pleasant. He was trying to get there as quick as he could. He hadn't really expected Minato to just dump him like that, and if he was honest he was a bit miffed. Which of course made him feel like a jerk. He shook his head and ignored the slowly growing burn in his lungs as he ran forward again. It would be a bit before he actually showed up at the hospital.

----------

The man at the desk looked a bit annoyed. He'd been trying to make sure Honda understood what was going on. The teenager didn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he still had a head injury despite it being on the mend. The spiky-haired kid had shown up and was just now paying attention to him. He opened his mouth to respond, reminding himself to remain polite, when the two people in front of the desk were almost run over by a blue haired teenager.

"Minato-kun!"

Honda had avoided being run over by stumbling back. The receptionist's eyes widened and for a moment it looked like he was gonna run out from behind the desk to catch the teenager. Honda recovered as Minato gasped out his words to Yuugi. He had looked concerned from the get go, but his expression turned to horror at the last gasped out bit. He hadn't seen Souji come in, but given how the teleporter worked he had probably gone straight to emergency.

"No way..." Yuugi gasped out. He shook his head, "Souji-kun wouldn't... he wouldn't do that!"

Honda didn't say anything. He didn't really have a clue what was going on. Yuugi had made new friends during the time flux he had been told about. That wasn't a surprise, Yuugi was good at that. Well, he was after solving the Puzzle and befriending Atem. He'd been rather... distant before. In any case, he couldn't contribute to the conversation so he just chose to observe.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato bent over and put his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. His legs and chest hurt from how fast he'd been running to get there. He looked up as Yuugi spoke and shook his head.

"I-I know, but they found him like that and they think he tried to kill Adachi and..." Minato stopped as he saw Yuugi's expression. "Y-You don't mean Souji actually did try to kill Adachi?! Yuugi, what the hell happened earlier?"

It was at this point Minato noticed Honda standing nearby Yuugi. He blinked. That brown hair, that particular hairstyle, the way he seemed to be friends with Yuugi... "O-Oh, hey, your name wouldn't happen to be Honda, would it? Um, Arisato Minato. I'm a friend of Yuugi's."

Minato had always made a point of introducing himself when he could... made less enemies when you were polite and didn't have Junpei there to fuck things up...

[mugenginga]

Yuugi had turned his head to the side with a pained expression when Minato mentioned Adachi. The blue haired teenager had picked up on it and continued. Yuugi didn't want to say Souji had tried to kill Adachi. He hadn't seen what had happened, after all, coming down after Teddie had gotten Souji to stop. It had sure looked like that, though. Honda gave a nod and lifted a hand up in a sort of halfwave. Yuugi had been about to respond to the question when he noted the exchange.

"Y-yeah, this is Honda-kun. Honda-kun, this is Minato-kun," Yuugi looked back at Minato, "I don't know. I just... Izanami got killed by Izanagi and I think Souji freaked. Minato-kun, are you going to be okay...?"

"You followed Souji here, right?" Honda asked, "If I understand this hospital right he's probably already here..."