THE RAION
Children of the Nekoka Book One
SIX
Several minutes ticked by as Akio laid there in shock. When he realized their lips were still pressed together he quickly rolled Jun off him. He felt a little panicked and slightly embarrassed. He hoped it didn’t offend Jun.
A Kiss.
His first kiss and it was with a guy. It was an accident. It would have been awkward if he had accidentally kissed a girl but what did a guy do when he accidentally kissed another guy. Was it Jun’s first kiss too he wondered. Was Jun upset about it? Well, it wasn’t really a kiss so it shouldn’t count right? He wiped his mouth, and winced. It hurt, it actually felt bruised. He noticed the blood on the back of his hand and wiped at his mouth again this time more carefully. They must have smacked into each other pretty hard he thought. It was definitely not his most graceful landing. He heard a moan from Jun and snapped out of his thoughts. He moved over to him and Jun appeared to be unconscious. He thought about wiping Jun’s blood smeared lips but decided against it. It was all awkward enough as it was and the small amount blood on his lips was hardly noticeable when compared to the rest of his face. He shook his shoulder gently and called his name. Nothing. He checked his breathing and felt for a pulse. They were faint. Jun’s face was paling and his icy skin had a cold sweat. Shivers started to rack his body.
He didn’t pause to think as terror rooted in his gut. He tore off his jacket and wrapped it around his limp form. Then snatching Jun up, he bounded towards the direction of the Sentaa. He had gone out his way to find Jun but he was still less than three miles from it. He could make it in about fifteen minutes if he pushed himself. The cold no longer bothered Akio as all his energy poured into moving with as much speed as possible. He dashed down the street as he tried not jostle him too much. He focused on the quiet sound of the slow beat of Jun’s heart to reassure himself. Thankfully it hadn’t become so faint that he couldn’t hear it but he was starting to notice something that was even more disconcerting. Jun was starting to smell weird.
Most people would hardly notice a person’s natural scent but the Nekokas’ sensitive noses was bombarded with it all day long. It allowed them to depend on their sense of smell a lot more than a human could. Jun’s natural scent was changing somehow. And it was more than just his own scent from his coat wrapped around Jun. It was odd, after sharing a room and spending large amounts of time with Jun all week he was absolutely positive he knew what Jun smelled like.
People’s scents varied slightly with their change in mood and frame of mind. And Akio knew severe sickness could cause the scent to almost sour and become even rotten in death but it was essentially still the same. Thankfully Jun smelled neither sour or rotten but something was happening As far as Akio knew people’s scents could not change outright, at the core it always stayed the same. It was like Jun’s was slowly fading and being replaced by something else. If Akio didn’t know better he would have thought he was in fact holding someone else. He breathed in deeply, testing it, and had to work to resist an involuntary shudder. It was sort of heady almost intoxicating. It felt bizarrely familiar. The word for it was on the tip on his tongue and yet he still couldn't place it. It was becoming all the more vibrant and intense. He could feel the answer looming over him like a dark cloud.
He shook it off, he had to be wrong. It couldn't be real. Jun had been fine in the tree. Maybe he hit his own nose when they collided or something. Maybe the nerves were in shock and were sending mixed signals. He refocused on the task at hand, doubling his effort to get Jun to the Sentaa as fast as possible. When the building was finally in sight Akio was working on convincing himself that the changes in Jun where just his imagination. He slowed his pace as he went up the walkway to the doors.
“Raion you can put me down now. I can walk in myself” Jun croaked his voice rough and gravelly. He wiped at the blood that covered his face. A faint blush of embarrassment crept up Aiko’s cheeks. He looked away trying to ignore Jun movements as he gingerly touched his lips. But not before he noticed the bruising on his knuckles and hands. Jun most have at least got in several punches before they overpowered him. Actually he was surprised he was even conscience. It was a relief. He moved to put him down, trying to let him regain some of his dignity. Jun leaned heavily against wall beside the door. His breath was coming out in huffs, and pain was clearly etched on to his face.
“T-thanks.” He stuttered as he handed the coat back. Akio took it and just nodded, watching cautiously, waiting in case he fell to the ground.
“I think you might need to see Sensei Sasaki.” He said. Jun stood up straighter and pressed a hand up to his the top of his head and winced.
“Do you think he could stitch this up.” he asked
“Yeah, come on, his is the first office.” Akio answered as he moved to open the door. Jun took a couple steps before he began to collapse. Akio caught him. Jun was clearly too weak to walk and was undoubtedly in a immense amount of pain. But still he tried to move away and keep going on his own. Akio had to catch him again. He was beginning to think Jun might be too concerned with his own pride. It was probably the first time he had ever seen anything resembling a flaw in Jun.
“No one will think less of your for accepting help when it’s offered.” He said quietly. Jun stared at him surprised, obviously not used to ever needing help. He nodded stiffly and Akio lifted him into his arms once again to carry him down the hall.
Within in seconds of Jun cradled to his chest, Akio almost choked on the overpowering wave that hit him. He cleared his throat with a cough trying to breathe again.This was most definitely not his imagination, breathing just brought it in deeper. It was so strong but still light, airy, and faintly sweet. It was almost driving him crazy. It was so familiar and his brain went into to overdrive trying to pin it down. Wildflowers, mountain breeze, forest trees, sunshine, spring meadows just after the rain.
Honeysuckle.
The sweet gentle smell of honeysuckle. He finally figured it out. It was soothing, beautiful, and disturbing. He froze almost mid step, it was a scent that had always stuck with him. Why did Jun smell like it now? But there was more, so much more. His heart flopped and his brain stopped. He was so dumbstruck by it he almost dropped Jun. He couldn't stop the slight groan as he wondered why it took so long to figure out. Maybe he should just hold his breathe and stop using his nose.
“I’m ss...sorry Raion, you must be tired after carrying me for miles.” Jun said through his heavy breathing, as he obviously thought Akio wasn’t moving because he was actually having trouble carrying Jun. He didn’t bother trying to correct him even though the weight of Jun’s thin frame was practically negligible.
“I’m alright, it’s just right here down the hallway.” he replied gruffly. He had absolutely no desire to explain to Jun that he had suddenly developed the distinct scent of a woman
The medical office door was open and Makoto was already in there being treated by Sensei Sasaki. The whole of his left calf was sporting a wrapped bandage. Worried his pride brother had been attacked by protesters Akio momentarily forgot Jun in his arms.
“Makoto! What happened?” He asked more tersely than he intended.
“Oh I’m fine, Sho ran into me at practice. For a shy little guy he’s a beast of the field…..What the Hell Akio!” Makoto shouted in surprise when he finally looked up and noticed Jun. “What’d you do? Get carried away at practice?” He asked. Sensei quickly finished Makoto bandage and motioned for Aiko to place Jun on one of the other beds.
“You know I wouldn’t do this!” Akio growled. Makoto raised his hands defensively.
“Be cool bro. I was joking...sort of… What happened then?” he replied
“He rescued some girls from a gang of thugs, the girls got away and he got the shit beat out of him.” Akio replied. Sensei Sasaki washed his hands, put on a fresh pair of gloves, and grabbed a tray of sterile medical supplies and bandages. He flipped on the monitor and while it booted up he worked open the buttons of Jun’s shirt. He hooked Jun up to the monitor places a number electrodes on his chest. He place the oxygen monitor on his finger and then began inspect the wound on the top of His head first.
“It’s small, not very deep, head wounds just bleed a lot.” Sensei Sasaki said as he pressed a thick cloth to it. Jun winced at the pressure. “We’ll clean it and glue it, it’ll be fine. You probably have a minor concussion. We’ll have to keep an eye on that. Akio put pressure on this.” He said and when Akio took over he started checking out Jun’s other injuries. “Can you tell me what hurts the most Jun?” He asked.
“My back the most, and probably my chest, it hurts to breath.” Said Jun. Sensei put on his stethoscope and listened to Akio lungs for a few minutes
Then checking the monitor readouts he said, “Alright, your oxygen levels are relatively ok and your lungs sound ok. You haven’t punctured them. I’m going to feel them on the front first but you likely have a fracture on the backside of your ribs where they are the weakest, tell me if it hurts too much.” He said and he began gently press his hands against his chest feeling for major breaks.
Jun groaned, “It’s bad but I think my back still hurts worse.” His face was sheet white, his eyes squeezed tight.
“Let’s get him up on his side, Akio keep pressure on that and Makoto help me roll him, careful now, slowly, gently.” said Sensei. Makoto helped ease Jun up on to his left side. “Hold him there Makoto. Keep him steady. This is probably going to hurt a lot but I need to check for displacement.” He said. He cut open the back of Jun’s shirt making it easy to remove and slipped the right side off. Sensei ran his hands gently but firmly across his back. Jun cried out and Aiko couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He could see the bruising already forming across his skin and his anger toward the gang returned returned to full blast. Sensei finished his check and slowly eased Jun back down.
“Good news is I can’t feel any breaks at all. You have most likely only have a fracture maybe two but if your condition stays stable through the night you won’t need an X-ray. Not much we can do for it accept let it heal. I’ll give you something for the pain.” He said. He grabbed antiseptic, saline and placed some towels on the side of the bed. He moved around to the head of the bed. “Now lets get that wound cleaned, ok Akio move the cloth.” And he began to pour the saline rinse . Jun moaned as Sensei moved his hair out the way. It pulled at his tender scalp. And then he dabbed on the antiseptic causing Jun to shout.
“Right sorry, I’m sure that burned. Akio i’m going to need your help again. Use both hand here and press the skin together.” Ordered Sensei. Akio pressed his hands to Jun’s scalp and Jun shrieked. He jerked his body up and jarring his chest causing him to groan in even more pain. “Hold him still for me Makoto.” He said. Makoto pressed down on Jun’s shoulders to hold them steady and Jun shouted again before promptly passing out.
“ Well, that was to be expected, this will be much easier now. Akio hold it tight now.” Said the Sensei as he made sure it was good and dry before he applied the dermabond medical superglue. He applied a second layer adhesive after the first thirty seconds. “Hold that for two minutes and it should be good. Now Akio, tell me exactly what happened before I have to call this boys parents and the school. I’m going to need permission to keep him under observation all weekend.” He ordered.
“Well I’m not positive on all the details, but Jun explained that he saw a group of guys follow two girls from our school when they were leaving the campus. He said it felt off and he was worried so he followed them. He said he intervened when the guys cornered the girls into an alley where more of them were waiting. The girls were able to get away. When I found them Jun was being beat up by a dozen or so guys. And so I did what I had too, and got Jun out of their fast as possible. We hid in the park in a tree till they were gone. But then Jun sort of fell out of the tree when we were coming down. I tried to catch him and we landed badly.” Said Akio
“Well, then I see we have a brave one here, did you kill any of them? Will we need to send a cleanup crew?” Asked the Sensei as if he were asking about the weather. He had never been one to beat around the bush. Akio glared at him for the implication.
“No, they probably received more injuries from Jun than me. His hands are pretty beat up, he must have really gone at them before they overpowered him. I got Jun out of their fast as possible, though I won’t deny that some of them are going to need stitches, but I didn’t get any of them bad enough they’ll bleed to death. Getting Jun out of there was my main concern.” He replied irritated.
“No need to be offended, you boys can’t afford to have any bad press right now. The protesters are dangerous enough as it is, it’s better if the Sentaa takes care of this before they can go to the media saying they were attacked by a Nekoka. It’ll set off more protesters screaming that your monsters and should be locked up.”
“Those assholes would have raped those girls, or worse, they’re the monsters!” Aiko shouted back.
“I’m not disagreeing with you Akio," The Sensei responded firmly, "but you still have to be aware that no matter what you do there is always potential for the media to spin it the worst possible light. It’s the Sentaa’s job to take care of these situations, I’m sure the director will send a team to deal with them.” He stated plainly. Akio felt heated with anger but didn’t argue because he knew Sensei Sasaki was right. He had ordered his pride brothers to not do anything to create waves and yet he was the first one to get in a fight with humans. But there was no way on this earth would he have left Jun, and he would expect his brothers to do the same as he did. Nekoka had a strong instinct to protect what was theirs, at times they needed to ignore it, but never when someone elses life was on the line. He would never ask that of his brothers especially if it ever came to protecting one another.
“You can let go now Akio, the glue will hold.” said the Sensei. Akio had forgotten he only had needed to hold it for two minutes and quickly pulled his hands aways. “Ah, I see you’ve busted you lip. And I doubt it was from the gang. I would have been shocked if they got a single hit on you.” Said Sensei as he took Akio’s face in his hands without asking. The look he had on his face showed that he expected Akio to explain. The sensei had be their doctor since the were brought there as infants and had never bothered with formality.
“Oh yea...when I tried to catch Jun…. his... head... smashed into mine…” Akio felt his face heat as he stuttered to find the right words without lying. Makoto would know if he did.
“Well it’s already healing, you be fine by tomorrow the same as Makoto. You boys heal much faster the humans. Our patient here is more fragile and is going to take a few weeks to recover maybe more.”
“Well, I think he's stronger then he looks, you’ll be surprised to hear Kato, was able to knock Akio on his back their first match. Ive never even managed that.” Said Makoto, with a big grin as he slapped Akio on the back good naturedly.
“Is that so?” Said Sensei with a knowing smile, and Akio could tell he wasn’t surprised at all. “Well I’m glad, after all I’m the one that actually recommended him to the Sentaa. He is my nephew. He sounds like a good partner for you.” He replied almost proudly as he went back to checking Jun’s vitals. Akio’s blood ran cold and he frowned grimly. So Jun was a setup.
“Ooooo are you Hana-chan's father?” Makoto asked excitedly clearly missing Aiko darkened mood.
“Oh? No, Hana-chan’s is more a distant cousin, and I am not biologically related to her. She is related to Jun on his mother’s side. I am Jun’s father’s brother.” he replied.
“Kato never mentioned his uncle was the Sentaa doctor.” stated Aiko flatly.
“I doubt he even knew, My brother and I hardly speak to one another, I haven’t spent time with the family since before Jun was born. I’d have been surprised if he actually knew who I was, but I do keep up with them especially when Jun was awarded rank of Godan and title of Renshi. Since Jun was already a student at the school, when the Sentaa asked me to find a suitable partner for you he was the obvious choice.” He replied. The tension in Akio eased slightly, he could have easily smelled a lie and it appeared Sensei Sasaki was speaking the truth. Still Akio decided Jun might be being used as a spy without him even knowing. He might be farmed for details that seem innocuous through casual conversation but could potentially threaten Akio's plans. Akio would still need to be cautious even if Jun’s offer of friendship was sincere. That thought actually made him angrier than before he didn’t like someone using Jun. It was dangerous, it could make Jun a target. He would have to make sure he kept him safe.
"How come you don’t have the same family name as Jun?” Makoto asked.
“I took my mother’s name when our parents were divorced, I was younger so I went with my mother. My brother, Shinichi, was old enough to decide for himself and chose to go with our father. We haven’t spoken since.” He replied. Akio suddenly noticed how sad Sensei sounded. Akio would have hated to be separated from his brothers. Sensei Sasaki was being far more open than he would have expected. He had never ever really shared about his personal life with him and his brothers. Though Akio was not sure he had much of one since he lived there at the Sentaa, and he was pretty the Sensei hadn’t taken so much as a sick day let alone a vacation. He had always been stiff, tough, and direct, always impersonal with them. Maybe this is what happened when you saw your only nephew beaten half to death and covered in blood. It was probably enough to make anyone drop the guard.
“Now that is enough about me, Jun needs privacy while I get him cleaned up from all this blood and both of you need to see the Director I’m sure you are already late for the meeting he had planned. You’ll have to explain the situation yourselves but tell him I will discuss this with him later tonight and for him to send his Advisor to help me with the school. I’ll need to talk to the as soon as possible. I’ll deal with my brother myself.” He said quickly before ushering them through the door.
With the boys out of the room Sasaki finally let go of a heavy sigh. He had been certain Jun’s skills would be able to protect him if troubled came from being with the Nekoka. In fact he had promised his brother that, and now he was going to have convince Shinichi that this wasn’t Akio’s fault. Jun had found trouble all on his own this time. If hadn’t been for Akio, Jun might have been left for dead. There was also something else concerning him. If Akio and Jun had smashed into each other hard enough to cause Akio to bleed there might have been some transfer of blood. He got a basin of warm water and some more towels and set on the table beside the bed. He removed Akio’s bloody clothes wiped him down before easing him into a clean hospital gown
All the Nekoka youth had been kept relativelly isolated from the rest of the world. Only a few like Akio had been allowed consitant contact with humans and even then they had been incedibly cautious. He had never even been able to get his hands on any cases where humans came into contact with Nekoka blood and vice-versa. Regardless of the rumors that where always circulating about compatibility, the composition of Nekoka blood was entirely different from human's. He had always been extremely careful when treating them himself as nobody seem to know what would happened. He was certain the Nekoka Council had done their own research but they kept it lockdown and no one else had access to it. It was why they had always been careful in restricting the Nekoka youth here at the Sentaa in there activities with humans. It was why he hand made sure Makoto was fully bandaged even though he would be completely healed in just a few hours. And it was why he had ordered for Akio to only be allowed to spar with Jun. Human and Nekoka blood might even be poisonous to each other. Jun could handle himself but he was already beginning to regret his decisions. He didn't think he could forgive himself if something happened to Jun because of this.
Akio was at risk to there no telling what Jun's blood could do to him as well. He had been concerned about this since it was announced that they would be attending the school. He would be keeping a close watch on those two. He decided to run some test on Jun while he was still unconscious. He wanted to get a better idea of what was happening before he had to talk with his brother.