Disclaimer: It's all Yuu Watase's.

Hikou

Chapter 1: Fight

Talia MT Ali

"Hikou!" Houjun shouted over the rush of the water, clutching his oldest friend's hand desperately. Tears streamed down his face and were flung away by the rain. "Hold on, please! I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Houjun, now is not the time!" Hikou said back. Some remote part of Houjun marveled at his ability to cope. Not five minutes ago, Houjun had been trying to kill Hikou, and now... now...

The floodwaters had been higher than any could have predicted this year. So far, the dikes their village had erected had been enough to hold the wayward waters at bay. This flash flood had some upon them suddenly, almost unnoticed by the fighting young men until Hikou was nearly thrown into the water. Without even thinking, he'd grabbed for the flailing hand and didn't regret it. What was he thinking, fighting like that? Was their friendship really worth fighting over a girl, even one like Kouran?

A part of him wanted to scream that she was his fiancée, not Hikou's, and that he had no right to touch her that way. Especially when Houjun had barely been able to touch her, and then only under a chaperone's disapproving gaze. He had often fantasized, however, and just as often told himself that Kouran was pristine, deserving no label or expectation. To see Hikou behaving towards her in that way had stunned and horrified him. He hadn't been thinking clearly, or thinking at all for that matter. Now he realized that he loved Hikou just as much as he loved Kouran, and would die if he lost both of them.

It was all he could do to keep holding on to Hikou. The downpour soaked him to the bone, plastering his bangs against his face. Everything was wet except the palms of their hands, clutching each other in a watertight grip. His feet slipped on the water-slick grass. Houjun had to go down on one knee to maintain his balance. It would do Hikou no good if he were pitched into the river at the same time.

Seconds passed as hours as Houjun strained to bring both of them back onto the shore. His muscles burned with pain and adrenalin. Something ran into Hikou's body, dragging them downstream with it. Both hissed with pain. Tears came to the stricken man's eyes as flesh ripped and tore. Houjun stretched out nearly flat on the grass, tightening his grip as his arm was wrenched from its socket. He felt as though his bicep was tearing with the effort.

"Drop me, Houjun," he pleaded, "Before you're lost too."

"No," he gritted. "Not this way. I'll strangle you with my own hands before this river takes you."

Hikou laughed a trifle grimly, face as pale as the overcast sky. Suddenly, some unseen force dragged him under. Houjun lurched forward, refusing to let that hand slip away as long as he drew breath. The last thing he saw of Hikou was his eyes disappearing beneath, desperate and helpless with the need to live. Managing to dig his feet into the sodden turf, Houjun stopped the motion, arms elbow-deep in murky water that held rapidly escaping bubbles.

"HIKOU!" he shouted, and hauled on the unresponsive arm. The current fought his every move, threatening to flip him over and over until the bank disappeared and water devoured his breath and life.

Something screamed in every subconscious alarm system he had. He spotted a dark and foreboding object approaching fast from upstream. He couldn't move! Hikou's weight bore him down, making it impossible to avoid the object of his doom. He ducked his head and tensed his neck, hoping against hope that whatever it was wouldn't hit Hikou.

Stars exploded in his eyes, and he knew that whatever it was had knocked into him, hard. His neck wrenched painfully to his right, and his attacker passed him. There was no pain, but he couldn't see anything but the fireworks in front of his eyes, and his neck was tight as if he had strained it badly. He breathed through his teeth, waiting for the pain, shouting inside his head "Holdonholdonholdon!!". When it came, it was more powerful than the river, sweeping over him like a typhoon. His grip crunched all of a sudden. Alarm swept over him, overriding the pain, as he felt a massive bubble erupt in the turbulent water in front of him.

He wasn't dead! He couldn't be! Houjun would not admit it until he saw it. For that, he needed to get Hikou out of the water.

Dizziness overwhelmed him, and he knew he didn't have much strength left. Hikou's cold, broken and irresponsive hand was slipping from him, just as consciousness was deserting him.

NO! He wouldn't let that happen! He could not give up on Hikou, on his oldest friend, just because he was knocked silly and Hikou was probably unconscious and the water was pulling at him like a waterfall...

"ARGH!!" Houjun felt sudden warmth spread through him, burning away the fatigue and clearing his vision a little. A detached part of his mind wondered if he was dying and shouldn't his life be flashing before his eyes? But the warmth hit his muscles and he didn't care anymore. If he was just dreaming this, a death dream, he and Hikou were lost anyway. But if he wasn't, maybe he could save his friend's life and his own. The heat stimulated his muscles to unmerited levels of activity. He hauled, and Hikou, coughing weakly and sputtering, came out of the water and collapsed on the shore next to Houjun. Houjun felt the strength ebb from his bones.

Crawling weakly over to his oldest and best friend, he saw Hikou was still putting up with more water than air in his lungs, and his hand was squished, and he was scratched and bleeding and bruised and soaking, but he was alive. Thank Suzaku, he was alive.

"Houjun?" Hikou said, his voice a whisper. Another coughing fit erupted from him, and water spewed out onto the already dirty and slick grass. A haze still clouded his thoughts and the blackness seemed to be closing in on him from both sides. The input from his left eye seemed to consist mostly of yellow fireworks, and his right was registering everything else in a blurry, crimson fog. But they were both alive, if Hikou wasn't a dream, and he was practically sobbing with relief.

"Thank Suzaku. Thank Suzaku." Houjun prayed as his friend tried to rest before he was taken with another round of hacking coughs. "If you'd died..."

"You s-saved my life." Hikou gasped. "I was afraid you would let go."

"How could I let you go?" he said, sobbing with relief. "You're my best friend. I could never forgive myself if..."

The thought was too horrible to voice completely. Hikou coughed long and hard, but no blood came to his lips, only water. Houjun winced with sympathy. When he spoke he sounded a lot stronger.

"Well, my hand's broke, and I hurt, and I can't breathe, but I think I'll live."

"Good." Houjun's head swam. "Because I think now I need to pass out."

"I'll be okay for a few minutes."

Letting his head slump to the wet grass, Houjun listened to his friend's gasping before allowing the blackness to overwhelm him. He sank into it gratefully.

***

A/N: Read, enjoy and review! Everything I do, I do it for you! ^_^