Chapter 4. Contract Offered

"Who are you?"

Blue eyes twinkling with pride met determined turquoise.

"Me? I am an exorcist."

Shuuji gave him a slight smirk, however the sound of footsteps pounding outside reminded him of their situation and he turned serious again. He grabbed the blonde by the shoulder, never once breaking an eye contact.

"Now listen, Riku. No matter what happens you cannot step out of that circle. This circle will protect you from the Baku but it will also send you back to the real world. It'll take a few minutes, until then I'll hold off the Baku. So you just stay inside. You got me?"

 The blonde could only nod, unsure of what else he could do. Shuuji nodded back in satisfaction. He then let go and quickly activated the circle.

"Pneuma Aspis. Xypnise Apo To Oneiro."

The circle glowed pale blue as a silver dome erected all around Rikuo. Shuuji, with one last look at the blonde, calmly took a deep breath and threw the storage door open. Instantly, they were assaulted by a heavy, vile aura of corruption. It smelled of death, of despair of the victims of this monster.

 From behind the door two glowing eyes watched. It slowly inched into the room, coming to stand in front of the pair ominously. 

 The monster raised its trunk and sprayed black goo towards Shuuji who dodged out of the way. Rikuo flinched and made to move away but the goo just hit the dome before harmlessly landing on the floor.

  The blonde haired boy watched the exorcist battle the Baku. He had said the circle would return him to the real world. If so, then what about Shuuji? How was the other boy to return? He anxiously watched as the boy in question was thrown across the room, sighing in relief when he stood up with no visible wounds.

  Shuuji jumped towards the onryo again, his exorcism blade in hand. He attempted to stab the Baku's eyes but barely managed to nick it before its powerful trunks swung at him. It moved far too past for Shuuji's injured body to keep up with. Even though it was the dream world, the ravenette couldn't will his injuries away, especially since they were given by a high level corrupted spirit.

 He grit his teeth as the force of the hit sent him straight into the shield dome. Instantly the dome repelled him, burning into his back with intensity. Rikuo, who had expected the dome to let Shuuji in, cried out in surprise as well as a worry for his friend.

"SHUUJI!!!" He made a move to get there to help the exorcist but the strangled yell of the other boy stopped him

"STAY THERE!!!!" He panted, his voice hoarse from the blood he coughed. Shuuji shook, tears swelling his eyes from the unbearable burning pain in his back. He tried to move only to stumble and land on his knees. 

 "Damn it…" he mumbled, lifting his head up to see the onryo creeping towards him. 'Move!' He willed himself. His limbs shaky from the wounds he had gotten from the fight. Being rejected by the dome had not helped in that regard either.

  Shuuji cried out as the Baku picked him up. Its trunk circled around the ravenette's neck tightening with each move he made. He stared at the glowing crimson eyes of the spirit then at the circle under Rikuo's feet.

 'Ah…' he thought. 'It's almost complete…' 

 Shuuji's limbs fell limp against his side and his eyes fluttered closed. 'As long as I get him out…'

  Rikuo, who saw the way Shuuji went slack in the monster's grip, couldn't stand it anymore. He, with all his willpower, pushed against the dome and stepped out of the circle. The monster hadn't noticed him yet, it was busy inching the ravenette closer to what he assumed was its mouth.

 The blonde grabbed the nearest object (a metal tray) then chucked it towards the monster with as much force as he could put into it. It hit Baku's head with a 'CLANG' and harmlessly bounced off of it.

 "HEY! I AM HERE!!" He yelled.

Shuuji's eyes flew open when he heard the object make contact with the onryo. He turned to look at the blonde idiot standing outside of the circle, grinning like a maniac at the baku.

 "IDIOT! GET BACK- AGH!!!!!" The Baku threw the ravenette to the side. It lunged for Rikuo who barely dodged out of the way.

  Shuuji coughed. He pushed himself to stand up to see the boy he risked his life for, dancing around the damned onryo, taunting it. He watched, unable to move when he saw the monster pin Rikuo against the wall. The ravenette quickly picked up his discarded knife and jumped towards the Baku.

"RIKU! DODGE!!" 

Rikuo, who had realized he had backed himself into the corner a moment too late, shut his eyes tightly in fear. He waited for the impact of the monster's hit. Yet it never came.

  The blonde opened his eyes to see 'Strings?...'.

 The Baku was frozen, held back in place by several golden threads that bound itself around the monster. Both Shuuji and Rikuo watched in marvel as a golden scroll unfurled itself before the blonde boy, with an accompanied quill made of burning feather.

"A Contract…" the raven haired boy mumbled, unable to believe his eyes. They however did not have time to marvel as the onryo struggled against the threads, tearing through them. Shuuji gritted his teeth but lunged forward to distract the Baku.

" SIGN IT RIKU!!" The blonde boy fumbled at the sound, confused.

"BUT WHAT IS IT!?"

"I'LL EXPLAIN LATER JUST SIGN IT!! IT'LL HELP US SURVIVE!!" 

 And that was all the explanation Rikuo needed to sign the parchment. He took the quill then quickly signed his name. The scroll and the quill faded into a golden ball of light that disappeared into Rikuo's chest.

 Rikuo felt his veins burn with lightning-like feeling as the ancient voice full of power whispered sweetly into his ear.

"Now dear, Command.~" it whispered.

He uttered words that formed in the back of his mind. It was like an instinctual need to say those words and he felt like a- 

 He felt like a king with absolute control.

"Purify."

It was only one word yet the moment it left his mouth, it became a reality. The Baku shrieked as the same golden strings holding him faded into its skin, then spreading to cover every inch of its body.

  Under all the black goo, glowed a golden energy that exploded, blinding the duo for a moment. Shuuji covered his eyes and only opened them when the light faded away.

 "What?..." He whispered in surprise. In the place of the corrupted onryo stood a majestic beast with elephant's trunk, lion's mane and golden antlers of deer. It turned to the blonde, whom Shuuji noticed was swaying on his feet.

 His body moved before he could comprehend everything and caught the blonde before he hit the ground. Rikuo gave him a tired smile. They watched the Baku walk closer to them. It bowed lowly to the duo then disappeared in a swirl of flowers.

 "Haha…" a disbelieving laugh left the ravenette. The blonde looked up at his face imploringly which made the boy burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Y-you p-p-purified it! Pfft hahaha!!!"

"Why are you laughing!!??" Rikuo watched the other boy wheeze with laughter, confused. He stared at him, trying to get his question across when he noticed the edges of his vision fading away.

"Hey Shuuji, why is everything fading?" He asked softly, collapsing on the floor beside the laughing boy.

"Simple, we are waking up now." He answered, having finally calmed down. Shuuji turned to look at Rikuo, serious once more.

"When you wake up, I won't be there anymore." 

"Oh, but I will see you again?" The blonde asked, hope prominent in his voice.

"Yeah, I'll see you again. Soon." 

Boys grinned at each other before everything faded away once more.

 When Rikuo woke up again, it was to a worried nurses checking him for a pulse. As soon as they noticed he was awake, he was swarmed with hugs and questions as well as scoldings for disappearing on them. 

  The boy however tuned them all out to stare into the big big sky that stretched above, glimmering in the orange and purple of the evening sun.

'Yeah, see you soon.'