A/N: Written for the Becoming the Tamer King Challenge, Training Peak task
the AU Devils of Doom Challenge, #273 – meet at hospital! AU
the Advent Calendar Challenge, Day 24 – write a fic between 3 and 5. Hopefully, by the time it finishes, it will be.
Strangers in a Waiting Room
1. An Unexpected Visit Turns on its Head
Takuya decided he'd chosen a bad day to visit. Not that he could have known that before time. It was supposed to be a perfectly innocent surprise – which may or may not have had a prank mixed in. It depended on whether or not Koji's parents were home. He didn't think Mr Minamoto would be as impressed with the bucket on the door handle prank as his own father tended to be.
And, of course, Koji wouldn't be as receptive as Shinya…with receptive being loud and whining and retaliating in kind the moment Takuya dropped his guard.
He hadn't expected to find the door wide open and Koji's parents arguing about something or other. And he hadn't realised he'd walked in to their living room without even knocking until Mr Minamoto brought off mid-sentence and stared at him.
'I'm sorry,' Takuya said, babbling a little as he tended to do when he felt like he was in trouble. And even if it was the house of his best friend, he shouldn't have walked in without permission. 'I just came to…err…see Koji.'
'He's not here,' Mr Minamoto said, sighing after that and running a hand through his hair. He had more wrinkles in his face than Takuya remembered him having.
'He's in the hospital,' Mrs Minamoto added.
Takuya's jaw dropped. Mrs Minamoto's eyes were red, he noticed. And she was dressed more formally than normal, though her clothes were wrinkled. He wondered why he noticed those little things. 'The – the hospital?' His voice went up an octave. Maybe two. 'But…he was fine yesterday…' But even as he said that, his voice trailed off. Had he missed something? Had he been blind?
The adults were staring at each other, having a silent conversation. Or maybe they were arguing silently. But then Mrs Minamoto said "he's Koji's friend" and the battle was won.
Still, Takuya didn't understand what Mr Minamoto said next – or straight away. 'And she's his mother.'
He sounded defeated. Mrs Minamoto sounded firm when she replied: 'Yes, she is.'
Takuya knew Mrs Minamoto was Koji's stepmother. That she'd married his father almost three years ago. That their anniversary was the same day as Shinya's birthday. That Koji was supposed to join the Kanbara's and some of Shinya's friends for a birthday celebration because Koji didn't want to be within ten feet of any anniversary celebrations.
But Koji had told him his birth mother was dead.
But Mrs Minamoto was talking again. 'We just got back from the hospital.' She sounded apologetic, though the tiredness was obvious and Takuya wondered how he'd missed that amongst all the other little cues he'd picked up. 'If you'd like to visit him tomorrow, we'll be leaving just after eight. We can give you a lift if you're here before then.'
'I'll be here,' Takuya promised. He'd set his alarm and make sure his entire family knew he had to be here by eight. Anything it took.
And he'd probably spent the night wondering and worrying and not get a wink of sleep anyhow.