Chapter 2
"Shi-shigeru?" Satoshi stammered as he strained his dark chocolate-colored eyes to better see the boy before him. Even through the darkness of the night, there was still no mistaking him. It was Shigeru.
His deep, auburn hair was tangled and messy, and he was still wearing the dark amethyst shirt that he had been on that day. Satoshi even noticed the rip in the front of his shirt, a crimson stain of blood streaked across it. Hadn't the hospital nurses changed his clothes when he had arrived?
"Shigeru… I-I thought," Satoshi stuttered out, a bit unnerved that Shigeru had yet to answer him, "I thought you were…" but he couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence, knowing fully well that he had seen Shigeru die before his eyes, yet there he was, walking towards him as though he hadn't even been hurt. But hadn't Satoshi been there when he had gasped out his last breath?
Satoshi noted the look in Shigeru's eyes when he was close enough to him that he could plainly see him, even in the midnight darkness. His rich, green eyes shown brilliantly against his still pale skin, sparkling with unshed tears as he stared into Satoshi's own eyes, sadness shining in his emerald orbs.
Satoshi saw how close Shigeru was to him now, his lips brushing against his slightly, sending a cold, tingling sensation running down his spine, but nothing more. Satoshi lifted his hand to Shigeru's cheek, brushing his knuckles against the cold flesh, only to find that his hand was touching… nothing. His fingers merely went right through the older boy's skin.
So, Shigeru really is… But how can that be? If he isn't… alive… then how is it that he can be here right now? Satoshi mused to himself, watching Shigeru's every movement for an answer.
Shigeru looked down at Satoshi wordlessly, eyeing the curious look etched across his features. Shigeru willed himself to say something, but the words simply refused to come out. He knew what was wrong, but speaking it was the problem. He brought his own hand up to Satoshi's, but found that it, too, went right through.
"Shigeru, w-what happened?" Satoshi hadn't noticed until that moment exactly how cold the room was, and he shivered slightly as Shigeru clasped hands with him as best he could given his current state. Satoshi saw how hesitant Shigeru was to give him an answer. "Can you tell me?" Shigeru stepped back slightly and shook his head, facing Satoshi with tears brimming in his eyes, giving them a glazed look. Satoshi wondered for a moment how an apparition could cry, but shook the thought and its unimportantness away for the time being.
Satoshi knew that Shigeru couldn't speak, but still wondered why. Why was Shigeru even there with him? Couldn't he have moved on after he died? Satoshi felt his own eyes watering as he saw how sad the taller boy looked, and how awful he knew it must be not to touch, or feel, or even speak.
"Shigeru…" Satoshi whispered, nervously eyeing the other boy's stab wound with distaste and spite, seeing the horrible blood stains that would remain with Shigeru forever, merely because that had been how he had looked when he had died.
Shigeru wordlessly mouthed something to Satoshi, clutching his throat as he fought to speak. I can't… he thought to himself, but why can't I? Sato… please help me…
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"Does it hurt?" Satoshi asked, gently touching his palm to Shigeru's wound so that his hand barely rested against his semi-transparent skin. He knew how silly that statement sounded, asking someone who was dead if they could feel anything, but he couldn't stand the silence, and in truth, he really had no idea what it was like after someone died. He'd never had anything like this happen to him before, after all.
Shigeru shook his head slowly, depression seeping through his aura as he listened to Satoshi speaking of his death. It was enough to have to go through it, but to relive the horrible truth of it was almost worse, mostly because Satoshi was there with him, and knowing that he could no longer kiss him, touch him, even speak to him was a much more terrible fate then to never see him again. Shigeru could see the hurt in Satoshi's eyes as he told him everything, even though there wasn't much to tell from the time Shigeru had died until that moment in time. Shigeru could see how Satoshi's eyes tended to flick back to his blood-stained shirt and, if Shigeru moved a certain way, his stab wound beneath it.
They were sitting in the middle of the living room, the morning sun glistening through the partially closed curtains, rain sprinkling down silently in tiny droplets against the window pane, chilling the air as wind blew through the gap in the window. The lights were still off, but the light entering from the window provided enough to illuminate the entire house had the curtains not been drawn throughout most of the rooms. Satoshi was sitting opposite Shigeru on the floor, legs crossed, with his hat tipped at an odd angle over his messy hair. He was wearing only jeans and his black tee-shirt; his jacket still soaked with blood and water was unwearable, though he probably would have chosen not to put it on even if he could have. It reminded him too much of things that he'd tried so hard to forget.
Shigeru turned his yin-yang necklace distractedly in his hands, pulling at the frayed ends of the string that bound the pendant around his neck. He had misplaced feelings about the whole thing; he deeply loved Satoshi, but being there with him was the last place that he wanted to be at that moment. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, being broken only every few minutes by an attempt on Satoshi's part to begin a conversation, which was ended almost right away by the lack of enthusiasm and voice from Shigeru. He had been rather gloomy lately, which was understandable, but the mood was brought down by his practically contagious depression, and it seemed as though Satoshi had been getting a little less cheerful as of late as well.
Satoshi coughed into his hand, trying to suppress another coughing fit and barely being able to. He'd been out in the rain for too long, and he knew that was the cause of his illness. In fact, Shigeru would have been sick as well if he hadn't… No, Satoshi told himself for what felt like the millionth time that day, another cough coming to his throat, but he managed to hold it back, stop thinking about that. It's hard enough knowing that it was my fault that he… was killed… without reminding myself more. Satoshi felt a pang of guilt in his heart, remembering that if he had gotten there sooner… Shigeru would probably be alive. Or we'd both be dead. He reminded himself, knowing that it was probably true. If Shigeru could be killed so easily, then the person who had done it must have been very powerful. But then again, maybe I could have saved him. Besides, I would much rather have died with him than watch him suffer this alone.
Satoshi yawned silently, leaning back and pulling a pillow from the nearest chair, resting his head on it and staring up at the ceiling distractedly. He closed his eyes briefly, willing himself to forget all that had happened in the past few days and convince himself that when he opened them again everything would be back to normal.
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Shigeru stared at the sleeping form of Satoshi, a childish grin making itself apparent on his face. Satoshi had gotten a blanket from the closet upstairs the night before and had somehow managed to tangle it around himself, with one leg completely bare. His hair was strewn messily around his face, covering one eye and sticking to the side of his neck. He was hugging his pillow protectively and was grumbling slightly in his slumber.
Sato, wake up! Shigeru thought, knowing he couldn't say it, but still fully aware that it was well past noon. He had attempted once to shake the raven-haired boy awake, only to be painfully reminded that he couldn't touch anything. He sighed mentally; Shigeru hadn't been able to get any sleep that night, constantly worried about Satoshi and how he had been dealing with his death.
"Shigeru?" Satoshi spoke, a yawn quickly following, "What time is it?" he asked, still half asleep. Shigeru rolled his eyes and pointed to a clock in the next room over. Satoshi groaned and fell back onto his pillow, trying at the same time to kick off his blanket only to find that it was securely wrapped around his ankle.
"Pika pi," Pikachuu said, pulling at the blanket with its teeth. Once it was untangled, the small mouse Pokemon jumped on Satoshi, settling itself on its master's shoulder. Shigeru feigned the best smile he could at the antics of the two friends, trying his best to put on a happy face for Satoshi.
Satoshi got up and pulled a spare jacket from the closet - a denim one with a large poke-ball patch on the back - putting it on and pulling an umbrella from a hook near the door. Shigeru gave him a confused look, as if asking what in the world he was doing.
"You have almost no food here and I'm starving, so we're going shopping," he said, noting the look Shigeru was giving him. Pikachuu shifted on Satoshi's back, and the young trainer pulled his now dry trademark hat on his head to cover up his messy hair, opening the door and nodding for Shigeru to follow him. Shigeru shook his head slowly, staying where he was, "Of course, if you don't want to go out in public, I understand." he said, and Shigeru nodded solemnly. Satoshi waved at Shigeru as he disappeared through the door, taking one last look at the older boy, who looked horribly sad, before turning and closing the door behind him.
He had to assure himself multiple times that Shigeru would be perfectly alright, albeit a little lonely, on his own to stop himself from turning around right then and there and spending the rest of the day inside instead. Satoshi loved the older boy more than he'd loved anyone except for his parents, and he wanted nothing more than to keep him safe and happy, even if it cost him his own health or joy. The hurt look on Shigeru's face had reminded him that his boyfriend was dead, and although it terribly pained Satoshi to assume the carefree look he always had around everyone, he knew that it would only hurt Shigeru more to know that Satoshi was sad because of his death, because he knew that the auburn-haired boy would automatically take the blame, even when it wasn't his fault.
Satoshi shivered as the lashing rain pelted his skin, soaking his clothing right through almost immediately. He opened his umbrella quickly, the rain coming down in thick drops and sliding off of its smooth, black surface.
"Chuu!" Pikachuu said, shaking to rid itself of the extra water, but transferring most of it to Satoshi's jacket instead. Satoshi smiled, tousling the electric rodent's fur, and pulled the umbrella closer, shielding his Pokemon as well as himself from the rain. He shook off the bad feeling he had been getting; Shigeru was fine, he was sure of it. Shigeru was going to be just fine.
Satoshi trudged through the rain, barely able to see his own hand in front of his face after a few moments. He was terribly cold, but he wanted to spend as much time away from home as he could, because he really didn't want to think about what he was going to do about Shigeru, and the only way he could do that was to avoid the subject for as long as he could. Pikachuu was sleeping comfortably on its master's shoulders, squeaking occasionally in its own language as it slept. Satoshi sighed, using his free hand to wipe the water from his face as he looked ahead as well as he could. From his line of vision he could only slightly make out that he was in a park, though he couldn't see far enough to tell where he was other than that.
Satoshi turned abruptly as he heard a groan from just beyond his sight, looking for the source of the sound, which he eventually was able to find. There was a girl who looked to be an adult, though barely, sitting on one of the park benches and holding her arms weakly above her head to block as much rain as she could manage. He was visibly shaking, wearing soaking wet clothing. Her nearly sleeveless shirt looked tattered, as though she had been living outside for a long time, but it was her hair that caught Satoshi's eyes first. Though much shorter than he had remembered, Satoshi could easily tell who the girl was by the deep red color of her slightly curved hair.
"Musashi?" Satoshi questioned, causing the girl to move her hands from above her head and turn her attention to the teen. The former Team Rocket member nodded, looking skeptically, almost fearfully, at Satoshi, who was too busy wondering why she was in the park to begin with to notice, "Why are you here? Where are Kojiro and Nyarth?"
"Well…" she began, slightly hesitant, "I'm not… a part of Team Rocket anymore. Kojiro and Nyarth… don't want me with them…."
Her voice was shaking, possibly from the cold, and Satoshi could hear the sadness in her words. He could tell right away that she was hurt by their leaving, and he knew better than to question why. Saying it would cause her more pain than simply knowing that whatever had happened was true. Satoshi instead gestured for Musashi to share the umbrella with him, and she smiled and took it without complaint.
"You can stay with me, at least until you can get back on your feet again," he said, beginning the walk back to the Ookiddo's with the last person he'd ever thought he would be helping. He knew by the way she was dressed that she wasn't a part of Team Rocket, nor a villain at all, anymore, and he would have helped her out even if she was. That was just something that Satoshi had always been good at.
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Shigeru stared out the window, straining to see past the rain. He was worried about Satoshi, all alone in such horrible weather, but he knew that even though he wasn't alive, he still wasn't impervious, and if he himself got lost, Satoshi would only worry about him once he finally got home. But that still didn't stop the weight in Shigeru's heart from increasing as he solemnly waited for the one person he truly loved to return home safely.
Shigeru knew of Satoshi's kind heart, and how he had probably stopped more than once to talk to one of his many friends, but he had been gone for more than an hour, and the store wasn't more than a mile away.
Shigeru was about to give up on waiting and find something better to do, though he wasn't sure of what that could be, when he saw the rough outline of an umbrella being held up by two people come into his vision. Two? Shigeru thought, Then who's that with him? His question was answered soon enough when he heard footsteps and a slow creak as the door opened.
Shigeru's eyes widened as they met those of Satoshi's 'guest.' He backed up slowly, a terrified expression taking over, especially in his eyes, which left Satoshi puzzled as to why he was acting like he was until he saw that Musashi was staring straight at Shigeru unmovingly, the ghosts of her past breaking through as her face turned a pale white. Her eyes immediately moved to Shigeru's stab wound, which he covered with his hand as he noticed her looking at it.
"Shigeru, what's wrong?" Satoshi asked, looking sadly at Shigeru, who simply mouthed something and pointed at the pale redhead, "Musashi?"
"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" she mumbled, still not moving at all. Shigeru, too, had stopped backing up and was giving the appearance of breathing deeply, though he wasn't alive and therefore couldn't breathe.
"Didn't mean to what?" Satoshi said frantically, trying at the same time to assure the terrified boy on the other side of the room that no harm would befall him and that everything was going to be fine, "What did you do, Musashi?"
"I didn't mean to…" she continued mumbling, and Satoshi gave her a stern look that told her to stop avoiding his question, though she didn't seem to notice, "I-I didn't mean… to kill him…"
Author's notes: I realize how OOC all of characters were in this chapter, and I apologize to everyone who follows the series and hates how I write the characters, especially Musashi and Shigeru, who surprised even me when I re-read the story to edit it. But that was the only way I could get the next chapter to work out, so please forgive me! Can anyone guess what's going to happen next? I have a sequel in the works for this as well, so hopefully I can finish this story and get working on that one as soon as possible. Thank you for reading, and please review, too!
