Disclaimer: X isn't mine, sorry.
She thinks of an old fairy tale as she looks at the man asleep in the hospital bed. He lies sunken in on himself, looking as though he hasn't moved for a very long time, and she supposes that's true. His skin is pale, like skin that's never seen the sunlight, and from what he's told her, that's the case. Her skin is a healthy pink, and though she's never thought of herself as particularly dark, as she takes his white hand she can't help but be struck by the contrast. His hair is light too, and longer than she remembers from the dream.
In the story, a princess is cursed to sleep for a hundred years until a prince comes to kiss her awake. Kakyou isn't a princess, but the girl in the story must have looked just as fragile as he does, lying quiet and alone, waiting to be freed. The princess at least didn't have tubes and wires running beneath her skin, connecting her to machines beside the bed. They're keeping the frail man alive, but the sight of them is shocking.
Hokuto thinks about this and similar stories as she lays her eyes for the first time on the man she loves, and even though she knows she's no prince, she can't resist. She leans forward and presses her lips to his. "Wake up, Kakyou. I've come to see you," she says.
He doesn't respond. He continues to lie still, slender chest moving slightly with each breath.
Hokuto sighs and shakes her head. She sits back and tries to think of things to tell him, because she's heard it's good to talk to people in comas. She talks about her friends, and her brother, and the places she can take him once he wakes up, and by the time Subaru and Seishiro come to pick her up she's all talked out.
She makes an effort for them, though, because Hokuto Sumeragi is a fun person to be around, damn it, and on the ride home she gets in a few good ribs to make Subaru blush as red as his favorite jacket. She shares her opinions on whatever current events the guys are discussing today, and all the while she never stops thinking about the man sleeping in the hospital.
She cooks dinner, and wonders what sort of food Kakyou would like. If the boys notice her preoccupation, they don't say anything. She's trained them to be gentlemen, after all.
Finally, finally, it's time to say goodnight. Seishiro leaves, and Subaru and Hokuto retire to their separate bedrooms. Hokuto can't wait to sleep, can't wait to tell Kakyou she's found him.
She's too excited. She tosses and turns, but can't get to sleep. She tries meditation techniques she's learned. If she can just calm her mind, relax her body . . . It's like an oxymoron; if she weren't so eager to sleep, she'd be able to, but for that to happen she couldn't have such big news to share.
Eventually, near dawn, she falls into a fitful sleep in which no dreams come.
She's disappointed when she wakes up. She didn't get to speak to Kakyou, and to make matters worse, she can feel a headache coming on. She makes her first stop the kitchen and puts on water to boil for tea. After that she returns to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
When she emerges, Subaru is up and already brewing the tea. She smiles at him, grateful to have such a good little brother. "Good morning, Subaru!" she chirps.
"Good morning," he replies. She asks him about his current case, and gets drawn out of her worries and into his for a while. She finds the break refreshing, and talks animatedly through breakfast. Seishiro stops by when they're cleaning up, and Hokuto ropes him into helping out.
"Are you going back to the hospital today?" Subaru asks as he towels a plate.
His sister doesn't even pause to consider. "Yes," she says firmly, hands deep in soapy water. She'll go there every day until Kakyou wakes up. She thinks of another fairy tale, one where a girl has to travel east of the sun and west of the moon to win back her true love. Hokuto would prefer to stay in Tokyo – the center of the universe! – but if she has to, she'll go anywhere for Kakyou's sake. She counts herself lucky that the hospital she found him in lies within the city limits.
"Do you want a ride?" Seishiro offers. "I have to go past there for work."
"Yes!" Hokuto cheers. "Thank you, Sei-chan!" Being chauffeured in Seishiro's van is so much better than crowded public transportation.
"I'll drive you too, Subaru-kun," she hears the man say as she goes back to her room to finish dressing, but she closes the door on Subaru's stuttered i-don't-want-to-put-you-to-any-trouble speech. Her little brother is adorable when he's flustered, but he and his boyfriend go through a variation of this conversation every day, and today is important.
She picks fairy tales as her theme and goes wild, remembering that if all goes well, today she might get to meet Kakyou face-to-face.
She tilts a tiara just so on her head and pronounces herself satisfied. It's time to go.
Today it's easier getting into the hospital. Hokuto already knows where Kakyou's room is, after all. The nurses at the desk are all busy anyways. She slips in unnoticed.
Kakyou has a private room. It's small – the bed takes up most of it. There's a chair near the door, and a small dresser on the other side, between the bed and the window. On the near side is some complicated hospital equipment Hokuto doesn't understand. In the far corner is a tiny bathroom, and on the wall next to it, where you can see comfortably from the bed, is a tv that probably hasn't been used for years.
Hokuto pulls the chair over to the bedside and sits. She begins to tell a story about a good friend of hers who came from another country to work.
After a while, a nurse comes in to check on Kakyou. She's a friendly woman in her late forties, and she chats with Hokuto while she fiddles with the machines and what appears to be some kind of thermometer. After the nurse leaves, Hokuto tries to continue her story, but can't quite remember where she left off. She falls silent and spends some time just watching the beautiful young man. She thinks of fairy tales again.
It's very peaceful in the hospital room, with only the regular blip of the monitor to disturb the quiet. After a while, Hokuto slumps forward. She rests her upper body on the bed beside Kakyou's slim middle and falls asleep.
She dreams of a forest. She's an elf girl in the dream, and has a whole slew of brothers, not just Subaru. Two of them are imprisoned with her at the beginning of the dream, and other brothers rescue the trio. She spends the rest of the dream running through the forest, working on something important. Whenever she's near a particular tree on a slope, she looks east and sees the figure of a burly man at the top of the hill, silhouetted by the first light of dawn. When she looks again, he's gone. She's just made up her mind to climb the tree and see what's so important about it when the dream shifts.
She finds herself on a rocky seashore with gulls crying far overhead. She's Hokuto Sumeragi again. All thoughts of trees and mysterious figures are instantly forgotten.
"Kakyou!" she calls. The youth smiles at her, his golden eyes shining. "I found you!" she bursts, unable to hold it in any longer.
"What?" He's startled; she normally opens their conversations with some light flirting.
"I found you, out in the real world! I know where you are!" Giddy with delight, she throws her arms around him. Kakyou hugs her back, automatically, then pulls back just enough so he can see her face. "You did? Really?"
"I did," she confirms. "Right now i'm in the hospital with you."
She steps back, as happy as she's ever been. "It's time for me to keep my promise, Kakyou," she says, and holds out her hand. "Come out into the world with me!"
Kakyou hesitates. More than anything, Hokuto wants to grab his hand and pull him into the waking world, but she can't. This has to be his decision, a decision he makes for himself.
And then he looks up, almost glowing with happiness, and her heart soars. He reaches out and takes her hand, and it's time to wake up.
Hokuto rouses first. She pushes herself upright, off his bed, and watches him with her breath held. She can feel her blood pounding through her ears. The fairy tales never mention this, the anticipation that almost stops her heart.
Kakyou's lids blink slowly open, and his eyes flick to the side where she sits, his head turning to follow his gaze. Lips that haven't moved for such a long time curve up.
Hokuto laughs and lifts his hand between both of hers, holding it to her cheek. "It's nice to finally meet you, Kakyou Kuzuki."
"And you." His voice comes out a croak, rusty from disuse. But it's his, and she can really hear it. "Hokuto Sumeragi."
Normally fairy tales end with 'happily ever after', but as far as Hokuto's concerned, that's just where it gets good.
A/N: I have no idea how long this has been stalled at Kakyou's appearance in the dream, but i'm glad i finally finished it. I really like how it turned out.