Note: I have nothing to do with Here is Greenwood and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the OVAs a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in the OVAs. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit in with the manga.
"...continue to investigate the apparent theft of the mummy. Because nothing else was taken, officials suspect the robbers had an accomplice working at the museum who provided them entrance and egress. However, the only potential suspect and witness, a night guard at the museum, is currently quarantined at the hospital and in serious condition. According to doctors, the guard has contracted an unidentified illness. The Center for Disease Control in the United States and other scientific and medical organizations in other countries have been contacted for assistance in identifying the guard's illness..."
Mitsuru snapped off the radio. "You know what's happening, don't you?" he muttered to his roommate.
Shinbou nodded. "As we suspected," he said calmly. "Shun has inadvertently summoned the things he thought to protect us from."
"To put it mildly," Mitsuru said.
The two boys were sitting in the dining hall, eating their breakfast. Mitsuru had brought his radio down with them, and they had been listening to the news. The report of the missing mummy had immediately caught their interest, and they had listened carefully to everything there was to hear.
Mitsuru sighed as he brought a piece of fish to his mouth. "We should probably keep this from Shun until we can prepare him for it," he said. He popped the fish into his mouth.
"Then I suggest you lower your voice and change the subject," Shinobu said calmly, "because he just entered the room."
Mitsuru nearly choked on the food, but he regained his composure quickly. "Do you have to do that?" he demanded, coughing once or twice.
"Ohayoo, Shinobu-sempai, Mitsuru-sempai," Shun said cheerfully, sitting down beside them.
"Ohayoo, Shun," Shinobu said, eyes still focused on his food.
"Ohayoo," Mitsuru said. He looked around. "Where's Hasukawa?" he asked.
"He's still sleeping," Shun said.
Mitsuru frowned. "Still? I realize there's no school today, but he's usually awake by now."
Shun nodded. "I tried to wake him, but he just rolled over. He didn't look too good."
Shinobu looked up sharply. "The concussion?"
Mitsuru stared at him. "After two days?" he said. "The doctors said he'd be fine after 24 hours!" While he shared his friend's concern for their "little brother," he thought Shinobu was being just a bit overprotective and overcautious.
Shun shook his head. "No, it's probably because I had a restless night and kept him up for a while."
Mitsuru blinked. "You? A restless night?"
Shun shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I kept worrying that something would happen. I mean, I did summon a vampire and some other things. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought I heard a strange noise in the room, so I'd sit up and look around." He sighed. "I was keeping Suka-chan up with all my moving around."
Shun sighed again, then grinned. "Then Suka said that he wasn't going to let anything happen to me."
Mitsuru leaned back and crossed his arms. "And how did he plan on pulling that off?"
"I don't know," Shun admitted. "But he said that if anything tried to kill me it would be because he was already dead." Shun leaned forward and cupped his head in his hands. "I didn't know he cared so much," he sighed, his eyes sparkling.
Mitsuru's eyes narrowed and he glanced at his roommate. "Hasukawa has a good grasp of the obvious, doesn't he?"
Shinobu nodded. "But at least he understands the reality of the situation. And he didn't shout at Shun for placing him in mortal danger."
Shun stared at them. "What--what are you talking about?" he stammered.
"Shun," Mitsuru said gently, "anything that happened to you would happen to Hasukawa first anyway, since he's first of all in the lower bunk and easier to reach, and handicapped as he is he wouldn't be able to fight or escape anyway."
Shun paled. "I didn't realize! He didn't say anything!"
"Probably because he didn't want you to worry," Shinobu said calmly. "And it was a noble gesture on his part."
Shun shivered. "Then we have to protect him!" he said quickly. "Suka-chan suggested that we get some stronger charms today. We can, right? And Mitsuru-sempai, can you ask your grandfather for help?"
Mitsuru thought about it, then shrugged. "Sure," he said. He turned to Shinobu. "Feel like a trip to Uguisudani?"
His roommate shook his head. "Thanks, but I'd rather not. I'll stay here and work on that book." Shinobu looked at Shun. "If you want, we can go to the temple on the other side of the school."
"Great!" Shun said, becoming cheerful again. "When can we go?"
"Let's finish breakfast first," Mitsuru said.
"Mitsuru, why don't you take Hasukawa with you?" Shinobu suggested. "I'm sure an outing will do him good."
"That's a good idea," Mitsuru said. "Assuming I can wake him up."
"Of course."
* * *
Kazuya rolled over onto his side, then awoke with a start as his cast-bound leg hit the wall.
"Ouch," he muttered, starting to sit up. Before he could even make the attempt, however, a wave of weakness swept over him, and he sank back into his pillow. It was just too much effort to do anything.
He sighed. He'd be glad when winter vacation finally began. He only had about a week more to go, then he could go home and spend Christmas and New Year's with his brother and sister-in-law, and not have to navigate hordes of stairs he didn't want to. Instead he could just lean against the walls for support instead of risking his neck going down the steps with his crutches.
And hopefully he'd heal enough for the doctors to give him a lighter cast instead of the thick, heavy monstrosity that imprisoned his leg.
He wondered if having the cast on his leg was having an effect on the rest of his body, because he felt stiff and sore all over. It was as though all his bones had taken it upon themselves to throb and ache with the pain their counterparts in his leg were experiencing.
He couldn't remember feeling this bad the night before. He'd thought that everything was fine once Shun stopped tossing and turning. He'd fallen asleep himself and enjoyed a peaceful, uneventful night.
Except that he'd dreamed.
And in that dream he'd seen someone enter the room and draw back the curtain to his bunk. And that someone--a boy, he thought, around his age--had pale skin beneath red-brown hair. Then he'd sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned in over him. And the boy had whispered something.
I'm sorry.
And then the boy had leaned forward and done...something. Kazuya couldn't remember anything of the dream after that point, but he clearly remembered those words.
I'm sorry.
"His voice," Kazuya murmured. "He sounded so...sad...as though he were really sorry about something. But what?"
The boy's voice echoed in his memory. It had been remorseful and apologetic, he thought, and full of sincerity and honesty. And the boy's eyes had been sad and filled with regret.
He shook his head. Why was he even bothering to think about it? It had only been a dream.
Yet it had been so real...
Someone knocked on the door.
Kazuya sighed. "Come in," he called. He blinked when Mitsuru entered. "Aniki!"
"Ohayoo, Kazuya," the older boy said. "You missed breakfast, you know."
Kazuya smirked. "And deprived you of my share of it, no doubt."
Mitsuru laughed. "Well, at least you've got your sense of humor back."
"Whatever." He started to sit up, but the stiffness in his body drove him back. "Help me up?" he pleaded.
Mitsuru came over to him. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Kazuya heard the concern in his friend's voice, and he wondered what he had ever done to deserve a friend--a brother--like Mitsuru. "It's nothing," he said. "I just feel stiff all over."
"It's no wonder," Mitsuru said. "The weather changed overnight. Fall's gone, and winter's here."
"Great," Kazuya grumbled. "Now I guess my leg's going to ache even more now."
Mitsuru laughed. "You just need to get warm," he said. "Why don't we go down to the baths? You can't soak in the furo, but the warm air might help you relax a bit."
"Sure," Kazuya said. "I guess so."
"Good. Then after that we can catch the train to Uguisudani and visit my family."
Kazuya blinked. "What? I didn't know you were going home today."
"I wasn't," Mitsuru said, "at least not until Shun asked me to go."
"Shun?" Then he understood. "Oh, more charms. He mentioned asking your grandfather for more charms." He paused. "I thought he and I were going to the temple on the other side of the school."
"Shinobu's going with him."
"I'd have thought he'd go with you," Kazuya said.
Mitsuru shook his head. "He feels uncomfortable around my family." He sighed. "It isn't easy for me to see them, to feel how much they love me. It's worse for him to see that, though, because he can't help comparing them to his own family."
"I never thought of that," Kazuya said softly. "It must hurt him whenever he sees any of us with our families."
"You're right," Mitsuru said.
"Ne, what does he do during winter break, then?" Kazuya asked. "He can't stay here like he does during the summer, right?"
"I think he stays at a hotel or an inn," Mitsuru said. "But I know he doesn't go home. Kazuya, I know he sometimes seems cold and aloof--he has to be, to deal with his family problems--but he has a heart, and you and I and Shun occupy large place in it. We're his family, and we stand by each other."
"I wish you hadn't said that," Kazuya said. "Now I feel guiltier than ever about going home for Christmas and leaving Shinobu-sempai all alone."
Mitsuru grinned. "You can try asking him to stay with you, but he'll never agree to it."
"You're probably right."
With Mitsuru's help Kazuya got slowly to his feet and changed out of his pajamas. They talked about trivial matters until they were preparing to enter the baths.
"Ne, Kazuya," Mitsuru said, "I'm glad you agreed to go with me."
"Why?" Kazuya asked.
"I don't know if I can handle seeing Sho again."
Kazuya frowned. "Your brother?"
"I haven't really spoken to him since that time you went with me to help clean the temple." Mitsuru sighed. "You know what happened then. We hardly spoke to each other the entire vacation."
Kazuya did know what had happened. Sho had overheard Mitsuru's explanation for why he stayed at the dormitory, and it had upset him. Mitsuru had never talked about what had happened after he'd put him on the train, but apparently things hadn't been resolved.
Kazuya patted Mitsuru's shoulder. "Don't worry, Aniki," he said. "I'm sure everything will be fine."
* * *
It was nearing midnight before Haru slipped down from his hiding place in the dormitory's attic. Trapped as he was in the building, it had been the only place dark enough to shelter him.
His throat was dry, and his fangs itched to plunge into somebody's throat, but he kept himself firmly in check. There was only one way for him to get enough blood to satisfy his thirst, and he wasn't about to do it. Ignoring for a moment the fact that the boy on the second floor was his only source of sustenance, he wasn't about to make the boy suffer for the evil machinations of a book. Nor was he going to compromise his ideals and morals anymore than he absolutely had to.
He sighed. He had to find a way out of this mess. If he didn't, he'd have to drink more and more of the boy's blood, and eventually he'd kill him. And he wasn't about to have another innocent's death on his conscience.
If only he could get his hands on that blasted book!
He glided silently down the stairs to the second floor, then moved swiftly to room 210. He nearly stumbled back when he opened the door.
Charms and medallions festooned the room completely, leaving practically no free space available on the walls and furniture. There were even charms pinned to the curtains of the upper bunk. The bottom one, surprisingly, had nothing on it.
All the amassed spiritual power should have sent him reeling out, but there were two things that circumvented all their precautions. The one who had summoned him was there, and though the charms the boy bore in his pockets prevented him from approaching him, the summons rendered all the rest of the objects worthless.
The other thing was the boy in the lower bunk. He had tasted the boy's blood, and now it gave him another means to bypass all the charms and medallions.
He moved swiftly through the room and gently sat down on the edge of the lower bunk.
It surprised him that this boy had chosen not to guard himself with charms. Of course, it made it easier for him to reach the boy, but still!
Then he saw the boy and saw the pulsing of life in the boy's veins. He leaned forward, then firmly pulled away. Mustering up all his strength, he warned himself not to take too much.
He wouldn't take too much, but it would still be too much for the boy to bear. Especially when he shouldn't have too!
"I'm sorry for this again," he told the sleeping boy. "I'm doing my best to control myself, and I pray that my best will be enough to protect you."
He leaned forward and kissed the boy's forehead before moving his lips down to the boy's throat.
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