Disclaimer: Yuki Shimizu owns Love Mode and the poem is by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894)
Tags: Character death, illness, depression, angst, nightmares, hurt/comfort, emotional infidelity, anal fingering, anal sex (in later chapters)
Chapters have been edited and fixed up as of January
Our Last Moment
Izumi breathed out heavily as he rolled off of Takamiya and onto the dishevelled bed. He gigged as Takamiya was placing butterfly kisses on his toned stomach. The older man soon stopped and repositioned himself, getting comfortable in their incredibly sturdy bed – one of the reasons why Katsura purchased it - and pulled his younger lover into his arms. "I have to go to Fukushima tomorrow. A young English couple were planning on raising their daughter in Fukushima, but their Japanese is still quite rusty, so they asked if I could go and translate for them while they're buying their house. I'll be back in time for a late dinner." He smiled and pulled Izumi as close as he could, "And my even later dessert." He finished, nuzzling the younger man's cheek lovingly before the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.
6:35am
Coming out of the shower the next morning and getting dressed in low light, Takamiya still made himself look professional, his final touch was putting on the cologne that Izumi had brought him for Valentine's Day; gone were the days where the young man was embarrassed and ashamed about having an older male lover and public displays of affection. They were both happy in their little life together. Being as quiet as he could; Takamiya came over and tilted Izumi's head, gently stirring him awake, "I'll see you later, Izumi."
"Mmm..." 'Smells nice...' Izumi thought in his sleepy state. "Love you, Ta..." Izumi whispered, his eyes barely opening. He hardly calls the older man by his family name anymore, but sometimes it slips out.
Takamiya gave a silly grin, kissed the young man's ear and whispered his "Love you, too." and left, locking the door behind him; Izumi wasn't going to be up for a while.
XxXxX
"Bye." Takamiya said his farewells to the young couple and looked at his expensive watch; 3:37pm. 'That's good. I'll be back in time for my late dinner, and my sexy dessert.' He thought, keeping his laughter to himself. Getting into his car, and starting the engine; the two and a half hour drive back to Tokyo didn't seem that long once Takamiya thought about what was awaiting him at home. After all, Izumi took a bullet train and a cab for him in the middle of the night for him on their first Christmas; two and a half hour was nothing.
5:57pm the clock hands read. Takamiya sighed, talking to himself "I should nearly be home by now, but no. Just my luck to be caught in a traffic jam as long as Mount. Fuji." Roadworks making his journey exceeding longer. Another hour passed before his car moved, "Finally." Takamiya said, exasperated.
The sign Takamiya had just passed said he was in Ibaraki. 'Just another hour...' He thought to himself, trying to control the excitement welling up in his stomach, but couldn't hide his smile as he thought about the man. 'Maybe I should buy Izumi some Flowers... No, Chocolates. Definitely Chocolates, to make up for me being so late. Maybe I'll call Reiji for some of his chocolates... First thing tomorrow morn-' Takamiya's eyes widened as a pick-up truck collided into the driver's side of his Silver Concept ZT with force, sending the small car and Takamiya tumbling onto its side. Though the translator's seatbelt was on, he was still sent on an unpleasant ride, already feeling his leg stuck.
The dirty pick-up truck continued to push Takaimya's over-turned car in an unknown direction – and at the end of this horrific journey; was another car.
Nothing was heard, no voices, the accident seemed to happen quickly but in slow motion also. The pedestrians and other drivers looked on in shock and confusion as the silver car was crushed beyond repair between the truck and another car of similar size, the vehicles being haltered by a wall.
Not much time had passed before the police, two ambulances and a fire engine arrived on the scene.
XxXxX
7.43pm
The sound of the ringing phone echoed throughout the quiet apartment. "Hello?" Izumi answered, not recognising the number.
"Sakashita-san?"
Thinking about his last ordeal with trains in an emergency; Izumi decided against it and call a cab instead - cutting off forty minutes to an hour of his journey.
XxXxX
9.13pm
"Where is he? Where is Takamiya Katsura?" Izumi shouted at the receptionist. "Please!" He was frantic; getting a call from an unfamiliar hospital, telling him that the only man he'd ever loved had been in a car accident would make anyone yell out in worry and frustration.
"Sakashita Izumi?" A man in a white over-coat spoke, coming over to him.
Izumi looked over at the mention of his name.
"Come with me please. He's not long been out of surgery" and so he did, hastily. He didn't want to waste any more time.
The doctor led Izumi into an elevator, down a long hallway and into the Intensive Care Unit, and into a separate room - Katsura's room.
The sight made Izumi sick - Takamiya was… asleep? Unconscious? Izumi didn't know but, there were scrapes and cuts on his lover's face, a few nasty bruises starting to form. A bandage around his head, a sterile cotton padding underneath the wrap to keep the incision clean. He has a neck brace on, for precaution, he hoped and that it wasn't a serious injury to hinder his mobility. There were bandages wrapped tightly around Takamiya's chest, another tube was coming out of his chest and hooked up to a machine, and deep bruises on his stomach that Izumi wasn't aware of yet. Izumi couldn't see through the blanket either but, Takamiya's right knee was wrapped. His hands, though, were not covered by the blanket. They were covered by bandages that reached up to his elbows, a cannula peeking out on one side and the rest of both his arms were covered in scrapes and minor cuts. It was the oxygen mask over Takamiya's mouth and nose that Izumi was drawn to, feeling sick to his stomach. Not to mention the other machine's and devices attached to his body.
"Uh..." Izumi couldn't get his words out, he was in too much shock.
The doctor spoke without waiting for any questions. "He had some bleeding on the brain, though we managed to get it under our control. A collapsed lung, which we're treating. Bruising on most of his body, and a cartilage tear in his knee. Surgery was prepped and ready for his arrival. Takamiya-san was given morphine after the surgery, and he should be waking up soon. When you approach him, don't apply much pressure or speed; he is very fragile and may be confused."
When the doctor closed the door; Izumi rushed over to his lover, gently put his hand over Katsura's and began to cry. He must have been crying for ten minutes straight when he heard-
"Shush, my little C-cannon…ball. There's no need… for all those tears." The voice was rough and low, but he knew it.
Lifting his head, Izumi found his lover smiling gently – tiredly – at him, without the oxygen mask, and that only made him cry harder. "Katsura!" The relief coating his words. "I was so scared, I felt sick when they called me. I thought… I thought I was going to lose you." Izumi was gentle, barely – as so not to hurt him – hugging him. "I love you, Katsura and, I'm so sorry for all the shit I've put you through all of these years. You know I love you, right?" Izumi sobbed onto the man's left shoulder. All the things that were running through his mind that he'd wished he said or could take back.
"I love you, too" Takamiya kissed the boy's cheek. "Why don't you get in the bed with me? You must be tired." Izumi could hear in his voice how breathless his injured lung was making him.
Sniffling, Izumi silently climbed very carefully into the small hospital bed and laid down on the man's left side. The man who he had been with for ten strong years and had taught him everything he knew since he was sixteen.
"I love you, Katsura." Izumi whispered, telling him again, kissing Takamiya's lips.
"I love you too, Izumi. I really do." He said with a sad smile, and rested his head next to Izumi's and falling asleep.
XxXxX
2.01am
BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep
Dark brown eyes widened. The sound of the machine that monitored Takamiya's heart rate and blood pressure going off sent cold chills down his spine. He was in such a daze because of the constant beeping, that he didn't realise the room was now filled with doctors, all rushing passed him and assisting in the emergency. Izumi also didn't realise that a nurse had coaxed him out – not until he was already out, he couldn't even remember getting out of the hospital bed.
"Katsura!" He screamed and tried pushing his way back into the room but, as he was doing so, the doctors and nurses had gathered what Takamiya needed and rushed him out of the room and down the hall. There was no way Izumi would have been able to chase after him, not with one of the tallest men he had ever seen standing in his way.
"Come on. I'll take you to the family room." The tall nurse said, wrapping his arm around Izumi's shoulders as some sort of comfort.
XxXxX
Three hours passed.
Three long, lonely, terrifying hours that went by so slowly that it felt more like twelve hours, and Izumi had yet to move from the seat he was eased into. The tall nurse stayed with him, offering him a drink and reassured Izumi that it won't be long now, he needs to stay positive. The young man never took the drink or answered him. He wasn't purposefully ignoring him and the nurse understand that.
What caught attention Izumi's, though, was the first doctor he had seen when he entered the hospital – and the drained look on his face. Running over to him, the worry and hope in his brown eyes was obvious.
"I'm sorry." The doctor spoke softly.
"… No"
"The bleed on his brain had started again. We tried to stop it, but it happened too quickly. I'm sorry to say that Takamiya passed away from a brain haemorrhage." It pained him having to tell the young man that his lover had just died. "He wouldn't have suffered."
"No..." Izumi was shaking his head. "No! He's not... He's not dead! K-Katsura... He's not dead!" Izumi collapsed on the floor, his knees hitting hard ground with a thud, sobbing.
Takamiya Katsura, thirty-eight-years-old, died at approximately 5:27AM June 18th 2006.
XxXxX
The coffin was made out of a dark wood and lined with finest red silk – only the best would do for Takamiya in Reiji's mind.
The funeral was being held four days after Takamiya's passing. Izumi hadn't said a word to anyone since that heart breaking day at the hospital; not even a word to mother. This is why Reiji decided that he should be the one to plan his best friend's funeral, informing Izumi on every detail before it became finalized; he even had to be the one to pick out Izumi's suit and help get him dressed.
There was only a small group of people at Takamiya's funeral: Izumi, of course, and his parents - his mother, because she loved her son and Takamiya and his father, in support of his son. Reiji and Kiichi were there, as well as Haruomi and Kashima was the last of them. They were all standing around the coffin, with the priest positioned at the front.
"I have been asked if I would read out a poem for our fallen friend." Priest Ito Shunji spoke softly, and began reading.
"He had achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children.;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has left the world better than he found it;
Who has looked for the best in others and given the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration
Whose memory is a benediction."
It was silence that met the moving poem. Every word described exactly how Takamiya was: He laughed often and loved much. He always looked for the best in people, people like Izumi, and he gave his best to everything. Katsura was an inspiration. He was a blessing and he would be greatly missed.
After the poem, the coffin was lowered. Izumi felt his heart shatter as he watched his lover being taken from him. Six white chrysanthemums were thrown onto of the coffin - one from every person there. Izumi was the last to lay a flower down, it fell onto the name plaque. A red rose. Takamiya's favourite.
XxXxX
Pulling up in one of the dirtiest streets in Tokyo; Reiji, Kiichi and Haruomi all stepped out of Reiji's pristine black car and casually walked into one of the tower of flats.
Flat number 5 was their target.
Kicking the door through, the three of them walked into the dirty small flat that stunk of weed and who knows what else. "Tanaka Yuu." Reiji raised his voice, but did not shout.
A man, Tanaka Yuu, walked through the door at the end of the room sporting no shoes, torn Jeans and a filthy vest-top that was supposed to be white. "Who the fuck are you?"
"You don't need to worry about who I am. But you, Tanaka, are the fool who caused the accident in Ibaraki five days ago and, by the looks of it, you got off with just wrecking your truck." By the way Reiji was speaking, you would think he was a robot with no emotion.
"Yeah… I remember... Man, I was lucky. I mean, I miss my truck but I still got my life. I guess I had a few too many that morning." Tanaka laughed.
"You shouldn't be laughing. I won't go into detail about the man who you crashed into – you don't deserve to know." Reiji took out his phone and processed to call someone. "Now." was all he said.
"Good bye, Tanaka. Say hello to Aoe Shougo when you get to Hell for me." As the Aoe brothers and Haruomi turned to leave, five men walked into the small little flat. They were all wearing black suits and sun-glasses with dark lenses, and one of them nodded to Reiji.