Chapter 3: Hunting Season(ing) Part Two

[mp_npc]

God, was there some planet in retrograde right now? Everything was so…gray. Tome usually would have been able to cite a specific planet but she had been too oddly deflated all day to speculate.

At least she wasn’t the worst one off. No, not by far. That honor went to the pompadour’d thug who did nothing but sulk in the corner of their shared club space now. Her own club mates who were always too scared of him to even approach even tried to offer him one of their honey chip bags out of sheer pity. Tome, usually quite stingy with the resources (especially now they didn’t actually have funding anymore) didn’t even object. ‘How the mighty fall.’

Goda had spent some time trying to cheer Onigawara up. That boy was too nice for his own good. Him AND Kageyama. Tome didn’t know what Goda had been trying, exactly, since she was too engrossed in (or rather numbed by) her video game to listen but she could guess. The Body Improvement Club had one solution for every possible human ailment. It was exactly why she didn’t risk complaining today.

Tome glanced at the clock—it was getting to be that time, wasn’t it? The time where everyone finished their club activities up. Ah. Orwell was calling her name once again.

Comments

[mp_simplyacommoner]

“Wait, you had to be back at work?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, I didn't want to let Master down." He kind of had, though. But he'd try to make it up to him some other way.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

“Come on, you’re not planning on dating your master, are you? He’ll understand.” Teru gave Mob’s hand an encouraging squeeze. “Hey, when we get close to the river, we should split up.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I don't mind it, but why?"

[mp_simplyacommoner]

“Think about it…that thing’s an ambush predator and we don’t exactly have a strong environmental tactical advantage. Of course, it’s nothing against you and me combined, but we can’t attack it directly while the Fluffy One is around. And we can’t leave it or Tome-senpai unguarded either.” Teru looked ahead and was a bit impressed that Tome hadn’t slipped once. “So, let me keep them out of harm’s way while you look for the ring. That thing might be fast but I’m pretty sure I’m faster.”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob nodded. Teru really knew a lot about this kind of stuff. While Mob was just worried about making sure to keep Tome and the Turtle Dove safe, Teru was already three steps ahead.

Just like Master Reigen.

"Thank you," he said appreciatively. He really did appreciate it. But there was one thing that was bothering him.

"Hanazawa-kun... I know that you feel that you owe me, but... isn't this a lot?"

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teru made a face. “What are you talking about?”

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I mean... you're putting yourself in danger doing all this. And for someone you barely know. Don't you think it's a lot?"

[mp_npc]

“Ouuuuh! We’re here!” The dove’s cry cut their conversation short. The barrier around it and Tome automatically made the wheat bow around them until they were emerging onto a barren floodplain.

Tome held her breath at the sight of it. It was just like blondie had said…the river was already flooding and lapping violently at the river banks. “Hey, can you really still feel it?”

“Yeah! I can! It’s definitely still somewhere here. Keep following my beak!”

“Then, we’re going.” Tome held the dove closer to her body and took a big breath like she was taking a plunge into cold water. She didn’t realize what comfort the wheat surrounding them offered until it was gone and they were wandering into a totally exposed area but she didn’t let herself dwell on it. She wasn’t one to lose her nerve and she wasn’t going to start now.

Teru released Mob’s hand and pushed ahead to stay close to the other two’s side.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

An unsettling feeling overcame Mob as Teru pulled away. At first, he thought it might be the absence of Teru's support. But that unsettling feeling grew larger and larger until Mob could no longer justify the feeling stemming solely from that absence.

It was then that he remembered something that Dimple told him.

"You gotta listen to your gut, kid!" he said. "Most of the time it's right on target. So don't question it!"

"It's here!" Mob rarely spoke in a loud voice, but he wanted to make sure that he was heard over the torrent of rain and river.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

No sooner had Mob yelled than Teru was hoisting Tome by the waist--

FWOOSH

In one instant the mud beneath their feet burst and sizzled as if it had been cut through with a giant flaming sword, right through the spot the three had been standing. Now, they were safely a good twenty feet away.

'Shit.' Teru blocked out the sounds of Tome wheezing and the dove cooing frantically. Yeah, that pressure was unmistakable. There was no way a barrier that was weak enough to accommodate the pigeon would last more than a few hits. And it hit fast. "Sorry about this, Tome-senpai. Fluffy One."

"Sorry about wha-AAAIIIEEE!!" Tome held the dove tightly to her as the world became a blur. When things had stopped spinning she could just barely make out the dark form of Mob at a distance.

"Kageyama-kun, find the ring! Make sure it doesn't get washed away--" 'Shit!' No time to rally as Teru had to dodge another attack that stretched far enough to carve through a nearby boulder like it was nothing.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

How could he possibly find it? He's not clever like Reigen. He's not smart like Teru, either. Tome's mind worked way faster than him, too. Even before this all started, he couldn't see anything and now that it was growing even darker, it was even harder.

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Teru believed in him, he tried to tell himself. He just has to figure it out as quickly as he can. Before something happened to the others.

Mob scrambled forward, the mud reaching up past his knees now. He frantically searched for it, pushing back mud, eyes scanning wildly for some glimmer of light in the torrential rain.

But he doesn't see anything like a ring.

Not anywhere he looked.

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[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teru was right about one thing--he was faster than this thing.

'At this rate, as long as I don't get hit.'

He was single-minded now. He was going to keep Tome safe. He was going to keep the little dove safe. He was going to see this through to Mob until--

The pressure was building again. It was predictable in that it had only been bum-rushing them but he couldn't be sure it didn't have something else up it's sleeve. He couldn't get a clear look at it just operating on it's level. So he bent his legs, told his companions to keep their heads down and he leapt up. He could feel the wind cutting through and just barely missing the bottom of his shoes. Up, up, up he went and he hovered until he was on-par with the farmland's tallest trees. It was hard to see as the darkness encroached on them, but he could make out a faint smoking zig-zag pattern.

"Oooouuuoooo! So humans CAN fly! I knew it!"

Tome heaved. "N-no-not q-quite--"

Before Teru could even think about soaking up the first bit of praise he'd gotten that evening the pressure was building again and quicker than ever. He twisted his body in-mid air as a rush of wind went by and suddenly the rain was muffled. Actually, everything was muffled. Wait, was Tome yelling now? He landed again to get his bearings and winced at the ache in his neck from jerking it so suddenly.

Ah. Something else hurt. Something really hurt. Something was warm. That's what Tome was yelling about. His shoulder was spurting blood and was soaking into her hand.

"Are you hurt, Tome-senpai?"

"Oh my god, did it take your arm off!?"

"No. Don't worry about it. I've gotten it worse from Kageyama-kun."

"Wait, what--"

Teru took off in a new direction. Even if it was dark, he had picked up on a few more interesting tidbits while he'd been airborne.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

The action above had taken Mob's attention away. Through all the noise, he managed to make out one word:

Hurt.

He needed to figure this out. He had to find that ring. Someone had already gotten hurt.

And then suddenly, a familiar voice rang in Mob's head

"You still having problems finding your key?"

Mob was sure that back then Dimple had taken his lack of an answer as an answer.

"You really want it, huh? So long as that desire's strong enough, you should be able to find it easy!"

"Huh?"

"You can sense energy, right?" Dimple asked.

Mob nodded in response.

"Desire generates a ton of energy! And when someone really wants something, that energy is directed at whatever-it-is they want! So all you need to do is sense that energy and you'll find it immediately!"

Mob went back to sifting through a desk drawer he had already rummaged through before.

"Hey! After all of that advice I gave you, you're not even going to use it?!"

"I don't like to use my powers for unnecessary things."

"Unnecessary?! You've been looking for a half-hour!!"

That was it. The turtle dove wanted this more than anything. If Dimple was right, all he needed to do was focus on that energy. All he needed to do was reach out and find it.

A blue aura radiated off of Mob as he tried to focus. He couldn't worry about Teru and Tome right now. He needed to trust Teru to keep the two of them safe.

And so he did.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

This thing had intent but it wasn't smart. At least not smarter than Teru, but to be fair, how many could claim that? No, if it had any smarts at all it would have known better not to telegraph such an obvious weakness.

It never once touched water deeper than a foot. And, whatever the reason, it was hungry for him. How very unlucky for it!

Teru lowered Tome so she could stand on her own at their next stop. Tome opened her eyes, took one look around, and clutched at Teru and the little dove even harder. Who could blame her? After all, they were precariously perched on top of a very slick boulder right in the middle of the raging river.

"Tome-senpai, are you a decent swimmer?"

"I was on the swim team in elementary for a Summer, but--wait--"

"Don't swim directly at the shore. Swim at a 45 degree angle to the current. Swim as hard as you can until your feet touch the bottom." Then, unceremoniously, Teru pushed her and the dove into the water.

He narrowed his eyes and caught the faint afterimage it left as it cut through the air and the rain to get to him in a grand leap. He thrust out his hands in front of him as the pressure gathered and hit in the forehead--but this time, the damn thing wasn't getting another freebie. The power had already gathered in his hands and he clenched them as hard as he could as soon as he felt it in them. It was in his grip now!

Then, he saw it.

Eyes. There were eyes everywhere. They absorbed light, leaving nothing behind. He had never seen something so empty before. And the emptiness was staring right at him.

Not yet. Not yet. He couldn't fight back yet.

Then, he felt it. He felt tendrils--no--legs. They were bigger than his own. There were legs everywhere. They weren't just in his hands, there were more at his neck and his knee and his back. They were drawing him in. Every millimeter it drew him in, it got exponentially colder. He was losing feeling in his limbs. But he couldn't fight back--not yet. 'Just a little longer.' Teru grit his teeth and the protective glow brightened around him, but it just made the thing pull him in even harder.

Then, he heard it. A hiss. The sound of something ripping. It was his clothes. It was his skin. He could only barely feel the warmth of his own blood seeping down his chest and he looked down. There was a cavernous maw filled with more nothing that opened up at its thorax. It was piercing him with its teeth.

Not yet. Not yet.

Teru couldn't even gasp. His arms and legs were getting weak and his head was spinning--venom? Was it pumping him full of venom? The pressure at his forehead was all around him now, crushing him.

Teru suddenly felt like he wanted to crawl in bed and go to sleep. There wasn't pain anymore, just exhaustion. But he couldn't--the last flickers of consciousness in him focused his eyes to the distant light on the riverbank. Mob. And a silhouette emerging from the water.

Now!

The light erupted from Teru's body and the hiss of the monster became a shriek of agony as he gave it a taste of its own medicine, piercing it with his own power. It flew back and the feeling rushed back into Teru's limbs. He grabbed his chest and gasped, breathing life into his freezing body. He could see the steaming trails it left through the sheet-like rain.

"Round two!" Teru vanished from the rock in hot pursuit.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

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Mob closed his eyes and let the sounds drown out around him. He can't feel the cold riverwater that lapped his legs now; he can't taste the rain on his lips. All he feels right now is that desire reaching out to one set location and Mob extends his arm out in that direction to grab it.

And then he can feel something. Not the wetness of the river he's standing in or the cold of the monsoon's gusts or even the desire he was trying to hold onto.

What he felt was the ring.

When Mob's eyes snapped open, he could see it floating in the sky overhead.

[mp_npc]

Tome’s first instinct hadn’t been to panic when she had taken a sudden plunge head-first into the dark river. The last thing she saw had been Teru’s body glowing like a torch in the dark. When her body was twisting against the current to find which way was up or down she opened her eyes and saw her own hand in front of her.

But how?

She was overcome with a sudden sense of wonder—she was glowing too!

The cold water wasn’t cold. Her mouth hadn’t filled with water despite her gasp. The weight of the dove was still in her arm. It was still warm and soft. It’s coo of awe created shimmering bubbles that floated to the top and Tome knew which way was up. She kicked her legs as hard as she could towards a distant light that she saw scattered through the water above. She gasped and air filled her lungs, giving her the strength she needed to overcome the current. She remembered Teru’s advice—the light from their bodies illuminated the flow of the water around them.

Tome’s feet hit sand and gravity settled back over her body as her head broke through the water. She looked to the dove in her arm and its dark eyes were glimmering with light as it gazed ahead. Tome’s eyes followed it’s.

Before her was a scene of wonder unlike anything she saw.

The land itself flowed up through the air. The streams of water created celestial arms that refracted the light surrounding them. Slick rocks reflected the light like tiny starry pinpricks. At its center was Kageyama, the one everything else was orbiting.

And above him- the brightest object in the sky—

“There it is!” For the first time the dove spread its wings and took flight from Tome’s hands.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Relief swept over Mob as the bird dove towards the ring. They had done it! They'd be able to return the ring now!

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Teru clutched at his chest and he kept clutching. The pressure was everywhere and nowhere and he felt like he had been ripped open. No, not physically--there was blood but it wasn't enough to even stagger him but it hurt. It wasn't like anything he had felt before. It was like there was something red-hot pouring out of him. It was intense and not painful but it hurt. Teru still felt cold and he was having a hard time focusing. All he wanted to do was hold onto whatever had been pulled out of him by remembering why he was there in the first place. The bird. Tome. Kageyama. Kageyama. Kageyama. He was beginning to feel warm again.

That thing...it had been feeding on him. Not on his body. His energy. His...

'Where is it?'

Where? He just needed to keep it at bay a little longer so where? He was really cold and his senses were leaving him again.

Suddenly, somewhere, there was warmth. Teru's body turned towards it automatically. There was warmth and there was light above him. The dove. The ring. Just seeing it was filling up the empty space in him.

Then the pressure was back and the monster was rushing right past him towards the light. Time stopped. Teru's heart dropped as a rush of understanding filled him. He forced his body into motion. He ran. He flew. He had to hold onto the belief that he was still faster than it like a lifeline. He threw his body between the monster with all its eyes and legs trained onto the dove and it sank its teeth into him again.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Teru!"

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Mob wasn't sure how much Teru could take of this... but he couldn't exorcise the monster without hurting the turtledove.

"We have the ring! You don't have to fight anymore!"

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[mp_simplyacommoner]

"Kageyama! H-He was already hurt--!" Tome struggled to stand as the cold from the water seeped into her bones even if she had no hope of reaching either of them.

The spirit's teeth sank no further into Teru as he put his hand on it's head. He could see it clearly for the first time. Then, he laughed, but it wasn't in his usual haughty way. He laughed softly, almost in disbelief.

"Kageyama-kun...you called me by my name." The spirit's wretched form began to soften as the energy flowed from Teru's body to surround it.

"I get it now. It's fine. It's over."

The dove watched Teru's back as the form of the spirit it had once feared so much dissolved into embers. It felt just like all the gentle spirits that once roamed freely across the farmland.

Then, the rain to fall again. The dove heard Teru mumble something before he was suddenly falling too. The dove flapped it's wings in a panic and flew after him to catch him.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob reached out, slowing Teru's fall with his psychic abilities. And when he was close enough for Mob to catch him, he let Teru settle in his arms, supported by his psychic powers. He really thought he had gotten stronger since joining the Body Improvement Club, but he wasn't strong enough yet to support someone else.

"Teru..." He had been so panicked before that his first name spilled out of his mouth before he could even adjust it. It was rude to call someone by their first name, especially someone you didn't know very well. His mom had lectured him on it many times.

But it didn't feel like he didn't know Teru very well anymore.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

The dove had managed to catch Teru by his hood and was frantically flapping it's wings when their descent had begun to slow--and it flapped harder and harder until it grew dizzy and fell into a tailspin of it's own to be caught by Tome.

"...Eh?" Tome's face brightened and tightened in a mixture of relief and confusion. "I swear he was bleeding before..."

That drew another faint laugh from Teru, now rousing, imbued with his haughtiness once more. "As if...that thing could really hurt me..."

Teru opened his eyes. Mob's face was the first thing he saw. Teru's body warmed even though he was in the cold mud. And even if Mob's aura had dissipated, his face was still the brightest thing there. Teru summoned the strength to lift his arm to poke the small dimple that appeared at the side of Mob's tight lip. "Hey...winners aren't supposed to look so dour."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob swallowed the emotion building up in his throat. "You could have really gotten hurt out there."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

The small catch in Mob's throat shot to the heart of him. Teru's instinct to treat the other boy like he was foolish for daring to be concerned died. Teru sluggishly winked in apology.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you so much."