Underneath the Red Trees

CHAPTER 4: RED BEAST

It was hot, like he was trapped in an inferno. There was a horrible burning pain on every part of his skin. Hayate could not contain the grunts and groans of pain escaping from his lips. He clutched his head, crouching on the floor.

There was a voice in his head, like the deep rumblings of a thunderstorm. It was loud, so loud as to drown out any other sounds. All he could hear were whispering accusations of sin and betrayal.

He could not hear Ayumi when she asked him what was wrong. He could not hear her when she shouted at him either.

It was hot. Why was it so hot? It was like the heat of a high fever but a hundred times worse. He felt as if he were about to vomit but he also felt as if his stomach was completely empty.

Lava moved up his throat and spilt onto the concrete. Hayate's vision blurred and he saw traces of war and destruction and suffering leaving him lost and confused...

What was happening?

Ayumi saw Tachibana standing at Zaizen's door. She held a folder in her hands.

"What are you doing here?" Ayumi asked.

Tachibana was staring at the ground. She sucked in a breath. "Do you remember that Break we met the other night? The one with the top hat?" Ayumi nodded. "He already has a reputation." She handed Ayumi the folder.

Ayumi studied Tachibana's face before she opened the folder. There were two pages of statistics and a picture of the Break they had encountered. "They call him the Baron." Tachibana continued, "There are records of him going back as far as 150 years."

"So, what? He is some Victorian lord?"

Tachibana nodded. "He's famous for creating troublesome Breaks."

"How do you think they do that?"

"Create Breaks? Breaks are originally humans who have lived through great torment and suffering."

"They give up their lives for a chance to become powerful and stick it to those who caused their suffering, yeah, yeah, I know the definition," Ayumi snapped.

A silence fell over the two. Ayumi did not want to stay outside with Tachibana, but she was too untrustworthy to be left out here alone.

"Is he okay?" Tachibana finally asked.

"Who are you to ask?"

"You don't have to be so mean. I just want to know if he is okay."

Ayumi scoffed, leaning against the wall. "Why? Because he flirted with you for two minutes?"

The embarrassment flashed across her face. "And being 'mean' as you called it. I'm not." Ayumi stepped forward, jabbing her forefinger against Tachibana's chest. "You people are nothing but thieves."

Tachibana scoffed and turned around. Ayumi watched her walk down the street before she went inside.

Ayumi had brought Hayate back here to Zaizen's. He was sleeping on a futon, unmoving. He had been burning up for the last couple of hours. Ayumi had gotten no sleep since she brought him here.

She wiped his sweating forehead with a wet cloth. His brows scrunched up. He was dreaming.

"You know, my lord," she started, talking more to herself than him, "I am really happy I have found you. Everything should be okay now that you're back, right?"

Hayate opened his eyes. He found a lightly coloured ceiling in front of his eyes. He raised a hand to rub his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. Hayate still felt hot. How much time had passed?