Cross Life

Shiyuchi just grumbled another "I'm fine" in reply to Kei, before noticing the nurse that spotted them. She walked over and the news she had was a relief. He was glad Kazuhiko wasn't seriously injured.

"I live with him, so I can call them," Shiyuchi answered, pulling his cell phone out of his pants pocket and flipped it open to call. He noticed how the nurse looked at him, and quickly put on a blank face to hide any pain he was feeling. It was bearable, so they didn't have to do anything for him, geez. They should be paying more attention to Kazuhiko anyways.

He explained carefully to Kazuhiko's mother what had happened, leaving out some details, and she answered that she would be over as soon as she could.

"His mother will be here soon," he told the nurse after hanging up, doing his best to remember to keep a straight face.

He assumed Kazuhiko's mother would stay here with her son for as long as she could (though his father would probably not since it's not like Kazuhiko was dying), so Shiyuchi planned to walk home once he was less sore.

Hiroyuki looked back and forth between Kei, Shiyuchi, and then the nurse, his smile brightening when he heard that Kazuhiko was going to be okay. He plopped into the seat next to Kei (since he had been standing all this time (('cause I say so))) and clung to the others' arm.

"Ne, let's stay and wait with Shiyuchi," he smiled up at the other.

The nurse nodded, still worried about the kid, who seemed to be forcing himself to keep a blank face. "Are you okay, sweetie? You seemed to be in pain a minute ago..." She took a step closer to the boy, trying to inspect him closely, and maybe find what was hurting the kid.


Kei looked down at Hiroyuki with a blank expression, slightly rolling his eyes at the ever-so-sparkly kid. They didn't have any business here, and he was honestly tired of being in such a noisy place with so many people, but... well, they didn't really have anything else to do, and the ghost seemed keen on not getting his injuries checked out, so it was probably for the best if they stayed until he decided to leave. He might need some help to get back to his house.

The brunette let out a small sigh. "I suppose we can," he finally answered, moving his left hand to rub at his temple when another child started to cry somewhere else in the room. He hoped the medium's parents would get there soon.

((lol Hiroyuki is the only bubbly character out of them all XD))

"Yay!" Hiroyuki's arm flew up and around the other when he agreed to wait, giving Kei a tight squeeze before letting go with a bright smile still on his face. He then looked to Shiyuchi who was being inspected by the nurse.

"I'm fine, really," he answered her question, trying to scoot back when she came closer, but there was a chair in his way. The pain wasn't so bad now; just a dull throbbing whenever he moved.

Luckily, Kazuhiko's mom came rushing into the hospital, looking quite hurried and worried. She spotted Shiyuchi and immediately walked over to him.

"Where is he? What happened?" she demanded, looking between Shiyuchi and the nurse.

"This is Kazuhiko's mom," Shiyuchi explained to the bewildered nurse. She nodded in reply and led Kazuhiko's mom to go see her son.

Once they had turned down the hall, Shiyuchi stood, grimacing slightly, before leaving the hospital to head home. He didn't want to face Kazuhiko, he couldn't face the medium. Though, Kazuhiko would eventually come home, and Shiyuchi had no where else to go. There was no other medium that he could possess nearby, and if he were to simply move in with another medium, he'd just be burden in their house.

He stared down at the sidewalk as he slowly walked along.

Kei merely watched the scene before him when the medium's mother showed up, taking away the nurse's attention after talking to the ghost- Shiyuchi, as Hiroyuki had called him. She left almost immediately to check on her son, after which Shiyuchi got up from the chair, apparently still in pain, and headed for the hospital's door. Kei was more than happy to follow, tired of sitting in that noisy, smelly place. He hated how hospitals always had that lingering smell of unnatural cleanliness.

He looked over at Hiroyuki to make sure the kid was following, and hadn't been distracted by something else. When he had confirmed the other had caught up to him, he shifted his gaze to the front, landing on Shiyuchi's back.

The ghost was staring down as he walked slowly, probably due to the pain. Why didn't he go with the medium's mother to check on the kid's condition? Judjung by how he looked, he was probably blaming himself on some level for what happened. Or maybe it truly was his fault. Kei knew he couldn't accurately judge the situation just yet. One thing was sure though; one way or another, that ghost was avoiding meeting with his partner.

He wondered briefly if he should go and help Shiyuchi walk. He did seem to still be in pain. His response to being fussed over by the nurse wasn't encouraging though. He might be the type to think of receiving help from others as a bad thing. He thought about trying to talk to him and convincing him to go see his medium and talk things out, but again, that was none of his business. He didn't know what had happened before they were both being attacked separately by that monster.

At times like this, he envied Hiroyuki a little. The kid was able to easily jump onto other people without a single worry about their reaction. He, on the other hand, got stuck in his own thoughts, without being able to actually do anything, which only left him with a lingering feeling of guilt and regret.

"Kei-kun," Hiroyuki tugged on Kei's sleeve, "we should help Shiyuchi. He seems sad."

He looked up at Kei with big pleading eyes as he waited for an answer. Shiyuchi was limping away, not moving very fast making him easy to catch up to. Hiroyuki wanted to do something since it seemed something had happened between Shiyuchi and Kazuhiko. Kei wasn't the type to get into other people's business, but Hiroyuki didn't want to be separated from Kei nor did he want to talk to Shiyuchi alone. It wasn't because he was shy, but because Shiyuchi seemed like the type that would ignore him at first, then get annoyed and snap at him. It made it hard to talk to someone like that, since Hiroyuki would easily back down. Kei on the other hand was more assertive when he wanted to be.

Though, if Kei didn't agree to talk with Shiyuchi, Hiroyuki would probably go try anyways despite knowing how it might end. He still had to try. He couldn't just let Shiyuchi walk away like this. Maybe if he stuck with Shiyuchi he could also learn where they other lived. He should also get the ghost's cell phone number, as well as Kazuhiko's. It would be good to be able to contact another Medium and Ghost.

Kei sighed, not bothering to look down at the kid. He already knew what kind of face the other was making, what with all the sparkles practically slapping him on the face. He kept his eyes on Shiyuchi, who did seem like he could definitely use some help. He thought about it for a few more seconds, but Hiroyuki's puppy dog look kept slapping him from the side, leaving him with practically no choice but to approach the other ghost.

He sped up his pace a little to catch up with the other, putting a hand on his shoulder when Shiyuchi was within his reach. "Hey. You-" He stopped mid-sentence when a jolting feeling alerted him of the presence of a monster nearby, quickly coming closer to their small group. Too quickly to be normal. He gripped Shiyuchi's other shoulder with more strength, pulling the ghost while practically throwing himself towards the side of the street.

"Hiroyuki, get out of the way!" Kei winced when his back hit the wall surrounding one of the houses in the area, with both his and Shiyuchi's weight, since he used his body as a cushion so the already injured ghost wouldn't get hurt any further. He immediately scanned the street with his gaze, trying to make sure Hiroyuki was okay, and to find the runaway monster that just raced almost through them.

Shiyuchi was about to push the hand off of him, but he was suddenly pulled to the side and bumped up against Kei. If it wasn't for the fact that he noticed it too, Shiyuchi probably would have started yelling at him. However, he sensed the monster that suddenly went by them, and cursed his luck. Kazuhiko was in the hospital and Shiyuchi wouldn't have been able to face him anyways, let alone possess him. He wanted to stop the monster but there was no way he could in his present condition. It would be up to Hiroyuki and Kei to do so.

Hiroyuki was confused when Kei told him to get out of the way. Get out of the way of what? Though he quickly moved to the side as Kei did, figuring he should mimic the other. He then noticed the monster that was not too far from them and quickly latched onto Kei.

"Hurry, possess me!" he exclaimed.

Kei saw Hiroyuki get out of the way, and confirmed the identity of the monster that they managed to avoid. It was a motorcycle, only slightly bigger than it should be, with more pipes coming out from behind which were constantly spewing smoke. Once it slowed down to veer around and aim for them again, he could also see some sharp spikes scattered on it, most of them around the wheels. "This one's dangerous..."

When Hiroyuki came into contact with him, Kei closed his eyes, letting himself turn into spiritual energy, which naturally flowed into the younger kid's body. "Remember to keep an eye on Shiyuchi, he can't dodge a monster this fast with enough speed in his actual condition," He tried to look for the core on the monster, which was already heading towards them, apparently trying to run them over. With the motorcycle in constant movement, it wasn't easy to distinguish the finer details of it as more than a blur.

"We need to slow it down before we can properly find the core."

"I have an idea!" Hiroyuki exclaimed, feeling the surge of strength after Kei possessed him. He grabbed a hold of Shiyuchi around his waist before leaping up with Shiyuchi over his shoulder. They landed on top of the building where Hiroyuki set Shiyuchi down gently.

"Wait here, okay?" he smiled at the other, before jumping back down before he could get a reply. The monster turned around once more to attack Hiroyuki and Kei.

"Think we could grab it and manage to not get stabbed by those spikes?" Hiroyuki asked Kei, side-stepping the monster before it could hit them. It sped by, screeching to a halt as it turned around once more.

Shiyuchi just sat there, a bit dumbfounded that Hiroyuki had simply picked him and placed him on the roof of a building. Well, there wasn't really anyways he could get down. Not without hurting himself a lot, that is. He scooted himself closer to the edge of the roof so he could peek over the edge and see how they were faring against the monster.

Kei was a little surprised when Hiroyuki picked up the other ghost and left him on the roof of a building. It had forgotten that the kid would be able to pick the other up so easily once he was being possessed, and a high place seemed like the perfect defense against this particular monster. It always confused him, how Hiroyuki could sometimes be so simple minded, yet he could still surprise him like this during the most critical times.

"There's no way to be sure," Kei took another look at the monster through Hiroyuki's eyes, but he still couldn't see it clearly, let alone try to find the core. There should be a way to stop it though... without the risk of getting hurt. A ranged attack would be best for this.

"Summon the guns and aim for the tires." It was the safest way to slow the monster down, even stop it completely in the best case scenario. Hiroyuki should be able to keep the guns summoned for a decent time with their actual synchro-rate too, so it was the best course of action they could take right now.

"Eh? Are you sure? Once I summon the guns we won't be able to stay synced for too long. We'll be too pressed for time!" Hiroyuki fretted, dodging the monster again, since it was easy when it was coming straight at him in a predictable manner. "Wait! It has to slow down a bit to turn around! Do you think we'd be able to get to it as soon as it's turning around and catch it off guard!?"

Shiyuchi watched them from above, wondering why they were just dodging the monster and not attacking it. He was too used to Kazuhiko's style of charge in and attack, since it was like his own battle plans, though Shiyuchi thought out his attacks a bit more. Kazuhiko hardly paid attention to details. Even with his advantage of not having to dodge the monster, it was moving too fast and his eyes weren't fast enough to get a good look at the motorcycle to try and find the core.

"I can feel the monster hasn't been alive for long, so it's still not too adaptable. The time we have after summoning the guns should be more than enough to finish it," Kei took a good look at the monster when it turned around to charge at them again. It did have to slow down, which would make aiming a whole lot easier.

"You're right. Wait for it to be close to turning, then summon the guns. You should be able to get both tires while it's slowed down." It would be a matter of finding the core and destroying it after that. Besides, they didn't need the guns to do that. A normal attack could do the trick. The monster would be at a great disadvantage without being able to move, and even if it had another way of dragging itself, it would stay still for enough time to get a decent look at it. Shooting the tires would take a couple of seconds, leaving them with a lot of spare time with the guns too.

"We should finish this quick. The other ghost concerns me, he should get some rest."

"Oh, okay," Hiroyuki agreed, dodging the monster once more, waiting until it was almost at the distance when it would turn around. When it was, he dashed off after it as fast as he could, summoning their guns. The monster started to turn around and Hiroyuki was very close and was able to fire a shot at each tire. It forced the monster to come to a halt where it was and they could now get a clearer look at it. Hiroyuki stood over it, trying to locate the core, and when he spotted it hidden amongst all the pipes protruding from the motorcycle, he took aim at it and fired. The core shattered and disappeared, returning the motorcycle to its original state.

Before they were about to separate, Hiroyuki jumped to the roof where Shiyuchi was and brought him back down to the sidewalk. He then felt Kei left him, and he turned a smile to the two.

"We did it!" he said cheerfully.

Shiyuchi stared at the overly happy kid, before turning around and continued on his way home. It was good that they were there to take care of it, since it was what Mediums and Ghosts were suppose to do. He wouldn't have been able to since Kazuhiko was not with him.

Kei huffed when the monster's core was finally destroyed, he could let his guard down now. He wasn't sure if this whole incident had been good or bad luck, what with the monster appearing when they were with an injured person, but at the same time the street having been completely empty, allowing them to fight it right there.

Before they separated, Hiroyuki got Shiyuchi down from the roof, and the ghost turned to walk off almost immediately. Kei looked down at his partner, silently asking the kid if he still wanted to follow the other ghost around. He obviously didn't want any of their help, even though it seemed it would be much easier on him if he just accepted it.

He personally thought it would be best if Shiyuchi was left alone. It looked like he had some things to think about, and if he wanted to be left alone, they shouldn't bother him. However, being Hiroyuki's partner and all, he couldn't just leave without the kid, especially taking into account how prone to... accidents Hiroyuki was. So if the kid wanted to follow Shiyuchi, he would follow too.

Hiroyuki could tell what Kei was asking him silently and nodded in response, taking a hold of Kei's hand and pulling him off after Shiyuchi. He fell into pace beside the other, which was a slow one and smiled at him.

Shiyuchi glanced over at the other, wondering what he was doing, but just looked away and kept walking.

"Are you close to home?" Hiroyuki asked but didn't receive a reply from Shiyuchi. "Do you go to school? Kei doesn't but I do. I don't think we go to the same school since I've never seen you and Kazuhiko around. But I think it'd be nice if we could hang out sometime-"

"Why are you following me?" Shiyuchi asked him, cutting off Hiroyuki.

"Well, because you're hurt, and I didn't want to leave you alone."

"Ever thought that maybe I want to be alone?"

"Yes, but I didn't want to."

"Well then do me a favor and leave me alone," Shiyuchi snapped back at him.

Kei followed silently after the two, yanking his hand out of Hiroyuki's grip when they caught up to the other ghost, although not violently. He sighed at their exchange, having expected something like this to happen. He left the two of them alone, walking a couple of paces behind.

He was ready to intervene if Shiyuchi made any move that he could interpret as violent though. Hiroyuki wasn't the kind to defend himself, so he was the one who needed to do something about it every time. He had already lost one partner... he wouldn't let it happen again.

"...I should think about something else..." He tried to focus on the other two's conversation. Remembering the past was of no use. It couldn't be changed, no matter how much he grieved over it. Just not thinking about it was running away, he knew that, but it was fine. He'd rather run away than face what happened. It had worked for all these years.

"But it's not good to be alone," Hiroyuki smiled at the other, trying to keep the mood light.

Shiyuchi stopped and turned to face Hiroyuki, glaring at him.
"I don't care what you think. I just met you today so don't think we can be all friendly with each other. So just leave me alone," he growled at the other, turning back around to continue walking.

Hiroyuki stood as Shiyuchi walked away, not looking sad, but looking at Shiyuchi with pity.
"We might as well head home," he sighed, and then turned a smile to Kei, "at least I get to walk with you~!"

((FFFFFFFF THE BRIGHTNESS THAT IS RADIATING FROM YUKI-CHAN. IT BURNSSSSSSSSSS

haha, you know want to tap that, Kei-kun~))

Shiyuchi soon returned home and immediately went to his room, closed the door, and fell onto his bed. His body didn't want to move anymore; he was too exhausted. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep.

Kei sighed when Shiyuchi walked away, after practically growling at Hiroyuki. The kid only seemed to feel pity for the other though, and even that didn't last long. He was already smiling and being all bright and what not when he turned. Kei sighed, turning too, to start walking in the direction of Hiroyuki's house. They would at least make it to dinner.

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Kazuhiko was back home by the next day's afternoon. In all honesty, he could have been discharged the moment he woke up, but the nurses and the doctor in charge of him were very insistent that he stay the night, just in case. And of course, his mother would agree with them, God forbid anything happen to her baby.

The boy sighed as he walked through the front door to the house. Only his bike was there, Shiyuchi was still at school at this time. He sighed, still not sure of how he should face his partner. He was still angry for what happened, especially since Shiyuchi hadn't even bothered to see him at the hospital.

"Whatever. That guy doesn't deserve me even thinking about him." Kazuhiko went to his room, to get working on his studies. He missed a day of school because of that idiot, after all. While he walked up the stairs, he decided he'd just wait until Shiyuchi apologized. Otherwise, talking to him or even acknowledging the other's existance would only be a waste of time.

((I have no idea what Yuki-chan and Kei-kun should do so, yeah >.>))

Shiyuchi returned home, knowing that Kazuhiko might be home now, even though he should have still been in class. He didn't feel like staying any longer. The hospital had just wanted to keep Kazuhiko overnight. Luckily, he was just fine when he woke up, no concussions and such. Which was a great relief. Though, Shiyuchi hoped that Hiroyuki and Kei would be able to take of any monsters. He knew it wasn't fair to expect them to do it all, but he didn't think that at the moment he could possess Kazuhiko at all. It was obvious that Kazuhiko would be mad at him, and this time Shiyuchi hadn't made him mad on purpose. It was because of his carelessness that Kazuhiko could have been hurt. He didn't blame Kazuhiko for being angry.

As he opened the door he saw Kazuhiko heading up the stairs. That was some horrible timing. Maybe he should have stayed in class. Without really thinking, Shiyuchi slammed the door shut, just standing there in front of the door with his hand on the doorknob. There was no way that Kazuhiko would not notice that and he felt silly for doing something a bit childish. He hoped that Kazuhiko was angry enough to scoff and head up the stairs to his room instead of opening the door. Shiyuchi had no idea what he would say if Kazuhiko faced him like that. Probably something stupid, no doubt.

((Uuuuuuhhhhh... they can go look for Shiyuchi and Kazuhiko to check if they're both okay? D:
I dunno either >.<))

Kazuhiko turned around mid-step to check who had opened the front door, but before he could see anything, the door was already being slammed closed. He stood in the middle of the stairs for a few seconds, a little confused as to what had just happened. His parents wouldn't be home this early, and they had no reason to slam the door shut before they even walked in. And Shiyuchi should still be at school... unless he came home early?

"He is the only other person who has a key..." It could only have been Shiyuchi, after all. Kazuhiko sighed, turning again to finish walking up the stairs.

"So childish..." If the ghost didn't want to face him, that was okay, but slamming the door like that just after seeing him walking up the stairs was... it was bratty and stupid. It was unlike Shiyuchi, too. He was more of the kind to ignore Kazuhiko, or to tease him to vent his anger, or whatever it was that made him not want to see the medium.

"Whatever... I'm not wasting my time worrying over that guy."

He could faintly hear the sound of Kazuhiko heading up the stairs and sighed softly. He waited a moment on the front porch of the house, staring out at the street as he waited for Kazuhiko to reach his room and then hole himself up in there. Then he could quietly get to his room without Kazuhiko seeing him and hide in there. He wasted a bit more time than he had planned on the front porch, mostly because he let himself lose track of time. As silent as he could, Shiyuchi went inside, tip-toed up the stairs and went into his room.


"Keiiiiiii-kuuuuuuuuuun~" Hiroyuki said leaning closer to the other, "we should find Shiyuchi and Kazuhiko to see how they are."
He smiled a big smile at the other, doing his best to win the other over with his idea. It was after school now, Hiroyuki had just gotten home and found Kei doing nothing but reading.

((not sure what I should do with Kazuhiko? D:))

Kei had been peacefully reading on one of the couches in the living room when the door was opened with a little more energy than usual, which meant Hiroyuki had gotten home form school. He sighed at the unnecessary prolongation of his name, looking up from his book to see the medium leaning in closer to him. He was shooting those sparkles straight at him again, this time trying to convince him to go check on the other pair of ghost and medium they had met the day before.

The brunette sighed yet again, closing his book and setting it on the table in front of the couch. He obviously wouldn't be allowed to go on reading anyway, what with Hiroyuki apparently being able to emit more sound than a jackhammer when he was bent on something. He was only like that with Kei though, and sometimes it made the ghost wonder if he didn't spoil the kid too much.

He stood up from the couch, waiting for Hiroyuki to go drop his things in his room, and maybe change out of his uniform. Knowing that little ball of hyper, he might just bolt upstairs, throw his stuff into his room, and then come back downstairs, all in less than a minute. "I wish someone could remind me why I accepted to be partnered with him..."

((You secretly have a thing for shota boys Kei-kun~))

Hiroyuki's face lit up even brighter when Kei put his book down and stood up meaning he was willing to go find them. In a flash he was gone from the living room, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing, and then Hiroyuki was back in the living in a matter of moments. He grabbed a hold of Kei's hand and tugged him towards the front door.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed, bouncing as he made his way to the front door. Since he had met Shiyuchi, Hiroyuki had an idea of what his "aura" felt like and as such could track him down that way. Though, Hiroyuki was pretty sure that it would be easier for Kei to find out where they were since he was older.

That didn't put a dampener on Hiroyuki's cheerful mood though. He kept on smiling, unable to wait to see them again. This time he could talk to Kazuhiko hopefully, since last time the other Medium was unconscious.

((OBJECTION!! He really tries his best to push Hiroyuki away!))

Kei barely had time to bring his hand to his forehead and rub on his temple before Hiroyuki was pulling him out the door, smiling like they were going to go meet really close friends the kid hadn't seen in years. The ghost had never been able to understand how he could get so attached to people, so easily and so fast. He had no choice but to follow along, trying to keep a balance between following Hiroyuki's pace and trying to slow him down.

He could feel the other pair's aura in the general direction they were walking towards, so he figured he'd let Hiroyuki lead them. The boy wouldn't take too long in detecting their auras, and it wasn't like they were walking away from them, so it was okay to go on this way.

"Why do you want to meet them?"

((Lazy post is lazy >3<))

((He secretly has a thing for shota boys and you know it.))

"Why not? They're a ghost and medium like us, so we should get to know them, don't you think so?" Hiroyuki replied, smiling at Kei as they walked down the sidewalk. As much as Kei was trying to slow the other down, Hiroyuki wouldn't and didn't even notice that Kei was trying to do that. He just kept plowing on ahead to where he could sense Shiyuchi and Kazuhiko were.

"Say, do you think they made up? Shiyuchi seemed really down. You don't think he blames himself for what happened to Kazuhiko, do you?" The Medium was clearly quite worried about the status of the relationship of the two. Also why he was rushing forward, since he really wanted to know and had to know.