Disclaimer: I do not own Sukisho or Godchild, or I would most likely not be writing this fanfic.
Chapter 1: Carriages and Nightmares
The whole fiasco began when a blue-haired figure suddenly leaped from an exploding carriage and crashed into Earl Cain Christopher Hargreaves.
It was during one of those rare carriage rides where Cain actually had some quiet time to think about how he could defeat his father and his criminal organization Delilah. However all he had were rumors and vague ideas, and neither helped anyone destroy an evil organization. His only lead was the Baraba Company, which had bought two properties he knew Delilah had been interested in. This did not guarantee the company itself was related to the organization. It simply made it an extremely good possibility.
"Are you worried, Lord Cain?" Riff had asked several seconds before the impending disruption neither knew was about to occur.
Cain had snorted. "Crehador will get the information for me. I just have to wait a week."
That was when a blast ripped through their conversation. Within seconds, Cain threw open the door only for someone to slam into him. The earl and an unknown man crashed into the far side of the carriage, with Cain pinned underneath the other. The overwhelming weight was gone as quickly as it had come though, and Cain blinked several times to clear the stars from his eyes.
Riff was besides him in an instant. "Are you alright, Lord Cain?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, Riff," Cain snapped, sitting up. He saw that his would-be attacker was tall with spiky blue hair and did not look much older than him. His grey suit was singed and blood dripped from various places where the flying glass and metal had caught the teen. Distrust and worry seemed to roll off the young man in waves, his blue eyes narrowed at what had once been a carriage. He glanced at something in his hand, before stuffing it unceremoniously into a pocket. Then quite suddenly, his eyes went wide, and closed as he collapsed into a heap.
"Riff! Tell the driver to head to a hospital!" Cain scrambled to the boy's side to check his pulse. He then searched the other's pockets for some form of identification as Riff stuck his head out to inform the driver of their new destination. Inside the blue haired teen's wallet were his passport, several important looking documents and a picture of three little boys. Cain ignored everything but the passport. Sora Hashiba, he read, and then skimmed the other documents. So he's brother of the Japanese Delegate Shinichirou Minato.
The carriage finally began to pick up speed as the driver attempted to maneuver through the crowded London streets. Riff returned his focus to his master to find Cain staring at the picture. "Lord Cain?"
Cain's head snapped up. "Riff, as soon as we get there, call the Japanese Embassy and tell them one Sora Hashiba was in a carriage accident and is being hospitalized." He then returned his curious gaze to the picture, before restoring it to its place in the wallet.
"Yes, Lord Cain."
Upon their arrival at the hospital, Cain secured a room for the unconscious boy while Riff contacted the Embassy. He was told that Sora's brother would be there within the hour, and it would be most appreciated if he could wait until he arrived. Cain complied, more because the boy had caught his interest than out of obligation. Few people would attack the relative of a delegate, but he could think of one organization that would do so if it fit into their plans.
The first to arrive to see Sora was not actually his brother. A slender brunette with shoulder-length hair and blue-grey eyes introduced himself as Kai Nanami, Shinichirou's manservant. Cain was startled to realize that if he hadn't known Nanami was a man, he would have thought he was a woman dressed in a suit. The bulter's green-eyed companion with knee-length blond hair was Matsuri Honjou, a classmate and friend of Sora's. They had come to keep an eye on things until Shinichirou could arrive. Cain introduced himself and Riff, eyeing the blonde for a moment. They sat besides the unconscious boy's bed, just in case he woke up.
"Is it all right if I tell you what happened instead of waiting?" Cain inquired. "My little sister will be worried if I get home late."
The brunette nodded with a smile. "Of course, that would be fine."
Cain recounted what had happened down to every last detail, knowing from past experience that although a simple "He crashed into my carriage after his exploded" might sum everything up nicely, it didn't help anyone find a culprit.
"Did you see what was in his hand?" Nanami asked, blue eyes growing worried. Cain replied with a shake of his head. He had been more concerned with getting the boy to a hospital.
"All I found was his wallet, a picture, and his passport when I was looking for identification of some sort," he admitted.
"A picture?" Matsuri's green eyes peered at him with a mixture of curiosity and intelligence. "Of what?"
"Three boys. " Cain replied nonchalantly. "It's in his wallet if you want to see it."
As Matsuri rummaged through his friend's pockets, a black-haired, grey-eyed man Cain assumed was Shinichirou appeared in the doorway.
"Nanami, how is he?" the man asked, worry slithering in the back of his dark eyes.
The brunette gave him a warm smile. "He'll be just fine. None of those wounds are particularly bad, so he just needs some rest. He should wake up in a few hours, and be able to go home."
Shinichirou breathed a sigh of relief. His grey eyes then landed on Cain. "You're the one who brought him in, right? Can you tell me what happened?"
"I have already explained everything in detail to your manservant," was the smooth reply. "To put it shortly, Sora jumped into my carriage as his exploded. I honestly do not know much more than that."
Shinichirou narrowed his eyes slightly, but seemed to accept his answer. "In any case, thank you for helping Sora. Allow us to make this up to you once Sora is awake so that he can thank you properly."
Cain nodded, and stood. "Riff, get a carriage. Merry will be worried if we don't head home soon." He turned back to the delegate as Riff bowed and left. "I do hope you find the source of the problem soon. It would do no one good if a delegate, or his brother, turned up dead." On that note, Cain turned on his heel and left.
"I what?" Sora Hashiba couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Nanami sighed, and repeated himself for the fifth time. "Your carriage exploded and you crashed into Earl Hargreaves."
Sora could only sit there, bug-eyed and flabbergasted. He was covered with burns and cuts, had two broken ribs, and no idea as to how it had happened. The only explanation he received was Nanami's, in light of which, he figured he most certainly should be dead.
"Do you really not remember anything Sora-kun?" Matsuri asked from his seat besides Nanami.
"If I did, I would have said so," he snapped. It's not every day a person wakes up in the hospital to find he's been unconscious for two days and after a mishap that should have killed him. What kind of person forgets leaping from an exploding carriage anyway? Only an idiot like him, Sora supposed.
"Alright, alright, no need to yell." Matsuri held his hands up in mock defeat, the smile on his face way too innocent to be believable. "Besides, you have to hurry up and get better! I thought up the best idea…"
"Oh no Matsuri, I'm not doing it. No way."
"Aw, but Sora-kun, I haven't even explained it to you yet."
"You don't need to. My answer is no."
Nanami's face relaxed as he watched Matsuri successfully rope Sora into some crazy new scheme of his. He stood softly and left the room to make arrangements for picking up Sora the next day.
"Oh fine Matsuri. I'll do it, but just this once. And after I get out of the hospital."
Matsuri laughed. "Isn't that what you always say?"
"Oh shut up," Sora grumbled, turning his glare to the window. The streets outside were painted with a golden yellow and dusky blue. The sun was setting somewhere to his left, and out of his line of vision. A fair number of people still scurried about; each determined to do some last minute task before heading home for the night. It was at times like these when he felt a vague longing for the cherry trees of Japan. Other than being one of the few things he remembered about his homeland, he didn't see how anyone could relax with all the noise and bustle created on the streets.
However, any silence never lasted long with Matsuri around. After a few minutes of probing Sora with his bright green eyes, he asked, "You still don't remember your childhood, right?"
Sora frowned and looked back at his blonde classmate. He had first met him here in London, but Matsuri claimed to be a childhood friend of his, which both Nanami and Shinichirou confirmed. "If I did, you'd be the first to know, next to Nii-chan and Nanami-chan."
"Well then, why do you have a picture of Nao-kun and I in your wallet?"
The blue-haired teen blinked several times. "Who's Nao-kun?"
Matsuri sighed. "You have a picture of three little boys in your wallet, one with blue hair, one with pink, and one blonde. It's the only picture you have in your wallet."
He blinked again before a light bulb flashed into life over Sora's mess of blue spikes. "Oh, that picture. Wait, so the pink-haired one's name is Nao?"
"Yes, Sora-kun. We use to-" He was interrupted when Nanami opened the door.
"Everything's been arranged, Sora. Shinichirou and I will pick you up tomorrow. Matsuri-chan, we have to leave now."
"Ah, alright, Nanami-san. I'll see you tomorrow, Sora-kun!" The blonde flashed Sora his trademark blinding smile. The injured teen wanted to question him more about this Nao-kun, but he had lost his chance to do so.
"Bye Nanami-chan, bye Masturi. See you tomorrow." They left with a smile and a wave, which he returned. The sky outside grew dark and it wasn't long until a nurse came in with his meager dinner of soup and bread. He downed it quickly, sniffling as he thought of Nanami's homemade cooking and wondering how anyone was supposed was to recover while eating such horrible food. Sora eased himself down from sitting position, trying to get comfortable enough to catch some sleep. Tomorrow, he would be snug in his own bed, but he could deal with this one for one more night. He stared at the ceiling, his mind wandering from his misfortune at being here in the hospital where they couldn't serve proper meals, to the carriage incident involving an explosion that he couldn't remember, to the pink haired boy Matsuri called Nao-kun that he also couldn't remember, which somehow led his thoughts back to the hospital. So his mind drifted in circles, never coming to any new conclusions and never deviating from this pattern.
Sora never knew when he fell asleep. The shadowed ceiling simply began to morph into a cold hallway, a faint red light slowly pooling from a barred window behind him. His bare feet made almost no noise as he sprinted down the long corridor, panting. Someone was whimpering, he realized, and that someone wasn't him. He was holding their hand tightly, but he couldn't see who they were. The only reassurance he could give the seemingly frightened figure was a gentle squeeze to the small hand in his. He didn't dare say anything. They had to be as quiet as possible, or they would be caught.
Fear danced along the edge of his mind, taunting him. He tried to push it away, if simply for the sake of the small hand he held. To disappoint this person, to let them go… No, he'd never do that.
A light flashed into his eyes, harsh and blinding after the dark corridor. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, only to realize that both hands were free. For a moment, he could only gape at them, his stomach clenching. Bile rose in his throat as panic overwhelmed him. Where was he? Where was the person that had been holding his hand?
"Kuu-chan!"
His head snapped to the side as he spun to towards the voice. He wanted to call out a name, anything to let that sad, desperate voice know he was near. But his breath caught in his throat. There was no one there. The only thing to be seen was a crumpled white gown and a blood red ribbon. He felt his blue eyes grow wide with terror, his breath coming in hysterical hiccups. His hand reached out unsteadily for someone who wasn't there. The smooth fabric brushed his fingertips, only to vanish.
"Kuu-chan!"
His eyes snapped open, a scream burning at the back of his throat. No noise came from his mouth though, and he gasped. His chest heaved as he struggled to calm down. After several minutes, the dream-inspired adrenaline rush wore off. He closed his eyes and raised his hand to his head. What was that about? He wondered. That dream had been so vivid… almost like a memory…
A pit of unease remained settled in his stomach. His eyes wandered the room in an attempt to find the source of his distress. He had almost convinced himself that it was simply his imagination and a nightmare byproduct when a breeze fluttered his curtains. He froze, his blue eyes going wide. The nurse had closed his window before taking his soup away.
A thanks to Musical Sunrise for betaing this chapter and to irishKaoru, who offered but has been simply too busy. Please Review! :3