He found he didn't have much of an appetite when he took his dinner
break. In fact, he had no appetite at all despite the excellent quality
of the food. Ichomi-san fussed when she saw him at the tiny break table
in the corner of the kitchen reading with the plate untouched. He
managed to get down a few bites under her concerned and threatening eye,
then glanced at his watch and was thankful to have to go back to work.

	Matsuri was all yawns as they headed home and not talking much which
suited him just fine. The September night was too hot, even at this late
hour. Indian Summer, Ichomi-san had called it. And he had finally
figured out he had a headache. It was an interesting sensation but he
had had experienced about enough of it and was ready for it to go away.
It didn't and it was a relief to just lay down in the dimness after
everyone had finally gotten settled. Hajime had asked if he was all
right and he had assured him he was fine, just tired. He was sure that
was all it was.

						**

	He stood in an unfamiliar bedroom dressed in ornate and unfamiliar
garments. A man and a woman were at kneeling side by side before him,
faces hidden from him as they made a formal court reverence. He startled
as they sat up as one and he recognized them as Lee-san and Lebeau Remy.
They looked at him and asked together, "Who are we?"

	"I don't know." He whispered back.

	"Who are we?" They demanded again.

	"I..." Pain stabbed through his head and he swayed, then fell.

	Two pairs of hands caught him and lowered him gently. His head rested
on Remy's knees and those long gentle fingers rubbed soft circles
against the pain. He gazed down into the molten pools of amber that
where the woman's eyes then, almost against his will, his eyes shifted
to the man's. Quite and dark as the night sky, the irises flecked with
sparkling bits of silver like stars.

	"The Sun and the Moon. That is what you are." He whispered to them both
and closed his eyes. The pain vanished under Remy's fingers and he felt
her loosen his clothing. The whisper soft stroke of her fingers against
the muscles of his chest and stomach set his skin on fire.  He woke, his
body hot and tense and thrumming with a need that he had no way to
release. 5:00. He curled into a knot, then uncoiled quickly as that
position proved just too uncomfortable and too hot.

	He rose in one fast fluid motion and padded to the bathroom, closed and
locked the door behind him. Gods! He was so...arroused! Even the
movement of the air against his skin as he hurried to the one private
spot in the apartment had been sensuous. He leaned back against the door
and closed his eyes. Then he moved, turned the cold water for the shower
on.

	Maybe, just this once...please...he begged anything who might be
listening as he sank to his knees on the hard faded linoleum and his
hands went to the center of his need. There was no relief. He only sent
the pitch of his desire higher, if that was possible. And he knew he was
dangerously hot as his head started to throb in time with the pounding
of his heart. He wanted to let the power, the fire rush out of him! But
he couldn't! Not here! He had a wild thought about getting to the roof
and just letting go but he couldn't do that either. It would bring the
Gyushu and their Four Sisters henchmen down on them. He crawled into the
tub and sat in a hunched up knot of misery as the frigid water rained
down.

	It took him a few seconds to realize the soft but insistent knock
wasn't the echo of his headache. He rose and stepped out of the tub and
grabbed a towel to hold in front of his stiff nakedness. He unlocked and
opened the door to his eldest brothers concerned countenance.

	"Tsuzuku-kun?"

	"I just had a disturbing dream, Elder Brother. Go back to bed." Tsuzuku
forced himself to smile.

	Hajime looked him up and down with a frown. Tsuzuku was too pale and
had a fragile look about him. But that could just be the effect of the
terrible fluorescent lighting.

	"You want to tell me about it?" He offered.

	"No!"

	Hajime blinked into the vehemence of his brother's response.

	Tsuzuku took a deep breath, resisted the urge to rub at his forehead
and the pain behind it. "No. It was...silly, Elder Brother. I imagine it
is just from stress and not worth worrying about." He didn't want to add
to Hajime's worries. He would go today and talk to Lebeau Remy and,
hopefully, Lee-san. He hoped that whatever he discovered about them and
from them would put these dreams to rest.

	"Are you sure, Tsuzuku-kun?" Hajime felt an uneasy prickling go up and
down his spine. Something was bothering his brother a lot, this he knew
for certain. But Tsuzuku was the master of the side-step and it could
take him days to ferret out what was bothering him if his brother chose
not to share his troubles. And he knew that if it was something serious,
Tsuzuku would come to him with it.

	"Hai. I'm certain, Elder Brother. It was just a dream." Tsuzuku gave
him a wan smile that was supposed to be reassuring.

	Hajime sighed inwardly, but decided the best thing would be to let it
ride for the moment.

	"I'll get the coffee started, then." He turned and left his brother to
finish his shower.

	Hajime kept up a light and mostly one-sided conversation as he started
breakfast and smiled at the coming image of a flustered Matsuri-chan
emerging to find her morning chore taken care of.  Tsuzuku seemed
distracted and withdrawn as he put his Eldest brothers, Owaru and
Amaru's lunches together. He made the appropriate sounds in the right
places to let his brother know that he was listening, but not much else.

	Matsuri was flustered and amused to find breakfast waiting when she
came out and teased him about doing such a good job that she felt she
could safely turn over this chore to him as they ate. He did notice that
she kept glancing at Tsuzuku's quiet presence throughout the meal. Amaru
and Owaru seemed oblivious to their second oldest brothers withdrawal
and were chatting a mile a minute. The soccer try-outs were this
afternoon for the school team and Owaru was ecstatic.

	He noticed with a slight frown that Tsuzuku had eaten nothing on his
plate. He teased Matsuri back with the observation that if he kept
cooking, Tsuzuku would starve to death. That seemed to pull his brother
out of his thoughts.

	"I'm sorry, Hajime. I'm just not very hungry this morning." He
apologized. "But if you let him keep cooking, Matsuri-chan, you and I
will be doing dishes forever!" He offered it with a smile and Hajime saw
Matsuri relax. That was much more the Tsuzuku they knew.

	"Speaking of dishes, I believe that's my job today and if I have any
hope of getting them done, I'd better start now." He excused himself
with a little bow and a playful glare in his oldest brothers direction.

	Hajime felt himself relax. Whatever it was, Tsuzuku seemed to have
worked past it.

	Tsuzuku concentrated on keeping his good humor in place and ignoring
his headache and the discomfort of his clothing. He was worrying his
brothers and Matsuri. Amaru had come in with the last load of breakfast
dishes and stacked them with the rest on the counter then had given him
a silent but fierce hug around his waist.

	"You O.K., Tsuzuku?" Amaru had asked full of concern.

	"I will be, Amaru-kun. I just had a disturbing dream this morning.
Nothing for you to worry about." He had smiled down at his youngest
brother.

	"Was it a dragon dream?" Amaru asked quietly. He knew all about how
disturbing the dragon dreams could be.

	"Not really. It was just a strange dream. You know. One of those that
leaves you feeling weird all day?"

	Amaru nodded. "Well, it was just a dream, right? Don't let it bother
you so much!" He smiled back and parroted Owaru's oft spoken advise to
his own night jaunts.

	"I won't, Amaru-kun. Now, go get dressed or you'll be late!" He
scolded. 

  	Owaru had come in when Amaru left and hovered with his arms crossed
and a scowl on his face. He sighed to himself and forced a smile.

	"Owaru-kun?"

	"Are you all right, Brother?" Owaru asked bluntly, armed with the
knowledge that his second oldest brother did not lie.

	"I just didn't sleep well last night, Owaru-kun. I'm tired. As soon as
you all get out the door, I'm going to take a nap, O.K.?"

	"O.K. You should eat something too." He said it as a suggestion but
there was the tone of command under it.

	It brought an honest smile to Tsuzuku's face.

	"I will, Owaru-kun." He would, as soon as he could face food without
the immediate wave of nausea the thought of consuming it was creating.

	Owaru nodded and gathered their lunches.

	"Good luck with the try-outs this afternoon. I would come and watch but
I have the dinner shift tonight." He said in apology.

	"Don't worry about it, Brother. I'm not going to have any competition
so it would be boring anyway." He was all arrogance and swagger as he
left.

	Tsuzuku started to shake his head with an amused smile and stopped
quickly as the movement made the edges of his vision darken. He grabbed
the edge of the sink as he felt his knees go lax. Gods! What was wrong
with him? Was he getting sick? That couldn't be. We don't get sick! The
light-headedness passed just as Matsuri bounced in to help. She had the
lunch shift today so she would be home in time to cook the dinner. She
gave him a suspicious stare. If she asked if he was all right also, he
would scream. No. He wouldn't, he would just think about doing it, hard.

	She didn't, she just came and took the half-washed dish out of his
hands and pointed out the kitchen door.

	"Tsuzuku-kun, go lay down."

	He went without protest. He wanted nothing more than to lay down and
close his eyes for a few minutes and see if that would ease the pounding
of his head. The headache had taken precedence over everything, even his
desire, though his erection was still there. He closed the curtain
against the brightness of the one small window and laid down gingerly on
the small bed that belonged to Matsuri. He didn't understand how
'normal' people put up with these. *Maybe this is what is called a
'migraine'.* It was still too bright. He put his arm over his eyes and
counted his heartbeat as he attempted to distract himself from the pain.

	Hajime leaned against the doorway to the bedroom and watched his
brother's restless sleep. Matsuri looked up from her place beside him
and pulled him away.

	"Let him sleep, Hajime-san. I will keep an eye on him and if he doesn't
seem better, I'll call us both in sick, all right?"

	Hajime ran his fingers through his hair as he debated. He was worried
that Tsuzuku might be getting 'sick', though from what and how he had no
idea.

	"He's probably just overtired and he hasn't eaten lately. Ichomi-san
told me he didn't eat last night. And he only picked at breakfast and
lunch yesterday and you know how you all get when you don't eat. I'll
make him eat before I leave and I'm sure that will solve most of the
problem, O.K.?"

	Hajime nodded. That was probably a lot of it. Tsuzuku had the 'dragon'
equivalent of low blood sugar. "O.K. But if he gets worse or won't eat,
you call me and I'll come home early, O.K.?"

	"Hai, Elder Brother!" She mimicked Tsuzuku to a tee and winked.

	It reassured him. Matsuri knew them and their moods better than they
themselves. He could leave Tsuzuku in her care with no worries. She
handed him his lunch and escorted him to the door.

	"He'll be O.K., Hajime. He will!" She told him firmly.

	"I know. Make sure you do all the locks, Matsuri-chan." He reminded her
as he let himself lean down and give her a fast kiss on the forehead. He
waited outside the closed door and counted the clicks, then went to
work.

					*****

	
	He was numb and fuzzy and his power was free and unbound for the first
time in nine years! The men with the machine guns panicked and fired.
Only a few of the first round of bullets actually hit him and though
they hurt like hell, they didn't penetrate his skin. He struck back with
fire and four of them disintegrated with the stink of burned flesh.

	Water from the automatic fire control system covered him! Just that
little bit had damped him down enough that the three remaining had time
to fire back. This time they each took aim on one area and sent myriads
of bullets. Six of them ripped into his body as he lashed out again and
they no longer were. Gods! It...hurt! He sank to his knees and knew he
was mortally wounded as Lady L was pulled away by her body guards.

	He rested his forehead on the floor as he huddled with arms pressed
against the holes in his torso and felt his blood soak through the Tux.
He had a strange passing thought that Hajime was not going to be pleased
that he had ruined his suit...then the pain went into agony and he heard
himself scream as his body started to change.

	He jerked out of the dream, called by Matsuri's frantic voice. It took
him a moment to place the words as he fought his stuttering heartbeat
and ragged breathing.

	"Tsuzuku-kun! Don't Change! Wake up! Please!"

	*Change?* "Matsuri-chan?"

	"Tsuzuku-kun?" She sounded so relieved.

	The pounding drive of the headache and the heat tried to pull him back
under.

	"NO! Ryudo Tsuzuku! You talk to me! Stay awake! Tell me what's wrong!"
Matsuri commanded. Gods! He was burning with fever. Or with his own
power.

	"I'm awake." He mumbled. "Matsuri-chan? Am I sick?" He sounded so
confused.

	"I think so. Do you hurt anywhere?" At least that scary flicker of red
had stopped. She wanted to get to the phone and call Hajime or even to
the sink for some cold water but she was afraid to leave him.

	"Yes." It was almost a whimper and made her heart hurt.

	"Where, Tsuzuku-kun?"

	"My head hurts." There was another part of him that was terribly
uncomfortable, but he couldn't tell Matsuri-chan that!

	"Tsuzuku-kun, I'm going to go get some ice for your head. I'll be right
back. You stay awake, O.K.?"

	"'kay." The rustle of her clothing as she rose scraped against his
hearing and her steps across the room thundered through his head. He
glanced at his watch. 11:00. He had to go see Remy today! He pushed
himself up, waited for the red-black spots and dizziness that
accompanied the stabbing pain as he sat up to pass back into the steady
throb, then stood.

	He misjudged the position of the doorway and hit the frame with his
shoulder. He used the side to keep himself upright and frowned as he
heard Matsuri's whispered concern. She was on the phone. He eavesdropped
for a few seconds, heard "Hajime, you need to come home!"

	He had to go now. If he didn't, Hajime would forbid him. He
straightened, took a deep breath as Matsuri hung up and went into the
kitchen then headed for the front door.

	Matsuri was terribly worried for her cousin. She chewed on her lower
lip as she pulled the ice tray out of the freezer and poured the cubes
into a plastic bag. What would they do if he was sick? They couldn't
take him to a doctor! She would take this to him then run him a cool
bath. Maybe that would help take his heat down. She heard the creak of
the front door and had a fast thought that Hajime had made it home fast,
then she frowned and rushed to the kitchen doorway. The bag of ice in
her hand spun slowly as she stared at the open door. She ran to peer
into the bedroom but she already knew that Tsuzuku was gone.


						*****

	Tsuzuku paused before the tall building and ran his hand through his
hair and straightened his clothing and hoped he was presentable. This
was one of the really ritzy apartment buildings and it was like walking
into the lobby of a five star hotel. He headed for the front desk and
the uniformed woman behind it.

	"May I help you, sir?" She asked politely even though he could tell by
the look in her eyes that she wasn't sure if he was 'safe'.

	"I need to see Lebeau Remy."

	She blinked at him. "Do you have any English, sir?"

	He rubbed at his forehead, found the right words. "I need to see Remy
Lebeau, please."

	"Is he expecting you, sir?" She asked.

	"I don't know."

	"Name?" She asked once more as she picked up the phone and dialed.

	"Tsuzuku Ryudo."

	It took all of his will power not to lean down and rest his forehead on
the cold marble of the counter top as they both waited.

	"Mr. Lebeau doesn't seem to be in, Mr. Ryudo. Do you want to leave a
message?"

	"Please." She handed him a pen and a piece of paper.

	His hand was trembling so badly that his English lettering was almost
unreadable. It was a simple message, just his name, address and phone
number and the request to get in touch. It wasn't eloquent, but it was
the best his abused mind could come up with.

	"I'll make sure he gets it, Mr. Ryudo." She folded the paper and put it
into one of the unnumbered pigeon-holes behind her.

	She gave him a hard stare as he hung onto desk edge and tried to
formulate what to do next. He would go outside and wait for Remy to
come. There was a little park area with benches and lots of cool shade
just to the right of the broad pathway that led to the front doors of
the building.

						*****
	
	Remy switched the grocery bag to his other arm as he approached his
building and brushed the long tail of his bound hair back over his
shoulder and wished this heat would break.

	"Remy Lebeau?" A voice called softly from the shadows under the trees.

	*Merde!* Which one of the fans had found him this time? He eyed the
distance between himself and the safety of the front door and the guard
there. He could make it if need be. He turned to face the person and
almost dropped his bag as he recognized the lithe figure, the patchy
sunlight making his dark auburn hair flicker like flames. *Mon Dieu! He
was here!*

	He did drop it as Tsuzuku Ryudo attempted a bow and went to his knees.
He caught him by his shoulders. Tsuzuku put his hands on his forearms
and pushed himself back onto his heels, then let go and sat up straight,
taking his shoulders out from under Remy's hands.

	"I apologize, Lebeau-san. I seem to be...unwell." He kept his eyes
down, embarrassed.

	"S'all right, Cher." Remy's hand went to his forehead before he could
turn away from it.

	"Cher, you be burnin' up! Come on!" Remy rose and took a hold of one
elbow and pulled him to his feet. "You able to walk?"

	Tsuzuku gave a little nod then listed as that movement made the pain in
his head flare and his vision narrowed. Remy was beside him, one arm
going around his waist, the other guiding his arm around his shoulders.

	"You lean on me, Cher. Only a few steps to the elevator and then I get
you a nice cold drink and a cold towel and you can lay down, neh?"

	"Domo arigato, Lebeau-san. I would appreciate that very much." Tsuzuku
managed to get out as his sense reeled. Then all he could do was
concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping the
wave of hot, rushing darkness at bay.

	Remy's mind was spinning as he kept up a soft litany of encouragement
as he supported Tsuzuku through the lobby then waited impatiently for
the elevator. Their Dragon was in a bad way. What had happened?

	*Tannis, love, you choose the worst times to be away!* He grumbled to
himself as he fumbled with the key and the knob and the effort of
keeping Tsuzuku upright.

	Finally they were in and he guided the dragon to the sofa and let him
down carefully. He kept his arm behind his back as he quickly tugged the
loose pillows that formed the back and arranged them so they would
support Tsuzuku. Their Dragon focused on him, his pupils so huge that
there was barely a rim of emerald around them.

	"I don't mean to be so much of an inconvenience, Lebeau-san." It was
nothing more than a soft whisper.

	"You don't worry about it, Cher! I be right back with some cold water,
neh?"

	"Hai. Domo-arigato."

	Remy left him and hurried to the kitchen. He grabbed a bag of frozen
vegetables and wrapped it in a dish towel with one hand while he held a
glass against the dispenser for the refrigerated water. Tsuzuku had
passed out by the time he got back.