Sanzo vs. the Alien Invasion Ch4 bit – Need Coffee For This

Stuck in… something. Kougaiji connected that thought, and Nii, and tried not to shudder in utter, squeamish horror. Throwing up while something was stuck over his mouth could kill him.

Not that it felt like he had anything to throw up. Which might explain part of how fuzzy everything was. He’d never been quite ready to face the world without at least a hunk of cheese to gnaw on in the morning-

What was that?

He’d tried a tentative wriggle, to see how tight he was held, and… it was so odd. Like listening to echoes in an auditorium, and realizing he could estimate where the walls were even with his eyes closed.

But it wasn’t a sound!

More – feeling without touching. Which made no sense. If he couldn’t touch it, how could he feel solid metal walls, less-solid wood and plastic shelving, the vaporous presence of air, shifting with exhaled warmth….

Warmth I can’t feel. I’m sensing energy.

His kami bangles were singing with it, alive; here, here, this is where-we-are!

Which fit right into what he’d pieced together about kami; the jewelry was technology, not just fancy ornaments. If you were going to be flinging yourself blindly through space, one of the first things you’d want was a stabilizer-

Living energy, moving upright on two legs.

Move!

Whatever held him crumbled like dried mud. Kougaiji tried to turn it into a controlled fall, landing on the opposite side of some kind of workbench from whatever threat might be-

“…Nii-san?”

Lirin. That was Lirin’s voice. Lirin’s green eyes, staring past an armful of dark clothing way too big to be hers. Lirin’s scent, soft red hair and chocolate and soap from her latest scrubbing-

:Vulnerable cub, seize, Turn, ours-!:

He punched the wall instead.