XXII: Moon

MOON VII

He took the bandage off of his forearm. All of Minako's clawing had pulled it loose in a few spots, so he had to change the dressing while he still had some downtime.

The wound was red and swollen where the stitches had been disturbed, and he took a moment to consider how impressively deep the gash was. His flesh was practically butterflied, and a thin line of blood was quickly welling up between the parted skin.

Cuts and scrapes from shadows never did heal like normal wounds. He let it bleed into the sink for a while.

The Kirijo Group had been notified of Minako's disappearance not long after the Dark Hour ended. The other members of SEES could put two and two together, so there wasn't much 'laying low' to be done. No time to relax, though he was getting used to that part.

Mitsuru sent a single, cryptic text message that read: 'We'll talk later.', which showed some amount of respect for his time, at least. Aki, on the other hand, wanted to talk now . Shinjiro watched his phone light up and vibrate demandingly in his palm several times before giving in. If he didn't answer eventually, it would only get worse.

He wasn't sure what to say when he picked up.

"You can't just kidnap someone from a hospital, Shinji!" The voice of his friend filled the silence created by the lack of a 'hello' or 'some blonde assholes made me do it'. Neither of those were a great way to start this conversation anyway. "Did you think the doctors wouldn't notice?"

"Nah, but I knew Mitsuru wouldn't call the cops on me." Though hoarse and tired, he found his voice for the first time since leaving the hospital. Nice to know his sense of humor had survived this ordeal.

"You're lucky she didn't," Akihiko shot back. The comment came out sharp enough that Shinjiro nearly felt bad for joking. His list of things to thank Mitsuru for was getting uncomfortably long. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Good question. And not an easy one to answer.

Circling around from the far side of his bedroom, he sat on the edge of his mattress for about the tenth time in less than two hours. Minako was still asleep. The artificial glow of streetlights and the occasional passing car reflected off of his window and painted her pale face with thick colored bars of light. It would still be a few hours until dawn. He hoped she would look a little healthier in the sunlight.

"I had an idea." He tore his eyes away from the sick girl curled up in his bed, opting to stare at the ceiling instead. There were a few thin cracks in the plaster, reaching across the surface like delicate, but massive spiderwebs. "If it doesn't work, I'll bring her back to the hospital."

Akihiko made a noise that sounded like the beginning syllable of protest, but went quiet instead. Whatever he had on his mind, he clearly needed a minute to wrestle with it.

"Fine," he managed. It didn't sound enthusiastic. "I trust you. Just be careful, alright?"

Calling that response unexpected would be an understatement. Shinjiro grimaced and shifted uncomfortably, passing the phone from one hand to the other. He waited for his friend to realize what he said was crazy, but no such revelation came.

"...Alright, good. That's all you called about?"

"Of course not! You can take care of Minako, but I'm not finished talking!" Akihiko was riled up again already, and began shouting. There was a clumsy 'thump' on his end of the call, as if he slammed his fist on something solid in frustration. "With the Dark Hour back, Mitsuru had people look into some of the Kirijo Group's old records. Things are bad , Shinji." He didn't have to add that last part. Whenever new reports surfaced about the Kirijo Group's past, it was never nice stuff.