Chương 46: Broken Bones

"Waka-bi!" The young girl barreled into him with a full-body tackle. In spite of bracing for the impact, Kurisu still tumbled backward into the dirt as she collided with him, his bokuto clattering against the ground as they fell. With a grunt he peeled her off his chest before climbing to his feet, dusting the soil from his purple training gi and black hakama.

"Rin-chan. Suddenly pouncing on people is dangerous." Gap-toothed smile beaming, she winked at him before dissolving into giggles. Takeshi let out a booming laugh, standing near the edge of the sparring ring.

"You'll have your hands full with that one, my son! You worked hard, so that's enough practice for today. Go and entertain little Rin." After nodding to his father, Kurisu led the girl toward the open yard. When they had crossed the perfectly manicured grass, Rin kicked off her woven zōri. White sarashi, wrapped around the arches of her feet, caught the waning afternoon light as she skipped forward." Ne, ne, Waka-bi, mite mī ya!" she told him to watch her as she flashed a wide grin.

Channeling her Ki, she stepped upward. She solidified a current of air beneath her sole and pushed off the invisible platform, standing suspended a foot above the ground.

"Well done! But I can do that too," Kurisu said. Refusing to be outdone, he focused his intent and stepped into the air; however, as he lacked her light frame, his foot pressed through the initial current, dropping him a few inches before he caught himself on another layer of pressure. Puffing out her chest, Rin pointed a finger upward in a mock lecture.

"Your control is lacking, Waka-chama." His footing stabilized, Kurisu glanced over his shoulder toward the veranda to ensure the adults were occupied, then leaned in close.

"Was that supposed to be your father?"" Un." She nodded, covering her mouth as she dissolved into a fit of giggles. After recovering from his own laughter, he asked, "Do you want to race?"" Aho chau wa!" Rin exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest and puffing her cheek out.

"I know better than to race Waka-bi! It's obvious you'd win anyway!" From the house, Harumi's voice called out, interrupting their subsequent debate.

"That's enough, you two. Come wash up before we eat!"

"Rin!" Kurisu cried, wincing as his eyes opened against the harsh overhead lights before he sat up, pressure against his chest, to find the other boys lying in beds similar to his own, though he was strapped to his. Four restraints on his wrists and ankles and one across his chest.

"What the hell was that, Kurisu?" Kenji's voice croaked. Turning, Kurisu watched the boy half sit up before slumping back down, a splint of cotton and bandages wrapped around his left leg and foot as it lay on the mattress. Kenji shifted again, this time crying out and throwing an arm over his ribs, squinting at Kurisu through the swelling of a cracked cheekbone.

Kurisu stared back, running through anything he could say, everything he could try to say, but they were just words, inadequate, insufficient words, that died on his lips. In his corner bed, the restraints holding his wrists and ankles to the frame, he looked up at the ceiling. There, staring back at him, were the cream-colored tiles. Fragile. Those tiles wore away at even the slightest nudge from a maintenance worker moving them. They crumbled apart completely when they got wet. Everything did.

Nothing lasted under friction, under pressure. Nothing lasted under pressure, like his mind, like his life. Like the lives of those around him. His jaw set tight enough he thought he might crack a tooth; the metal rails shook with his trembling. He couldn't look at them. He just kept his eyes locked on the ceiling. That fragile ceiling. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Talk to us," Kellevra said, sounding like his tongue was in the way of his own mouth. He lay to Kenji's left, Kurisu's right since they were on opposite walls. Why did that matter? It didn't. He was just running, procrastinating, and he knew it. So Kellevra lay to Kenji's left, his leg in a traction rig, while another strange contraption held his ruined elbow together with pins at a ninety degree angle, and his left wrist sat wrapped in a splint. Oh, he wasn't looking at the ceiling anymore.

"Kenji's face is a mess," Kellevra continued, gesturing weakly with his splinted hand.

"Ace can't feel his legs. We deserve to know why." In the bed beside Kurisu's, a halo brace locked Ace's head in place, the boy quietly staring at the ceiling because he clearly didn't have a choice.

"He's right," Ace wheezed, the words grinding out like gravel.

"Kurisu. When you looked at me, there was nothing behind your eyes." The ceiling. Stare at the ceiling. Kurisu squeezed his eyes shut; tears leaking from the corners traced wet paths into his ears.

"I..." he choked.

"I am sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix my spine," Ace whispered.

"There is a monster inside Waga—""God damn it, Kurisu!" Ace shouted.

"Enough with the 'Waga' shit! You're not fucking special. Get over it!" Flopped back onto the pillows, Kurisu stared at the ceiling again, then looked at Ace, and finally to his own restrained hands, his breathing ragged.

"I..." he whispered, swallowing before he continued.

"There is a monster inside me." He turned his head to the side, pressing his cheek against the pillow to expose the choker encircling his neck.

"Thankfully," Kurisu said, forcing his breathing to level out, "Bahamut was able to keep it in check."

"Bahamut?" Kenji ground out.

"What's your magic dragon have to do with this?"

"He tethers my will to my flesh. Without him, my body moves, and I am reduced to a prisoner behind my own eyes."

"Huh, sounds like he sure as shit did a bang-up job then, didn't he?" Kenji snapped before letting out a groan that devolved into a coughing fit. After he recovered, he continued, "What the hell does the 'prisoner behind your own eyes' mean, and what does it have to do with a magical dog collar?"

"I do not correctly know what it is. It was called the Crimson Calamity on Terra."

"Hold up, this thing's so bad it's got a damn title?" Kenji interrupted.

"Likely a fabrication of Grahk's."

"Who's Grahk?" Kellevra this time.

"My captor."

"Okay, move on already." Ace. With a sigh, Kurisu attempted to get back on track, noting how energetic and inquisitive they were in spite of all that had happened.

"Bahamut prevented the Calamity from using the full breadth of my abilities."

"What do you mean 'prevented from using your full power'? You sound like an anime villain," Kenji asked.

"I mean Bahamut blocked the use of Chi, Ki, or Shin, since he was unable to block the change in the first place," Kurisu stated.

"And since he failed to stop it this time, does that mean he will fail to block using energy if it happens again?" Kellevra asked.

"I do not know," Kurisu replied, dropping his head.

"I hope not."

"Okay, but what the hell is it?!" Ace yelled.

"When it happens I have no control. I see, I feel everything, but I cannot command my limbs," Kurisu responded.

"So what, your body just moves on its own?" Kenji asked.

"How's that even a thing?"

"Oh, what a load of copium! Probably just bullshit so you don't have to own up to what you do in your own head," Ace groaned out.

"So what was that all about?" Kellevra questioned, shifting his weight in the bed.

"Why did you change into this 'Crimson Calamity'?"

"I do not know what causes it. Significant distress? Panic? Fear? Each time, I feel many of these things. In the end, I hear only my heartbeat and a ringing, an incessant, never-ending ringing, and then I become a passenger in my own flesh."

"Then when did it start?" Kenji asked. Kurisu sat, quiet. The clanking of the bedrails stopped as his gaze drifted away from the ceiling tiles to stare blankly at the far wall.

"That… is a long story," he finally said.

"Yeah, I think we've got time. We've been here for days already," Ace said.

"Days?" Kurisu started, but was cut off.

"Story time! I want to know why I'm stuck in a bed like this!" Ace snapped.

"Chill for a minute, Ace. He did just wake up," Kellevra chimed in.

"Tell that to my legs, to my everything!"

"And he's going to tell us. Right?" Kellevra said, raising his eyebrows at Kurisu before the latter gave a jerky nod.

"Yes, it's been a few days, three or four, by my count. Our parents have been in here a few times for visits, but they get chased out for our recovery after about thirty minutes or so. Kurisu, everyone needs answers, not just us, okay?"

"Years ago," Kurisu began, his voice distant.

"Ware..." he cleared his throat, shooting a nervous glance at Ace before correcting himself.

"I was much younger, smaller. I was training with my father and grandfather in the estate grounds when a man named Grahk came to my home, Fueki-kyō."