Chapter 2. Certain First Meeting.

When he was young, Rikuo often wondered about death. It wasn't that he was morbid or wanted to die. He had a frail body since he was born, so he got sick a lot growing up. But as he got older, his health deteriorated until it finally landed him in this hospital at the age of 13. Unable to walk, much less move his legs. 

   At first it made him bitter and angry, though he stopped being angry over his condition anymore after just 4 months. It was outside of his control anyway, and besides he hadn't wanted to cause his parents any more pain. So, yes he had indeed wondered a lot about death and what it meant to him and everyone else. 

  But in the end, thinking about dying only made him want to live more. And he has been stuck in the hospital for 3 years!! So, he really couldn't be blamed for causing some mischief. Like running away! 

 Rikuo's shoulders shook as he tried to hold back his laughter. Sure, he did feel guilty for running away (more like steering away?) from the nurses just for his entertainment but being stuck all day inside was boring him to tears! 

   Rolling the wheels of his wheelchair, the blonde made a sharp turn. He could hear the nurses getting further away from him with each passing second. Finally, once he deemed them far enough, Rikuo sighed in relief. 

  'Now, to get to the rooftop.' he thought, turning his wheelchair towards the staircase. It was risky, but he had to carry himself up the stairs to reach the roof. The teen felt slightly guilty for making more work for the staff. But still, he didn't let that stop him. 

  He absent mindedly turned another corner only to be suddenly thrown into something or someone rather violently. 

 "Ow…" 

Rikuo heard the person mumble. Quietly he raised his head to look up and met the disgruntled gaze of the person below him. 

  He laughed awkwardly. 

"Oops?" 

… 

It was past 15:00 PM when Shuuji finally took a break. He had been searching since 06:00 AM nonstop but had no leads still. The dark haired boy sighed. The mission was already proving itself to be a headache. 

He had searched the entire hospital with no sign of the target. That was probably because everyone moved around, like normal living beings. But still, not being able to find just one person in hospital this small was ridiculous. 

   Shuuji sighed, it seemed like searching during the evening would have been better, and that was exactly what he was gonna do. 

 So lost in his own thoughts, the exorcist took a step forward, only to be tackled down into the ground. His head bounced against the floor and his vision swam. It hurt, at least Jor wasn't here to complain. He thought. 

  "Ow…" Shuuji half heartedly winced. Grimacing a little, he blinked and looked up at the person who pushed him. 

  On top of him laid a blonde boy who looked slightly dazed before his teal eyes refocused on the exorcist. The boy laughed once he saw Shuuji. 

 "Oops…" 

 Shuuji sighed. "Can you get off?" he asked, his tone cool yet resigned. The boy flailed a bit before he managed to push himself into a sitting position. 

   Realizing that he won't get anymore from the blond boy before him, Shuuji slid away from the other and stood up. 

  "I apologize for the trouble." the young exorcist murmured. Looking down at the blonde still on the ground, he belatedly noted the wheelchair lying behind him. 

   The blonde awkwardly fumbled with the trim of his sleeves, blinking at Shuuji from behind that mess of blonde hair. The boy looked to be around Shuu's own age at the least. 

 "I'm sorry too. I should have watched where I was going." he apologized. The raven nodded. He withheld a sigh and picked the blonde up, placing him back on the wheelchair. 

   If the other teen was surprised by his actions, he didn't show it. Instead the teal eyed teen shamelessly tugged at Shuuji's jacket. Effectively, stopping him from leaving. 

  "I'm really sorry, but can you bring me to the rooftop? I promise I won't bother you after this." the blonde asked. 

 'Well, he did know shame at least.' the exorcist thought. As he watched the other teen blush from what he assumed was embarrassment. 

  "Fine…" Shuuji answered, silently cursing his inability to refuse kids. The kid's face instantly brightened and a happy little smile appeared on his face. 

  "Thank you!" the blonde expressed his gratitude. 

 "It's no problem." 

 With that, Shuuji took the handles of the wheelchair then started pushing towards the elevators when the kid stopped him. 

 "Umm can we take the stairs?" 

 Shuuji gave him a deadpan look. They were on the 4th floor for Apollo's sake. But looking at the pleading look on the blonde's face, the exorcist nodded and turned towards the stairs.

  Once they reached the stairs, the raven picked up the startled blonde. He carried him up towards the rooftop. All the while, the blonde watched his every move carefully. Neither of them said anything along the way and soon enough they reached the rooftop. 

 The rooftop was warm and clean, despite it being the middle of June, the weather wasn't uncomfortably hot. Slight breeze blew past them while Shuuji placed Rikuo down on the roof terrace. The exorcist then sat down beside the blonde. 

  The blonde finally spoke again, this time introducing himself as well. 

 "Thank you. I'm Rikuo, it's a pleasure to meet you." he said. Shuuji shrugged in answer. 

 "Shuuji." he said. RIkuo beamed at him and if it didn't quite reach his eyes, the exorcist decided to not point it out. It wasn't his problem anyways. 

   "So, are you visiting someone?" 

….

  Rikuo observed the boy beside him while he awaited for an answer. It wasn't that Shuuji had to answer it. He just couldn't help but wonder if he was bothering the other boy and wasting his time. 

  'He is pretty…' the blonde thought. Shuuji had a black hair reaching past his chin and pretty blue eyes surrounded by long dark lashes. He was slightly taller than Rikuo as well as pretty fit too seeing as he wasn't even panting from carrying Rikuo up 3 flights of stairs.Rikuo knew he was light. But he wasn't that 'light'. 

  "No, I'm not visiting anyone." The answer piqued his interests. 

  "Then why are you here?" he inquired. Shuuji sighed and Rikuo wondered if he had offended the boy somehow. That would be bad, since the other boy was his only way to get back down. Hopefully he won't leave Rikuo up here.

  Oh what was he thinking? Not everyone was that mean. While the blonde was trying to rein in his thoughts, the raven finally replied. 

  "On a job." Shuuji said, his tone neutral and calm. Rikuo thought it was kind of cool, the way the other boy talked. 

 However, the raven didn't look much older than Riku himself. Maybe he just looked younger than he actually was?  Baby faced?? 

  "Job? Umm, how old are you?"

"I'm 15. I'm volunteering here." was all he said. 

  Rikuo nodded, that made sense. He hummed to himself for a moment. So he was indeed bothering the other boy. 

 "I'm sorry for wasting your time then. You must be busy."

  "I'm on a break. Where is your caretaker anyway?" The boy gave him a pointed look to which Rikuo laughed sheepishly. 

  "I don't know, I ran away from her. That's why I bumped into you actually! I was trying to escape from the nurses!"  the blonde grinned without shame. 

  Shuuji snorted. 

"Why were you even trying to escape?" he asked. Rikuo tensed a bit, he hadn't been expecting the question. But in hindsight, he probably should have. It wasn't like Shuuji knew his story. 

 'Unlike everyone else…' lost in his own thoughts, Rikuo didn't notice the alarmed look on the other's face. 

…. 

 Shuuji frowned when the boy beside him tensed and didn't answer his question. He had stepped over some invisible line and probably made the other boy uncomfortable. 

  One really couldn't blame him when he had only known Rikuo for like half an hour. He sighed a bit and was about to apologize when all his senses blared up to live. 

  A bile rose up his throat as miasma full of corrupted energy filled his lungs. The pressure pressing on him was heavy, it left him shaking and trembling from the fear that gnawed at his stomach. 

   Shuuji was alarmed, the onryo was nearby. Whatever it was, it was stronger than he could take on. He had to run, they had to run! The onryo was after Rikuo. Its target was Rikuo! 

  He stretched his trembling hands towards the blonde boy and was left reeling. Instead of the cheerful new friend he made. What stood before him was a towering monster of darkness and goo, with said boy being nowhere in sight. 

   'Oh..' he thought, barely holding back his urge to vomit. 

'it was Baku after all…'