The Mystery Continues

by Yai-tzu Hin

Warning: No part of this story or cast of characters may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author, Yai-tzu Hin. If you do, a large family of swallows will nest right next to your bedroom and wake you up at dawn, gerbils will chew through your computer cables, the phone company will disconnect your phones for no reason,your favorite CD will become so scratched that you are forced to replace it, and your computer will develop the annoying habit of deleting the best part of every fic.

Nodin sat on the bench swinging his legs back and forth. He listened as Haruka talked with her brother. They were at a park, he didn't know the name, but it was nice here. There were plenty of trees and a nice warm wind. He wasn't really listening to the conversation, his thoughts being elsewhere.

"I really appreciate this Keien. There is no one to watch him during the day, although Hades did offer since he has some vacation time coming. Unfortunately, I need someone tomorrow."

"And since I only have two classes in the morning, you thought I'd do it?"

"Please?" Haruka begged batting her eyes at him. Keien sighed, looked to the sky, mouthed something and finally relented. "Oh thank you! I'll drop him off on my way to the office."

"At least you go in late."

"Well, most of my appointments are in the afternoon anyway." Haruka said. "Nodin." She called turning back towards the boy. He looked up. "You're going to spend tomorrow with Keien, so you have nothing to worry about. Okay?"

"Hai." The little boy replied. He didn't sound enthusiastic, Keien noticed. Instead, he seemed quiet and withdrawn. What was up with this kid? He watched Nodin take Haruka's out stretched hand and leave with her. Keien didn't know what to make of the pair. As he turned to leave, the wind picked up and blew about him. There was an odd scent to it. For the life of him, he couldn't identify it.

"Oh, well. It will come to me later." Keien muttered as he walked.

Yatsurugi lay on his bed attempting to get some sleep. In the next room he could hear Keien pacing. Rolling over, the angel got up. He couldn't take it any more. He had classes in the morning and the pacing was keeping him up.

"Keien." He said rapping on the door lightly. "Are you all right?" The door opened and a tired Keien leaned against the doorframe.

"No, I'm trying to think of what to do with a small child about the age of four to five. I'm watching Nodin tomorrow."

"So you mentioned at dinner." Yatsurugi replied. "Look, it's simple. Either you stay here and play games or you go out somewhere."

"Yeah, but what would a little kid like?"

"Think, what did you like to do as a small child? I'll give you three guesses."

"Um…I hated shopping, so that's out. How about the zoo or the aquarium?"

"If the circus was in town you could take him there." Yatsurugi told him. "I have fond memories of you, popcorn and a clown." Keien groaned and ran his hand through his hair.

"God, don't remind me. That poor clown."

"But you were so cute." Yatsurugi cooed.

"I was six."

"You were still cute." Yatsurugi stated.

"Am I cute now?" Keien asked, a teasing tone creeping into his voice.

"No." Keien's face fell. "You're gorgeous." Yatsurugi wrapped his arms around him and kissed his boyfriend on the lips. As they parted, Yatsurugi smiled. "Now stop pacing, I have an exam tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep."

"Tease."

"Hai." Keien chuckled and pulled him closer.

"I don't think you need beauty sleep. Why tamper with perfection?"

"Hm..the offer is tempting, but my sensei would have a fit if I fell asleep in the middle of the exam."

"You don't snore, how would he know?" Keien's hands were tracing the outline of Yatsurugi's shoulder blades.

"I'll make you pay later then." With that he kissed Yatsurugi, lingering a moment to chew on his bottom lip enticingly giving him a sneak preview of what was in store for later. Then he quietly shut the door.

"DAMMIT. Now who's being the tease?" Yatsurugi demanded. Keien snickered.

Racing up the stairs, Keien prayed he'd make it before Haruka showed up with Nodin. The last thing Haruka needed was to be standing outside his door waiting. Stupid train, it had to be running late! Keien growled as he took the last flight two steps at a time. Thankfully, Haruka wasn't waiting outside his door. Unlocking it, he entered, took off his shoes and dumped his bag by them. Yatsurugi wouldn't be home for another two hours, so he was alone until Haruka and Nodin showed up. He had just entered the kitchen and was looking for something to snack on when the doorbell rang. He strode over and opened it. Haruka smiled and shoved an unsure Nodin in.

"Remember to take off your shoes."

"Hai, Haruka." Nodin replied, wide eyes staring at Keien's apartment.

"Thanks again Keien." Haruka said still standing just outside the apartment. "I'm sorry I can't come in, but I'm running a wee bit late."

"I understand." Keien replied. He glanced down at Nodin who was placing both his shoes next to his just to the right of the door. He aligned them so they were perfectly matching the way Keien had put his.

"Be good Nodin. I'll pick you up at seven. Keien you don't mind feeding him dinner?"

"No, not at all." Haruka smiled and waving good-bye to Nodin tore down the stairs. Shutting the door Keien turned to Nodin.

"Would you like something to eat?" The little boy rocked back and forth on his toes.

"Iie."

"No? How about something to drink?" Keien started walking back to the kitchen.

"Iie. No." was the reply. Keien frowned. At least he knew how to say no; didn't this kid say anything else? Slipping into the kitchen, Keien opened the refrigerator and retrieved a pitcher of juice from just inside the door. He poured it into the glass he already had out and walked back into the living room. Nodin was still staring at the door. He was still rocking back and forth on his toes.

"Nodin, I had planned on going to the zoo today, if you want to join me you can." Nodin turned around and stared at him.

"You mean you were going to go without me?" Keien shrugged his shoulders. He decided earlier to try a different approach with Nodin than he would other children. Since Nodin wasn't like other children, he deserved to be treated differently. Keien would treat him like an adult.

"I figured I'd go, whether you came along was up to you."

"But that would leave me, a child, home alone without a guardian." Nodin said.

"You lived without one for a while, I don't see why you couldn't take care of yourself." Nodin considered him for a moment. Keien was different from the other adults; he was treating Nodin like a peer rather than a child. Could he know? Nodin thought. He doubted it, but the possibility was there. He would have to study Keien, test him.

"I haven't been to the zoo. I would like to go with you." Nodin said. Keien smiled.

"Then let's pack some snacks and we'll go."

"All right." They both headed for the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later they were riding the train line that led to the zoo. Nodin knelt beside Keien staring out the window. He was watching the city breeze by and was enthralled.

"Haruka's car doesn't go this fast." Nodin admitted. "The buildings look like blurs."

"Haven't you ridden a train before." Nodin shook his head. "Then how did you get to the house?" Nodin chewed on his bottom lip.

"By truck. I was in the back with the furniture." He replied quietly.

"Then you came to the house after the college bought it?" Nodin didn't answer. Keien shook his head. He shouldn't push the boy. He'd tell them in time of his origins.

The train came to a halt and the two got off. Nodin skipped over a few steps and got ahead of Keien. He was standing at the top of the staircase waiting as Keien checked to see what times the train stopped at this station.

"Okay, we need to be back here at 5:20PM to catch the train in time to get us home for dinner. Yatsurugi is cooking."

"He's Kayumi-san's brother, right?" Keien nodded. "Kayumi-san is an excellent chef."

"Don't expect the same from her brother. He used to burn ramen noodles in the microwave."

"Really?"

"Honest to God."

"Then maybe we should have take out instead." Nodin said looking very worried.

"He's not that bad anymore. Although occasionally, he'll screw up." Keien took Nodin's hand and began walking. "Let's hope today's isn't one of those bad cooking days."

"If it is, can we call out for Italian?" Keien laughed.

The zoo wasn't crowded, which was a plus in Keien's book. He hated crowds, especially at places like this. Nodin stared in wonder at the extravagant enclosures built for each species.

"They're not in cages with bars." He stated in amazement as he watch a tiger pace back and forth. They were looking down on it from a platform. The tiger couldn't reach them if it wanted the huge trench stopped it. The tiger paused to look at them, then flopped down in the sun. "He seems to like it even if he's a bit bored."

"Well, we humans try. If we left him in his natural environment, then the poachers would get him. He gets to live a long life here, even if it is a tad boring." Keien said as Nodin scrambled up on a wooden block so that he could see over the railing. The wide wooden block had been placed especially for children, so that they could see the tiger without the hindrance of the railing. Keien thought it was a wonderful idea, he remembered having problems seeing animals at the zoo as a kid. Too many tall people. After watching the tiger, they moved on to the tropical birds exhibit. The aviary was set up so that the birds were loose and flying about over head. Native plants had been planted in order to give the birds a bit of their home to live in. Nodin loved it. He spun in a circle staring straight up as two giant macaws flew overhead.

"They're beautiful." He whispered. He held out his arm and whistled. The macaws flew back and one landed on Nodin's outstretched arm. The boy nearly fell over; the bird was heavier than he'd expected. Keien couldn't believe it. He watched as the boy proceeded to pet the parrot. They appeared very content and Keien felt like a bit of an intruder. The other macaw sat in a tree staring at them. The bird appeared to expect Keien to do the same as Nodin. Keien wasn't sure he wanted a large bird with a sharp beak resting on his arm. He didn't trust it not to bite him.

"She wants to come over and say hi." Nodin said suddenly. Keien shook his head.

"No, they're pretty nice. Although, this one is getting heavy, my arms aren't very strong when I'm like this."

"Like what?" Keien asked. Nodin realized what he'd said.

"Nothing." He said hurriedly. "Nevermind." He clucked and the parrot flew off. "Shall we see what other birds there are here?" Nodin grabbed Keien's hand and tugged him down the path.

"Nodin, what did you mean…"

"I said nevermind." He replied curtly. Keien decided it was best to drop the subject. They wandered about the aviary for another twenty minutes before finally moving on to other exhibits. They eventually wound their way to the nocturnal animal exhibit. Nodin watched the bats for a while, smiling and placing his hand on the glass. The bats flew towards it and stopped in frustration when they found glass blocking their way to Nodin. Keien watched each exchange with various winged creatures with concern. Nodin seemed to be almost communicating with these animals. It was like he understood their language and wasn't afraid to use it. Keien stared at the boy hard. If he concentrated hard enough, maybe he could see what couldn't be seen. After his experience as an angel, Keien had noticed that his own sixth sense had been amplified. He hoped he could harness enough of it to peek behind Nodin's "veil", as it were.

His vision blurred for a moment, then cleared. The familiar form of a seal blocked his view of Nodin's true form, but if he waited maybe he could read what was on the seal. Note to self, the boy has a seal on him, Keien thought. Keien studied Nodin for several minutes before he noticed that there were occasional gaps in the seal. Using whatever residual power was left; Keien tried to see through the gaps. He could see a form of something or rather someone. This figure was older than Nodin by quite a bit and appeared to overlap with him. The forms switched back and forth depending on if Keien was looking through a gap or not. At one point, Keien caught a glimpse at something feathery on the shoulders of the figure. Keien knew what they were. Wings.

They caught the train back and were home in time for dinner. Yatsurugi smiled as they entered the apartment.

"Oh good. Just in time for dinner." He said leaning out of the kitchen just enough to see them. "Hurry and wash up." Nodin looked up at Keien.

"Are you sure I won't be poisoned?"

"I've survived." He said shrugging his shoulders. "And I was the guinea pig for most of his experiments."

"You must have an iron stomach." Nodin replied still looking skeptical. They headed for the kitchen to eat. Yatsurugi had made something simple, rice and stir-fry. Climbing into the chair with phone books stacked on it, Nodin stared dubiously at his dinner. Only after both Keien and Yatsurugi had taken bites and not died did Nodin pick up his chopsticks. It tasted all right, not like Kayumi's cooking, but good none the less.

"Well, what do you think Nodin?" Yatsurugi asked. "I know it's nothing like my sister's but still…"

"It's fine." Nodin said picking up a snow pea pod and studying it. "It reminds me of…a friend of mine's cooking." Yatsurugi glanced at the boy. It was if he'd wanted to say more, but couldn't bring himself to. Yatsurugi was once more wondering who or what this boy was. He had no guardian angel, how did one explain that? Sighing he returned to eating.

"That was an excellent meal." Keien complimented as they cleaned up.

"Yes, thank you Aisaku-san." Nodin said attempting to be as polite as possible. Suddenly he felt very hot, as if something was burning him. Yelping, he clutched his sides and doubled over. Trembling he fought the urge to vomit as the pain increased. It traveled throughout his body like a flame spreading up a curtain, reaching every inch. Tears pooled in his eyes as he tried to keep from crying out again. He heard the two men leap up from their chairs and ask what was wrong. One slipped around next to him, he couldn't tell which one. All he could think about was the pain.

"He's burning up!" Keien exclaimed touching Nodin's arm. "We need to do something quick!"

"Into the bathroom, I'll turn on a cold shower." Yatsurugi called as he vanished from the kitchen. Keien scooped up the feverish child and carried him to the shower. What had caused this violent reaction? He didn't think it was an allergic reaction, at least he hoped not.

"Burning…hot…fire…" Nodin hissed. "Make it stop….Alison…"

"Don't worry, we'll get you cooled down somehow." Keien whispered. Nodin was placed in the shower, clothes and all, then the faucet was turned on. Yatsurugi watched worriedly, as the child seemed to feel better for a moment then whimper and cry in pain.

"It's not working." Keien muttered. "God, what are we going to do?"

"The seal." Nodin said, his voice sounding weak and raspy.

"What seal?" Yatsurugi asked tentatively.

"The one they placed on me. It binds…" the child cried, twisting against the wall. He dug his nails into the tiling, nearly pulling them off.

"Nodin?" Keien reached for him, but his hand was slapped away.

"Only Alison can break the seal."

"Who is Alison?"

"The woman I love." Nodin whispered before he passed out.