Dedicated to Kez-chan who requested a cross over between Fruits Basket and Kingdom Hearts all about Yuki and RIku. Hopefully this satisfies your request :)
A/N: This story takes place after KH2 ends and post the Fruits Basket anime (no the manga :D)and contains mild m/m or slash
Disclaimer: I own no rights to Fruits Basket or Kingdom Hearts, nor do I claim to. No profit is being made.
"MANY DETAILED THINGS"
January 17:
As the elevator doors opened, dressed in a hideous shade of teal scrubs, Yuki was revealed to the third floor of the hospital. The smell of peroxide made his nose scrunch up, yet he straightened his shoulders and took the slow steps from the metal box. The doors slid back behind him, hindering his escape from the coughing all about him. Years of etiquette kept his back straight as he started down the hall, a clipboard squeezed tightly between his forearm and hip. The fluorescent lights overhead washed out his already pale skin, making him look nearly as sickly as the patients that he was avoiding eye contact with.
As he walked, Yuki counted the room numbers. With a flick of his gaze and a tilt to the clipboard Yuki took a sparing glance at the room number, muttering it under his breath as he walked. The numbers on his left ascended in odd numbers. Yuki stopped when he reached three thirty-nine. He ran a hand consciously through the loose strands of his hair, and then he pushed the door open.
The lights were off inside the room and a small amount of light flowed in through the window in the far corner of the room. The body on the bed had their back to him. Yuki looked only long enough to see that the form under the white sheets was moving from the act of breathing before he turned his attentions to closing the door as quietly as possible, hoping not to awaken the other man.
With the fluorescent light restrained to the gap beneath the door Yuki let his slouch return. He pulled the stethoscope from his neck and knotted it between his hands as threw his body unceremoniously in the one chair in the room. The plastic chair sat between the window and the bed, shining light over his head and throwing his shadow over the bed.
Laying the stethoscope over the armrest, Yuki dropped his head into his hands and pressed the palms tight against his eyes in an attempt to block out everything but the room.
"Are you going to be alright?"
Yuki jerked his head up to look at the bed from which the tired voice had questioned him. Lying in the bed, possessing questioning sea foam eyes was a boy he'd never met. Violet eyes searched the room as a flush rose to his cheeks. Yuki opened and closed his mouth before once again unceremoniously dropping his head into his hands.
The boy in the bed gave a chuckle before asking in a whisper, "I wasn't who you expected, am I?"
Yuki shook his head, unable to speak from embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, it's just that it was dark and you and he both have silver hair and it's been a long day," Yuki began to tiredly ramble. A chuckle floated from the bed and he looked up to see the boy smiling at him. It was true; this boy had silver hair just like Aya's but beyond that the differences were so innumerable that only the darkness covered them.
The boy sat up, waving a hand at the comments.
"It's fine," he said leaning forward to squint at the ID tag hanging from the pocket on Yuki's chest. "Yuki Sohma."
Then the door opened and a spiky haired brunette entered the room. All three froze as the bright light burst into the room.
To Yuki's luck Hatori had been coming out of Ayame's room and could see him.
"Yuki," the older man called from the room across the hall. He heard a more feminine voice yell Yun-Yun, to which he groaned. Smiling at the silver haired boy Yuki stood and crossed the room. There was a second where he and the brunette danced around each other in the doorway before he finally got across the hall to where his exuberant brother was waving to him.
"My your hair has grown Yun-Yun!"
"Please don't call me that, Nii-san," Yuki sighed as he went about checking Ayame's vitals.
January 18:
"Riku, are you going to be alright," Sora asked as he leaned over his bedridden friend. His hand was reaching out toward Riku's; touching the pale skin for a hair of a second. Then a sigh escaped the brunette's lips, his blue eyes closing as he let the frustration leak out of his pores because he could do so without guilt when Riku was asleep.
But Riku wasn't asleep.
He lay there with his back curved toward his blue-eyed friend and his right hand was tucked beneath his chin. It was the left hand with the medical bracelet, laying upon a pointy hipbone that Sora was touching in an act of friendly affection. Riku could see the worn look on Sora's face as he squinted through his pale eyelashes; the white blankets obscured the tense curve of his slight friend. But he could feel the tenseness through the wiry bed, could feel the shake as emotions wracked Sora's body and made him sob in shudders. A knot caught in Riku's throat and his hand clenched tightly in the pillow beneath his head but before he could sit up and reveal that he was truly awake and there for his friend the door to his room opened.
The red-haired young woman smiled as she leaned in the doorway. Her smile lessened when she saw her boyfriend shaking and sobbing. Like approaching a wild creature Kairi moved slowly toward the bed. She leaned over with her hands on her knees to look at him.
"Sora?"
The brunette jolted up to look at her shouting, "What?"
She smiled brighter and stretched up, placing a hand on his cheek. He smiled back through wet lashes and leaned into her warm palm.
"How is he doing?"
"Great. You know Riku, he's a fighter," Sora said optimistically. It made Riku cringe after having seen Sora sob so pathetically.
"Then he can do without your babying for a bit. Let's go to the cafeteria for a bit."
Sora looked torn, eyes flicking between his "sleeping" friend and the girl with her hand already wrapped in his. Riku held still, sure that if he moved Sora would never leave.
Then they did finally get up and step out of the room, Kairi leading as well as making sure to close the door behind them.
In her attempt to close the door gently she left it just ajar.
Riku had know idea how long he lay in bed before the shouting started. He may even have drifted for moment before the yelling across the hall awaked him.
"Yun Yun! Come back please!" Yelling from the confines of the other room was followed by the recuperation of a newly familiar voice. It yelled for the brother to be silent and to leave him be. It pleaded in politeness before it grew louder as it drew nearer.
Then the familiar voice was in his room and slamming the door shut. The lock clicked in place before the gray-haired young man leaned heavily against it with his two palms out against the entrance.
"You're going to get me in trouble with the nurses by doing that, you know."
The man spun around to face Riku who now sat with his back to the headboard.
"Hey, Yuki."
Both of them smiled, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Yuki's face flushed from embarrassment. A voice in his head praised the powers that be for the darkness of the room, a smirk coiling over his lips at that unusual prayer.
"I got a little worked up, I do apologize," Yuki murmured as he leaned against the door. He watched Riku watching him, aquamarine irises a dark green in the half-light.
"Come sit." Riku patted the bed as he spoke. Arms wrapped tightly around his chest Yuki moved slowly to the mattress. The springs squeaked and both boys chuckled at the tension in the air.
"How are you feeling," Yuki asked softly, his violet eyes soft as they searched the pale features of Riku's face. Riku's heart clenched at the sound of Yuki's voice, and yet, he smiled again, feeling happier then he had since he'd arrived in the hospital.
"I'm actually feeling very well," Riku said. "How about you?"
Yuki absentmindedly stared at the four solid walls around him. He looked to the silver haired boy for a moment before he answered. When he did he slipped into describing his hair-brained brother and the dog-whistle decimal at which he spoke. His hands moved around him as he mimicked the older Sohma for the boy. It wasn't until Riku was leaned against the wall and clutching his stomach from his laughter that Yuki realized he'd let his mask slip. Silence fell, as did Yuki's jaw as he watched Riku calm back down, but then the silver haired boy smiled and Yuki was smiling as well.
"If you think that's bad you should meet my friend Wakka," Riku challenged.
Grins adorned their faces as they shared tales. Yuki leaned back on his hands as he laid the length of his body on the side of the mattress. Riku spoke in slow hand gestures and at every detail there was sarcasm and eye rolling. Yuki laughed harder then he had since graduation as he listened to the other young man.
It wasn't until Kairi brought Sora back that their conversation ended. The couple had returned along the linoleum path to say good-bye only to find the door locked.
"Riku! Don't do this," Sora shrieked as he kicked at the door and struggled with the knob. The words on Riku's lips died when the yelling started and all he could do was stare at Yuki. He hoped the red blush of embarrassment would say enough to the jewel-eyed man. Then Kairi joined in and Riku dropped his face into his hands.
The couple chirped on the other side of the door, reaching a point of pure hysteria when Riku finally threw himself from the bed. One hand around his IV pole Riku rushed the door. The lock clicked and Sora, who had still been fiddling with the doorknob, fell face forward into the room.
"Riku?" Kairi stared at her friend before noticing the doctor seated leisurely on the hospital bed. She bit her lip and blushed.
Sora jumped up and bombarded the silver haired teen with a hug, weeping apologies in the crook of his neck. Awkwardly, Riku batted at the crown of spiky hair.
"Sora, I'm wearing a paper gown."
The brunette looked up from the hug, more apologies pooling in his large blue eyes but still he held tight. With a sigh and a smile that was a bit forlorn Riku ran his fingers through the brown hair. Sora smelled like the beach, Riku thought, as he finally wrapped the free hand uneasily around the brunette's shoulders. His eyes were only for his slowly calming friend.
There was a cough from behind him that made Riku blink. He turned his head as a frozen smile appeared on Yuki's face. An unsettling feeling settled in Riku's stomach as he regarded the shift of air around the gray-haired man. It shocked him to watch as the older man gracefully stood from the bed and was headed toward the door without a word.
"I'll just take my leave," he said as he walked past.
"Riku!"
Yuki turned back to look at the silver haired young man and tilted his head in question.
"Riku," Riku said again to the other man. "My name is Riku."
The head still stayed tilted.
"You never asked so I thought I would tell you."
Yuki smiled at him.
"Feel better, Riku."
January 26:
Riku stared at the same paragraph again but still it was unreadable
Sora and Kairi had gone into the bathroom so as to discreetly make-out but the walls were like paper and Riku could hear everything. Fingers clenched around the edges of the pages and tore them a bit.
Sora sighed Kairi's name and Riku threw in the towel.
Eyes narrowed in pure frustration Riku grabbed his IV stand and dragged his weight to the bathroom door. He threw it open and threw his book at their heads.
"Riku," Kairi stuttered as she tried to straighten her hair out. Both teens blushed as red as tomatoes but the eldest saw nothing funny about it.
"Get out," he hissed at them. Blue eyes looked at him in shock and Sora's mouth fell open with more questions and more apologies.
Cutting him off Riku screamed, "Get out and go home!"
Kairi squeaked as she ran from the room. Riku was sure that there would be tears in her eyes but all he could see was Sora. The brunette looked as furious as he felt, blue eyes narrowed and the boy looked like he would charge.
Riku relished the idea.
Then Sora crumpled with a pitying smile. He brushed past his best friend with a pat on his bony shoulder. His lips seemed to be forming words and Riku saw red.
"Get out of my room," he growled and whipped away from the brunette.
Left alone Riku listened to the thrum of the hospital building. Everything seemed to throb as if in that same pain as his heart. Pressing his free hand to his chest Riku sought to slow his breathe. The silence was deafening and not for the first time in a week he wondered what had happened to Yuki.
Riku chuckled and eased himself into the corner chair. It was awful, part of him whispered, that he was already attached to this stranger.
But with all his might Riku couldn't find Yuki's presence anything less then comforting. His hands shook as he pulled his legs beneath him in the chair. Curling up against the armrest nearest his IV Riku willed someone to walk in.
So went another night of crying himself to sleep.
January 27:
"The doctor … moody …idiosyncrasies … unexpla- … the doctor said."
Riku frowned at the snippets of conversation he could hear just outside the door. He recognized the scolding tone of the head nurse.
"Bad idea … doc- … said no," the same nurse said. The level of frustration seemed to grow as she continued on. The doorknob creaked as someone held onto it.
"I know the doctor … personally I … he's wrong … you have him on? Well no wonder," another voice argued. The tone was stern and familiar but Riku's head felt like it was full of cotton.
The door opened and the light of fluorescents in the hallway made him groan. The arguing voices ended immediately. Riku was sure that all eyes were on him and not wishing to have the nurse come in with another sedative he rolled over to face the curtained window. He watched as the rectangular shape of light shrank and disappeared with the closing of the door. The bed creaked as it was leaned upon, then a hand snaked his shoulder and gently rolled him to look into deep purple eyes.
Riku's vision went in and out as he stared at the familiar smile. He could see that the lips were forming words but to him they were unintelligible. He shook his head, which made him dizzy. The hand on his shoulder rested on his scalp and held his face still.
"How are you feeling, Riku," the man, for the voice rang as a man's to Riku addled mind, asked teasingly. The voice was soft but Riku wasn't sure whose end was the cause of that.
Riku tried to reply, "right as rain," as sarcastically as possible but from the look he got he was sure the message was not received.
Fingers ran through his hair and Riku closed his eyes at the feeling. He felt the press of a body at his side and this kind, kind visitor whispered in his ear.
"Get some sleep Riku."
Riku dropped off into a drug-dazed sleep as Yuki watched. Carefully the intern pulled the rough cotton blanket from Riku's ankles and tucked it around the thin body. Without realizing he'd done so, Yuki ran his fingers through the rogue locks of silver hair that hung in Riku's face. He brushed the hair behind the teen's ear and watched without seeing as he thought about the teen.
Why did this patient remind him so much of Kureno?
His thoughts were jarred by the quietest of knocks on the door. Yuki grunted a greeting as the door opened.
Hatori hung by the door and watched as Yuki ran one last gentle glance over the small body on the bed. Finally Yuki turned to him, bruise like bags prominent beneath the young man's eyes. Hatori gave Yuki a weak smile as he met the gray-haired man halfway to the door.
"You haven't been sleeping," Hatori murmured as he laid a hand on Yuki's shoulder. Yuki breathed deeply, closing his eyes as he leaned into the older doctor. Sympathetically Hatori wrapped an arm around Yuki's shoulder, knowing the worry and stress that had taken a hold of Yuki's being. As Yuki leaned into his embrace Hatori ran a hand over the young man's back.
"Have you being getting proper meals?"
"That depends on whether or not the meals served in the cafeteria constitute as healthy," Yuki retorted against the lapel of Hatori's white coat. Both men laughed.
"How about your breathing?"
"Are you telling me I have a check up soon," Yuki groaned as they eased out of the embrace. Hatori chuckled and switched to doctor mode. He gently pressed the pads of his fingers along Yuki's neck. Like a robot Yuki responded mechanically by moving his head slowly from side to side, changing direction to slowly raise his chin up and down when Hatori's applied pressure. Hatori released him nodding in content.
"I have my inhaler in my locker, before you ask," Yuki said as Hatori opened his mouth to speak. The older doctor rolled his visible eye as he pivoted to leave the room. Yuki followed to the door where he stumbled when Hatori stopped abruptly. His hand was on the doorknob when a thought transformed his calm features to arched eyebrows.
"Why don't you take a break," Hatori asked as he turned to give Yuki a once over. One look at his cousin holding in a yawn and Hatori nodded at his own question. "I'll cover your shift while you get some sleep."
Yuki made to refute but the door opened and closed quickly and soon he was alone in the dully-lit room. For a moment he frowned but chose not to question his mentor. The only obvious answer was that the older man had been hanging around Ayame too much lately.
oOoOo
Yuki yawned, stretching all the way to his toes as he began to wake up. The wall he had been blinking at looked darker then before and his internal clock buzzed that it was definitely after visiting hours. Yuki sighed and rolled onto his back and threw his arm over the railing of the bed as he continued to stretch.
"You're a bed hog," his companion murmured as sleepily as Yuki felt. Yuki blinked and rolled up into a seated position. He stared down at the mess of silver hair and pale limbs.
"Well you monopolized the pillow," Yuki retorted tonelessly, too tired for spite or sarcasm. The head of hair rolled to reveal bright irises that, thankfully, weren't dulled from morphine. He smiled at Riku as he sat up. Half a smile was returned.
"Why are you here," Riku asked as he thoughtlessly pulled the blankets to his chin.
"You were going to tell me about Blitz Ball." Yuki leaned against the wall without another word, as if the rules of a child's game were a sane alibi for visiting.
"Here I thought it was my sparkling personality," Riku joked and slid to lay curled beside Yuki's knee.
They talked, quietly for the most part. When the yawns had begun again Yuki moved to the chair and in his best future-doctor voice told Riku to get to sleep.
Silence reigned in the room as both seemed to drift into slumber. Then Riku's voice came quietly.
"They changed my doctor, didn't they," Riku asked. His voice was so calm Yuki almost thought that the boy was musing to himself.
"Yeah, a diagnostic I believe," Yuki admitted.
Riku gave an uncommitted grunt.
January 30:
"What's wrong," Riku asked, alerted by the furrow in Yuki's brow. The gray-haired man shook his head as he took a seat against the wall opposite the bed. He tucked his head into his knees as he pulled his legs to his chest. Yuki was back in his dark blue scrubs that looked more or less in need of a wash. Yuki sighed and remembered when Tohru had done the laundry.
He squashed that memory before the entire path of "meant to be" could drag him to tears.
"I'm in love with my best friend and I can never tell him," Riku confided to the silence.
Yuki looked up at Riku. The boy shrugged as if that was a sentence everyone used on a day-to-day basis. Then the aquamarine eyes began to water and Riku tried furiously to shove the offensive tears back into his eyes. His face became blotchy as one by one the tears rolled down his cheeks. With a hiccup Riku unleashed a torrent of choking sobs.
Before Yuki had realized he'd moved he was at Riku's side, pulling the boy against him and hushing the sobs. He rocked them back and forth an epiphany making a quiet entrance into his multi-tasking mind. All of the memories of Haru taking care of him became crystal clear to Yuki as he held the fragile body in his arms.
Running one hand through the long silver tresses Yuki pressed the shaking body into him.
"The first person I ever loved married the one person who hates me with all of their being," Yuki confided to the part in Riku's hair.
"Wh-hat h-happened," Riku asked. For the first time since he'd returned from Kingdom Hearts the boy sounded his age, all insecurities laid bear as he held tight to the doctor. Yuki's warmth soothed him and allowed the hands to continue to cling to him like he was a lifeboat with no complaint.
"They married right after graduation. They ran off together and eloped so they could begin their fairytale life in secret."
"What about you," Riku whispered. His eyes were tightly closed in an incomprehensible fear.
"I got a few postcards from the bride. I forced myself to be happy for her. Then I played the dutiful son and went off to university. A story you've heard before I'm sure," Yuki chuckled. "It's horribly cheesy."
Riku chuckled into the fabric of Yuki's shirt. He wrapped his arms around Yuki's waist and asked what came next.
"They came back, eventually. I haven't spoken to them in two years."
"You are bad at telling stories," Riku murmured in exhaustion.
"Then you tell me one," Yuki goaded.
Riku heaved the largest sigh of his life. He pulled back and ran a hand through his hair, when he reached the end of the strands he gave them a tug. Finally he gave a quiet command.
"Lay down."
Yuki gave him a look of scrutiny but complied. Riku lay back as well, leaning his head on Yuki's chest. He closed his eyes tight and his lips parted.
"I sacrificed my soul to save him and now, when I could be dying, he's too busy to see how much I need him. He thinks that I want to stand for myself but he is the blindest boy I have ever met. And even though he is killing me I can't be angry at him."
Yuki frowned as he stared at the window. There was a large piece of story missing and it made his fingers itch. He murmured toward the walls, "I don't think I understand."
"I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't believe me."
Yuki bit his lip because there truly was no way to escape such a situation with the hound of hypocrisy on his heels.
"I prefer plants to people," Yuki admitted.
Riku sighed before retorting, "I used to live on an island."
"I have an extensive family."
"Sometimes I wish I'd never met mine."
"I wish that a lot," Yuki whispered as he brushed his hand over Riku's shoulder.
"I knew the exact moment Sora fell in love with Kairi."
"I lost my first love to my cousin. Who, consequently, finds hating me as easy as breathing."
"Touché," Riku said, rolling his head to look up at Yuki. The gray-haired man gave him a smile that was strained. Silence descended again but this time it made Riku squirm.
"I'm a third year in school," Riku admitted.
"I started my internship last September." And much too old for you, ran the subtext.
"I've been struck by a sword."
Violet eyes widened and Yuki looked down at Riku. The boy grinned and shrugged before muttering that it was Yuki's turn.
"I have weak bronchial tubes." Yuki sighed as he finished the sentence. It was easy to lie beside this warm body and whisper every secret he'd bottled away. He wondered what it would feel like to admit the Sohma secret to this boy. A hand reached across Riku's chest to grab at Yuki's hand. Aqua eyes blinked up into Yuki's relaxed face.
Should I sit up? Am I hurting you? Riku's eyes asked so many questions it made Yuki smile genuinely. He shook his head and began to brush at the silver hair again to relax the teen.
"I have a weak heart," Riku joked.
Knowing he shouldn't say it Yuki breathed the truth that had been eating away at him all day.
"Your doctor can't figure out what is wrong with you. There's nothing they can do."
Everything in the room froze. Riku felt his heart pick up pace and as he watched Yuki he waited for everything to come falling as literally as those words had made it sound. Yuki looked cold, like ice. The way he had looked the first time Kairi and Sora had met him.
"You bottle things up," Riku stated. He needed only to see the flicker of those vibrant violet eyes in his direction for confirmation.
"Tell me about Kingdom Hearts," Yuki murmured from where he lay on the bed. Riku bolted up and spun to stare wide eyed down at the young doctor. A smile rose to the gray-haired man's face as he watched the confliction on Riku's face. The smile slipped as aqua eyes glanced around without seeing anything. Riku's hands shook as Yuki's enclosed them. Going rigid the teen stared in fright at Yuki. He stuttered and stumbled over his tongue until a hand rose to his face. Yuki ran a hand through Riku's hair; his head tilted in confusion as the regarded the teen.
"You spoke about it while you were asleep and I thought I would ask. I'm sorry."
Riku swallowed the tightness in his throat and shook off the comfort of Yuki's hand. They sat silently on the bed and Yuki slowly leaned forward until their foreheads were inches apart. Riku blinked back tears he didn't know he'd shed, looking up through his lashes at the soft gem-like eyes. Taking Yuki's hands into his own Riku stared at the lines that crisscrossed the flesh, at the scars on the doctor's palms as he thought.
"How…?"
Yuki hummed a reply, his eyes shifted to the scars. He licked his lips and the beginning of the story came as a breath of, "When I was young."
As oceanic irises become a torrent of emotion He smiled melancholy at his hands.
"I went to stay with one of my cousins for a time."
"You have a lot of cousins," Riku murmured as he glanced at the doctor. Yuki smiled kindly before looking back down at his hands. He moved his fingers and both watched as the scars shifted around the tendons.
"I was so young that what was no more than a month or two felt like an eternity without my mother. My cousin and I fought but I was the youngest so I rarely won. Frustration is such a strong emotion for a child – I couldn't handle not knowing when I would be going home."
Yuki licked his lips as he remembered the scars being made. He drew a breath and carried the story on, knowing that he had to give the boy something.
"So one day I decided to run away. I locked the door to my room and tried to open one of the windows. My room had this large bay windows facing the back garden wall. Mind you this was and old house and I was at the end of the corridor, so I could hear every creak in the hallway. I got scared and in my haste I fell through the window."
Riku nodded in reply and ran his fingers over the scars as the hands lay on his knees. Entranced by the hands Riku focused on them as he opened his mouth and let the story slide from his lips. Not another sound interrupted as Riku let the story unravel from his lips. As if a bubble or shroud surrounded the small bed neither boy noticed when the door to Riku's room began to open. Sora stood in the doorway with his trademark smile and a paper bag of snacks that most definitely were not approved by the hospital. A greeting hung on his lips as he moved into the room. He stopped when he looked up and saw his friend with the doctor. The whispering of the story reached his ears and froze Sora. As if Jimmy Cricket was still seat upon his shoulder a small voice urged Sora not to interrupt the scene. Though he caved to his conscience Sora's curiosity held him at the door. He sat on the linoleum outside the door to the room and held the door ajar with his elbow Sora munched on the snacks he had brought for Riku as he listened and waited.
oOoOo
Yuki emerged from his shower and raked his fingers through his damp hair in irritation. He'd made to get to the shower first so he could straighten his thoughts out, as well as wash unmentionable fluid from his visible skin. Even now as the image of Riku's eyes burned deep into his mind and he couldn't resolve the hypothesis mulling itself around in his mind.
Something Riku had said during their exchange stuck out to him, something the teen had said in jest that was so weighty that the image of Riku ending his story with a fit of body wracking coughing set fear twisting like a snake in Yuki's stomach.
"What are you thinking," Hatori asked when Yuki entered the main room. He looked up from his box of take out, his gaze following Yuki as he fished with his chopsticks.
"It's the teenage patient."
Hatori nodded needing no other words to understand the turmoil rolling in Yuki's mind. The younger doctor sat on the floor in front of the couch, his back pressing just left of Hatori's legs. Gem eyes flicked to the screen but he made no complaint of the program the dragon had chosen as he poked at his own take out box. All things considered moving in with his mentor made life much easier then staying at Shigure's would have been.
Life was much quieter as well.
"He said he has a weak heart," Yuki murmured around a mouthful of noodles and leaks.
"Medically speaking that's correct. Apparently his heart has been growing weaker and no one can find a cause for it."
February 4:
Yuki felt cold fury grip him as he stared at the physician in front of him. He'd been looking for Riku's current doctor since Riku had opened up about "Kingdom Hearts." The gray-haired man hadn't been sure what to make of the story but the true problem had become clear.
"I'm telling you that you are wrong, Sohma-san," the other doctor said. The brunette man had his nose in a file as he stood at the nurses' station. He didn't even have the decency to face Yuki. the intern's knuckles turned white as he gripped the counter top. His eyes narrowed and his was the picture of cold.
"Have you even spoken to your patient, sempai," Yuki asked, his tone just an octave away from sounding like a threat.
The man turned, dark brown irises peaking over the top of his reading glasses. His lips were pursed as he took in Yuki's stance. Finally he sighed and laid down the file.
"What you are saying doesn't make sense, Sohma-san."
"It does," Yuki growled. "Evidence shows that symptoms of disease can become real when a patient believes that he or she is ill."
"Mukai-kun doesn't believe he is ill."
"No but his subconscious is directing his emotional turmoil into a direct attack on his heart," Yuki argued.
The older doctor pushed his glasses back on his nose and looked at the intern through them. his own eyes narrowed as the gaze swept over the gray-haired youth. Until this moment he had regarded that young doctor merely as a part of the staff but now he could understand some of the accusations his co-workers had made.
"I thought you were in internal medicine Sohma-san, not psychiatry."
"I just think – "
"I know very well what you think Sohma-san," the doctor interrupted. He opened the file again and directed the main amount of his attention to it. "All of the staff knows very well what you think."
"Sempai," Yuki murmured confusion ruining his offense.
"Do you know what the rest of the building thinks?"
The doctor didn't wait for an answer and added, "There is bet running on how long you'll remain before returning to your family. It is no secret that Hatori Sohma has made many leniencies for you and that like your mentor your main attention will be the very family that bought you your degree."
Yuki's jaw dropped as the words slapped him in the face. Hatori worked him harder then most of the interns, especially with the blatant way the nursing staff had begun to avoid being in the room with them. With the curse still running its course exchanges with the female members of the staff were as perilous as always and Yuki had made no deal of it.
"Furthermore the number of patients in the hospital is numerous. How can you expect every staff member to spend as much time with a patient as you have with mine?"
"If you had spoken with him for more then a minute you would realize he needs therapy," Yuki retorted in his calm tone. He hid all hurt from the previous statements as he continued to explain to the other doctor. Resolved to follow the man the entire day until something was done Yuki schooled his mask.
"I have spoken with the head nurse," Yuki continued. "If you look at his charts he has gotten better, though minimally, since having someone to confide in."
"There are such things as flukes, Sohma-kun," the doctor drawled as he began to walk down the corridor. Yuki fell in step beside him. Behind his reading glasses the older doctor's eyebrows actually rose. He felt respect curl in him for the younger doctor.
"All I am asking is that you schedule a meeting with one of the therapists to see if I am right."
They had reached the elevator and it became clear that Yuki was not about to give up. The older doctor sighed as he slid his glasses from his nose and folded them. as he slipped them into his pockets he gave the shortest of nods of confirmation. When he pivoted in the elevator he was glad to see that the intern hadn't followed but was unnerved by the self-satisfied smirk on the young man's face.
February 7:
The physician was still in shock as he searched for the younger Sohma. When he found Yuki at the nurses' station he had to cough to clear his throat. In his hand he held Riku's file, which he handed to the intern as he spoke.
"I owe you an apology Sohma-kun," the doctor murmured as he watched Yuki read the therapist's statement. A smile pulled at Yuki's lips as the doctor watched. Looking toward his colleague Yuki thanked the man, joy evident on his face. Realizing the selflessness to the smile the older doctor returned it.
February 15:
"Yuki?"
Yuki raised his gaze from the clipboard on the counter of the nurses' station to look at the source of the voice. Riku smiled back at him, it was a surprise to see the pallor gone from the teen's face and instead a healthy pink tingeing the cheeks. The gray-haired man chuckled, letting go of the pen in his fingers and forgetting his paperwork as he moved around the counter top to where the teen stood.
Riku held to the strap of his backpack nervously. He'd slung the bag over his shoulder in his haste to run to the hospital and now he could feel his palms still sweating. Hastily he tried to wipe free his right hand against his black uniform pants. A blush lit his face as he looked at Yuki.
Yuki smiled as he looked Riku over.
"Shouldn't you be at school," he teased as he looked at the uniform. Riku blushed slightly as he looked into the violet eyes.
"I wanted to stop by before first hour."
Yuki smiled and led the teen to a corner of the lobby.
They took two seats against the window and drew their knees up in unison. As the knobs bumped the boys glanced at each other, breathy chuckles and embarrassed red cheeks made mirrors out of them.
Hesitantly Riku reached his hands out and tugged at the fingers of Yuki's hands, lacing their digits and freeing Yuki's scrubs from a wrinkling hold. Idly Riku moved their arms in a swinging fashion as they stared each other over. Since their heart-to-heart they hadn't seen each other, what with Yuki being bombed with new patients and Riku being allowed to, finally, return home.
So when he'd realized that the hospital lay between his house and his school Riku had dressed rapidly and run, his feet faster then his brain. Now that he was sitting on the hard waiting room chairs, side pressed to the spring weathered window and looking into the kind, violet eyes he had no idea what to say.
"How did you know I had a broken heart," Riku finally asked.
"You weren't subtle about it," Yuki teased lightly. He tugged Riku closer by their hands, their legs overlapped as Yuki leaned his forehead to the brow of the teen. He smiled to watch as Riku blushed and giggled at himself.
"Today's your first day back at school?"
Riku nodded in reply. It was easy to be so close to Yuki's eyes, he realized as he ran a thumb over Yuki's hand in an absentminded gesture.
"I wouldn't be going back if it weren't for you," Riku admitted. "Thank you."
Yuki shrugged off the well-meant compliment and changed topics. He questioned the boy for as long as he could, somehow knowing that their companionship wouldn't last without a hospital room to act as a catalyst.
His heart burned at the thought.
Aqua eyes flashed a glance at the watch wrapped around his wrist. Mickey Mouse stood in center of the numbers and his arms were twisted with five minutes to spare before first bell. A look of despair crossed his face as he looked back into Yuki's face. A reassuring smile met the teen.
Too suddenly they uncoiled from each other, limbs groaning from being held so taunt. As they moved their hands tightened in at the knuckles and gave them away. Slow steps drew them to the main doors and one hand slipped free for both. Pressed wide to side the remaining hands held as if for life.
Then they stood dead center before the door.
Yuki leaned close so he could say his goodbyes and was startled back by the crash of lips upon his own. The kiss was sloppy and Riku's cheeks flushed at his own lack of experience but he pressed all he had into the kiss. It lasted long enough for Yuki to lean into the kiss and relieve the teen of any worries about reciprocation.
"In four years I'll be done with college and then I'll come back here and sweep you off your feet," Riku pledged as soon as they broke free. His face was the color of a tomato but his words were strong. Yuki blushed in surprise. Riku freed his hand from the older man's and straightened his posture. He made it half way through the doors before he turned to face Yuki again. Yuki had a hand to his head and wondered what else this boy's unending courage would urge him to say.
"I love you, Yuki Sohma," Riku said – the words sounding like another oath. Yuki knew his face was unbelievably red as he watched the teen race from the parking lot. The blood rushing to his face made him loopy, he decided when a particularly silly and love struck smile spread over his lips.
He turned back around to find what could possibly be the entire nursing staff watching him.
Yuki's mouth dropped open as he searched for words. Luckily one of the women muttered, "that boy is jailbait if I've ever seen it," and broke the silence.
Hurriedly Yuki snatched his clipboard and rushed the elevator. His blush died down by the time he hit level three. The love struck grin, however, remained the same from the point it was reflected back in the elevator's metal surfaces to when he lay back in his bed after a twelve-hour shift.
Notes: In the story Yuki calls the other doctor "sempai" in a way of showing the status between the two characters. Sempai is a Japanese term of respect for an "upperclassman" or a more advanced student. I usually avoid using an excessive amount of Japanese terms to keep the flow of the story as well as to avoid any misuse of words. However, there isn't an equivalent in English that has the same weight in a sentence.
The idea behind Riku's illness was inspired by the "Scrubs" episode where JD has a patient with a similiair condition (his solution - box of kittens)