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Title: Second Life
Chapter: 3 - Athena, Despaired
Character: Aoi Ryosuke, Ryuzaki Shinji, Hasebe Nagisa
Fandom: Orthros no Inu
Rating: PG13
Summary: After much preparation, Detective Hasebe picked up Aoi Ryosuke from work to the planned venue. Despite everything that she had set to ensure everyone's safety; her hopes for an uneventful evening turned awry as she witnessed Aoi Ryosuke collapsed to the ground.
------
Ryosuke blinked at her the moment he stepped out of the gates. Nagisa grinned, he had appeared so unguarded; so surprised at her sudden appearance that it was adorable. It struck her how much she liked it, seeing him smile.
“You said you wouldn’t mind to spend lunch with me and Mio again.” Nagisa glanced towards her watch. “It’s already way past lunch time, would you mind... dinner instead?”
Ryosuke chuckled.
“Of course I wouldn’t mind. But where's... Mio-chan? We’re not taking her along?”
Nagisa grinned.
“Mio wanted to make something special for you... so she was waiting at the place we’re going to.”
Ryosuke blinked.
“By herself?”
Nagisa laughed. “Of course not. I had someone looking after her at the place. Let’s go?”
“Hmm? What’s the occasion actually? What’s Mio making by herself for me?”
Nagisa gave him a cheeky grin as she winked at him.
“If I told you the answer, it won’t be a surprise anymore isn’t it? Please wait patiently for it, Aoi-san!”
Ryosuke shrugged, clearly being clueless about everything.
“You shouldn’t have to do so much. It’s not a special day today or something—”
Nagisa grabbed him along on their way before he could finish his sentence. She glance towards him as she spoke. “Decide whether today’s a special day for you once we reach the place, okay?”
Ryosuke just nodded as Nagisa’s phone rang. She picked it up as her colleague’s voice resounded in her ears.
“A moment a bit.” she apologised as she stepped away.
The officer on the phone started his report about the situation as she nodded. Still no sign of Sawamura as they had doubled up the security around. The officer also reported about the situation involving Stateswoman Sakaki and Kumakiri Zenzo but it seemed so far, Sawamura hadn’t approached them. Nagisa thanked him for the report and told them to keep up with the good work as she walked back towards Ryosuke.
“Work?” Ryosuke asked as Nagisa shrugged lightly.
“Nothing much... just the usual stuff. Let’s go?” said Nagisa as she urged him to follow her. Still puzzled, Ryosuke just meekly followed her towards her car.
xxx
“You know, you shouldn’t have gone all out just for me. I won’t mind eating anywhere that was convenient—”
Nagisa just waved him off as she turned another corner.
“Nonsense! What gave you that thought? Besides... this was nothing much...”
Ryosuke fidgeted in his seat as he stuttered.
“But I haven’t even... I mean, I’ve gone out of my office just an hour ago—is it okay if I just come to join both of you to dinner looking like this? I mean... I should have at least make myself more presentable—”
Nagisa laughed.
“Don’t worry... Aoi-san. You’re just okay as it is. And it’s not anything like a formal dinner or something so you didn’t have to worry about your looks. Don’t worry so much—”
“But then... earlier you said—”
The car stopped as Nagisa smiled at him.
“We’re here.” she said cheerfully as she got out of the car. Ryosuke did the same as he followed her towards a building. He looked up as he recognised the restaurant.
“Royal Host? We’re eating here?” he asked as Nagisa nodded. Nagisa casually glanced around the area before seeing what she expected to see before smiling in relief. Ryosuke glanced at her, puzzled by this action as Nagisa shrugged the concern away.
“Yeah, this was the place. Can’t be wrong about that.”
Ryosuke frowned as he glanced back towards the dimly-lit restaurant.
“Are you sure? The restaurant doesn’t seemed to be open right now. Strange though...” he said, cocking his head in confusion.
Sure enough, one time or the other... he had eaten at this restaurant at least once. But he hadn’t remembered it to be closed early. It was almost half an hour to seven o’ clock so it was quite dark already. The restaurant should already be lit with assorted type of lightings inside by this time, and not just some parts of it. And he could barely see any hints of customers inside as well...
Nagisa grinned as she grabbed his arm towards the restaurant’s entrance. Surprisingly, the restaurant was unlocked as Nagisa pushed open the glass door to enter. Ryosuke bit his lips.
“Ano... is it okay? There’s no one inside...”
“Don’t worry!” said Nagisa again before pulling him further inside, as she was close to having fits of laughter; seeing how panic-stricken Ryosuke had become.
Before Ryosuke could react, several popping sound was heard in front of him as the restaurant was suddenly bright. He blinked as he looked up towards the various faces of some of his current and former students.
“Shirakawa? Aomori-kun? Shinohara-chan?” Ryosuke muttered in confusion as he recognised some of them by name. “What’s going on... Hasebe-san?
He glanced towards Nagisa, equally stunned.
“Happy Birthday, Ryo-san/Onii-san!”
Ryosuke blinked as the two voices caught his attention. He glanced back towards his student as now he could see Mio and Shiho standing before him with his students. He could also see Maezono Chiharu sitting at a table nearby.
“Shiho—eeh?”
Shiho grinned.
“As usual, you forgot about it again, isn’t it... nii-san? Mother and father would arrive later... but really, you could be too focused on your work—”
Ryosuke was stunned to silence as Nagisa chuckled before nudging him.
“The surprise isn’t done yet... there’s still another present to show you...” she said as she walked towards Mio before dragging out another person from the back.
xxx
Ryosuke gave a cry as Shinji gave him a crooked grin.
“Miss Detective here found me and insisted that I come. So... how are you?”
After a moment of shock, Ryosuke finally started to smile as he realized what was happening. To think that Shirakawa and the others had planned this surprise birthday party for him. And somehow managing to drag Hasebe-san and his sister along with it.
“Ah... I don’t know what to say... Ani—”
The loud sound of a gun being fired at that moment seemed like coming from another realm of reality. Neither Ryosuke nor the rest of them had been able to make sense of the situation as Shinji felt his heart catch. A spot of blood started to form on Ryosuke’s shirt as it began to grow in size. And the blood had appeared horrifyingly close to where Ryosuke’s heart should be...
“Ryo... suke!”
He gasped as he stumbled over a table to get to Ryosuke as quickly as possible. He barely noticed it when Nagisa brushed past him as he caught his younger brother in his arm.
“Oh! You’re alive!”
Shinji glanced up towards the entrance as he saw Sawamura standing there. His hand was holding a revolver and it was aimed straight towards his head. Sawamura’s eyes glowed in madness as he laughed maniacally.
“Finally, I can kill Orthros—”
Sawamura could barely finish his sentence as Nagisa gave him a punch on his stomach, wrestled his gun from him before kicking it away and apprehending the crazed man. A plain-clothed officer barged in behind her as he started apologizing.
“I’m sorry. There a sudden commotion earlier at another building so I barely noticed—”
“Never mind that now! Take care of this first!” Nagisa snapped as she slammed the cuffs on Sawamura.
Shinji glanced back down towards Ryosuke as he started breathing heavily.
“Ryosuke! Hang in there!” he cried as he tried to stop the bleeding by pressing down at his brother’s wound. Ryosuke’s eyes appeared glazed as he looked up towards his brother, trying to appear strong. He lifted his hand towards Shinji as he tried to smile.
“Ani... ki, I’m... fine. Don’t... make... that kind of face—”
Ryosuke started coughing as blood came out of his mouth.
“Save you breath, idiot!” said Shinji hastily as he barely hear Nagisa practically shouting into her phone to get help. He barely heard some other voices as well but everything seemed to take less priority to him right now other than Ryosuke. Ryosuke’s head lolled towards his side all of a sudden as his strength seemed to leave him. Shinji felt his heart skipped a bit again as time seemed to have frozen...
“RYOSUKE!!!!!”
xxx
Nagisa ran frantically along the corridors leading to the emergency room as she reached Shinji, who had been sitting slumped at a bench nearby. The man looked up towards her as she bit her lips.
“How’s the others?” he asked her as Nagisa shrugged.
“Aoi’s students had managed to clean up the restaurant last I checked. Chiharu was downstairs with Mio and Shiho-chan to wait for his parents to come. And my colleagues had taken Sawamura to the precinct already.”
Nagisa sighed.
“Today wasn’t supposed to end like this. Aoi-san... was supposed to have the best birthday party he have had so far. That was what we originally have planned.”
Shinji looked at her in concern as Nagisa shook her head.
“I failed him. I was supposed to protect him... but I didn’t even manage... I’m such a failure—”
Shinji frowned.
“Did you know about it... About Sawamura—?”
Nagisa nodded.
“Yes. I knew about him escaping prison beforehand. I kept it a secret to everyone because I don’t want anyone to worry. But these few days... even when I’ve sent my people to search for him, I didn’t even seem to catch any trace of him! Why—”
“You’ve tried your best. Don’t beat yourself too much about it.”
“But then—!”
Shinji glanced back towards the emergency room’s doors.
“At least... you’ve tried to do something. And Ryosuke did seemed to be pleasantly surprised that you guys had made a surprise party for him. I’m sure he wouldn’t blame you for it.”
Shinji glanced towards his hand as he clenched it into fists.
“Earlier... the nurses and hospital staffs had been walking in and out, rushing to save Ryosuke. I overheard them saying that he had lost too much blood. Times like this, I wished I still have my powers. Heh... I can’t even offer my own blood to save my own brother because our blood group was different!”
He glanced towards Nagisa.
“At least you could do something.”
Nagisa bit her lips. And she thought she was the one feeling the most helpless right now. She looked up as the emergency doors opened and the nurses wheeled Ryosuke away. A male doctor walked slowly towards them.
“Are you two Aoi-san’s family?”
Shinji stood up.
“I’m his older brother.” he said as the doctor nodded.
“Aoi-san was stable now but very weak. He had lost so much blood on his way here after all. He probably would not regain consciousness any time soon but you should not give up hope. Aoi-san would be fine.”
“Thank you, doctor.” said Shinji as the doctor walked away. Nagisa glanced at him before slowly took a hold of his hand. She smiled at him before shrugging.
“Let’s go see him...” she said as he nodded his head.
Chapter: 3 - Athena, Despaired
Character: Aoi Ryosuke, Ryuzaki Shinji, Hasebe Nagisa
Fandom: Orthros no Inu
Rating: PG13
Summary: After much preparation, Detective Hasebe picked up Aoi Ryosuke from work to the planned venue. Despite everything that she had set to ensure everyone's safety; her hopes for an uneventful evening turned awry as she witnessed Aoi Ryosuke collapsed to the ground.
------
Ryosuke blinked at her the moment he stepped out of the gates. Nagisa grinned, he had appeared so unguarded; so surprised at her sudden appearance that it was adorable. It struck her how much she liked it, seeing him smile.
“You said you wouldn’t mind to spend lunch with me and Mio again.” Nagisa glanced towards her watch. “It’s already way past lunch time, would you mind... dinner instead?”
Ryosuke chuckled.
“Of course I wouldn’t mind. But where's... Mio-chan? We’re not taking her along?”
Nagisa grinned.
“Mio wanted to make something special for you... so she was waiting at the place we’re going to.”
Ryosuke blinked.
“By herself?”
Nagisa laughed. “Of course not. I had someone looking after her at the place. Let’s go?”
“Hmm? What’s the occasion actually? What’s Mio making by herself for me?”
Nagisa gave him a cheeky grin as she winked at him.
“If I told you the answer, it won’t be a surprise anymore isn’t it? Please wait patiently for it, Aoi-san!”
Ryosuke shrugged, clearly being clueless about everything.
“You shouldn’t have to do so much. It’s not a special day today or something—”
Nagisa grabbed him along on their way before he could finish his sentence. She glance towards him as she spoke. “Decide whether today’s a special day for you once we reach the place, okay?”
Ryosuke just nodded as Nagisa’s phone rang. She picked it up as her colleague’s voice resounded in her ears.
“A moment a bit.” she apologised as she stepped away.
The officer on the phone started his report about the situation as she nodded. Still no sign of Sawamura as they had doubled up the security around. The officer also reported about the situation involving Stateswoman Sakaki and Kumakiri Zenzo but it seemed so far, Sawamura hadn’t approached them. Nagisa thanked him for the report and told them to keep up with the good work as she walked back towards Ryosuke.
“Work?” Ryosuke asked as Nagisa shrugged lightly.
“Nothing much... just the usual stuff. Let’s go?” said Nagisa as she urged him to follow her. Still puzzled, Ryosuke just meekly followed her towards her car.
xxx
“You know, you shouldn’t have gone all out just for me. I won’t mind eating anywhere that was convenient—”
Nagisa just waved him off as she turned another corner.
“Nonsense! What gave you that thought? Besides... this was nothing much...”
Ryosuke fidgeted in his seat as he stuttered.
“But I haven’t even... I mean, I’ve gone out of my office just an hour ago—is it okay if I just come to join both of you to dinner looking like this? I mean... I should have at least make myself more presentable—”
Nagisa laughed.
“Don’t worry... Aoi-san. You’re just okay as it is. And it’s not anything like a formal dinner or something so you didn’t have to worry about your looks. Don’t worry so much—”
“But then... earlier you said—”
The car stopped as Nagisa smiled at him.
“We’re here.” she said cheerfully as she got out of the car. Ryosuke did the same as he followed her towards a building. He looked up as he recognised the restaurant.
“Royal Host? We’re eating here?” he asked as Nagisa nodded. Nagisa casually glanced around the area before seeing what she expected to see before smiling in relief. Ryosuke glanced at her, puzzled by this action as Nagisa shrugged the concern away.
“Yeah, this was the place. Can’t be wrong about that.”
Ryosuke frowned as he glanced back towards the dimly-lit restaurant.
“Are you sure? The restaurant doesn’t seemed to be open right now. Strange though...” he said, cocking his head in confusion.
Sure enough, one time or the other... he had eaten at this restaurant at least once. But he hadn’t remembered it to be closed early. It was almost half an hour to seven o’ clock so it was quite dark already. The restaurant should already be lit with assorted type of lightings inside by this time, and not just some parts of it. And he could barely see any hints of customers inside as well...
Nagisa grinned as she grabbed his arm towards the restaurant’s entrance. Surprisingly, the restaurant was unlocked as Nagisa pushed open the glass door to enter. Ryosuke bit his lips.
“Ano... is it okay? There’s no one inside...”
“Don’t worry!” said Nagisa again before pulling him further inside, as she was close to having fits of laughter; seeing how panic-stricken Ryosuke had become.
Before Ryosuke could react, several popping sound was heard in front of him as the restaurant was suddenly bright. He blinked as he looked up towards the various faces of some of his current and former students.
“Shirakawa? Aomori-kun? Shinohara-chan?” Ryosuke muttered in confusion as he recognised some of them by name. “What’s going on... Hasebe-san?
He glanced towards Nagisa, equally stunned.
“Happy Birthday, Ryo-san/Onii-san!”
Ryosuke blinked as the two voices caught his attention. He glanced back towards his student as now he could see Mio and Shiho standing before him with his students. He could also see Maezono Chiharu sitting at a table nearby.
“Shiho—eeh?”
Shiho grinned.
“As usual, you forgot about it again, isn’t it... nii-san? Mother and father would arrive later... but really, you could be too focused on your work—”
Ryosuke was stunned to silence as Nagisa chuckled before nudging him.
“The surprise isn’t done yet... there’s still another present to show you...” she said as she walked towards Mio before dragging out another person from the back.
xxx
Ryosuke gave a cry as Shinji gave him a crooked grin.
“Miss Detective here found me and insisted that I come. So... how are you?”
After a moment of shock, Ryosuke finally started to smile as he realized what was happening. To think that Shirakawa and the others had planned this surprise birthday party for him. And somehow managing to drag Hasebe-san and his sister along with it.
“Ah... I don’t know what to say... Ani—”
The loud sound of a gun being fired at that moment seemed like coming from another realm of reality. Neither Ryosuke nor the rest of them had been able to make sense of the situation as Shinji felt his heart catch. A spot of blood started to form on Ryosuke’s shirt as it began to grow in size. And the blood had appeared horrifyingly close to where Ryosuke’s heart should be...
“Ryo... suke!”
He gasped as he stumbled over a table to get to Ryosuke as quickly as possible. He barely noticed it when Nagisa brushed past him as he caught his younger brother in his arm.
“Oh! You’re alive!”
Shinji glanced up towards the entrance as he saw Sawamura standing there. His hand was holding a revolver and it was aimed straight towards his head. Sawamura’s eyes glowed in madness as he laughed maniacally.
“Finally, I can kill Orthros—”
Sawamura could barely finish his sentence as Nagisa gave him a punch on his stomach, wrestled his gun from him before kicking it away and apprehending the crazed man. A plain-clothed officer barged in behind her as he started apologizing.
“I’m sorry. There a sudden commotion earlier at another building so I barely noticed—”
“Never mind that now! Take care of this first!” Nagisa snapped as she slammed the cuffs on Sawamura.
Shinji glanced back down towards Ryosuke as he started breathing heavily.
“Ryosuke! Hang in there!” he cried as he tried to stop the bleeding by pressing down at his brother’s wound. Ryosuke’s eyes appeared glazed as he looked up towards his brother, trying to appear strong. He lifted his hand towards Shinji as he tried to smile.
“Ani... ki, I’m... fine. Don’t... make... that kind of face—”
Ryosuke started coughing as blood came out of his mouth.
“Save you breath, idiot!” said Shinji hastily as he barely hear Nagisa practically shouting into her phone to get help. He barely heard some other voices as well but everything seemed to take less priority to him right now other than Ryosuke. Ryosuke’s head lolled towards his side all of a sudden as his strength seemed to leave him. Shinji felt his heart skipped a bit again as time seemed to have frozen...
“RYOSUKE!!!!!”
xxx
Nagisa ran frantically along the corridors leading to the emergency room as she reached Shinji, who had been sitting slumped at a bench nearby. The man looked up towards her as she bit her lips.
“How’s the others?” he asked her as Nagisa shrugged.
“Aoi’s students had managed to clean up the restaurant last I checked. Chiharu was downstairs with Mio and Shiho-chan to wait for his parents to come. And my colleagues had taken Sawamura to the precinct already.”
Nagisa sighed.
“Today wasn’t supposed to end like this. Aoi-san... was supposed to have the best birthday party he have had so far. That was what we originally have planned.”
Shinji looked at her in concern as Nagisa shook her head.
“I failed him. I was supposed to protect him... but I didn’t even manage... I’m such a failure—”
Shinji frowned.
“Did you know about it... About Sawamura—?”
Nagisa nodded.
“Yes. I knew about him escaping prison beforehand. I kept it a secret to everyone because I don’t want anyone to worry. But these few days... even when I’ve sent my people to search for him, I didn’t even seem to catch any trace of him! Why—”
“You’ve tried your best. Don’t beat yourself too much about it.”
“But then—!”
Shinji glanced back towards the emergency room’s doors.
“At least... you’ve tried to do something. And Ryosuke did seemed to be pleasantly surprised that you guys had made a surprise party for him. I’m sure he wouldn’t blame you for it.”
Shinji glanced towards his hand as he clenched it into fists.
“Earlier... the nurses and hospital staffs had been walking in and out, rushing to save Ryosuke. I overheard them saying that he had lost too much blood. Times like this, I wished I still have my powers. Heh... I can’t even offer my own blood to save my own brother because our blood group was different!”
He glanced towards Nagisa.
“At least you could do something.”
Nagisa bit her lips. And she thought she was the one feeling the most helpless right now. She looked up as the emergency doors opened and the nurses wheeled Ryosuke away. A male doctor walked slowly towards them.
“Are you two Aoi-san’s family?”
Shinji stood up.
“I’m his older brother.” he said as the doctor nodded.
“Aoi-san was stable now but very weak. He had lost so much blood on his way here after all. He probably would not regain consciousness any time soon but you should not give up hope. Aoi-san would be fine.”
“Thank you, doctor.” said Shinji as the doctor walked away. Nagisa glanced at him before slowly took a hold of his hand. She smiled at him before shrugging.
“Let’s go see him...” she said as he nodded his head.
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