Chapter 2

arigatô - thank you

oyasumi - good night

Omi climbed up the ladder again to give the screws Satoshi had prefixed a second overlook. He had just finished one side when Nakajima appeared in the door of the main building, gesturing for him to come over. Omi had already wondered what Nakajima had been doing all the time and walked over without checking the other side of the stage. Nakajima was holding a huge bunch of wires and extension leads. He nodded his head over towards an equally huge pile on the floor which Omi picked up and carried over to the trees while Nakajima brought his to the stage. The wires would provide the electricity needed for the lampions in the trees and the speakers for the music.

When Omi returned to the stage, Nakajima was already performing a sound check and ordered him to make sure the background curtains could be moved smoothly now. Carefully at first, but then with increasing strength he pulled at the thick cloth layers. At first, everything slid smoothly across the bar, but then it seemed to be stuck and he pulled even harder. There was a creaking sound and the horizontal bar flung free from its support. Apparently, not all screws had been fastened correctly and the whole upper construction came tumbling down towards Omi.

A small cry of surprise escaped his lips and then he was buried underneath the curtains. The sound of the bar crashing onto the stage alerted Nakajima and he turned around.

"What are you fooling around there? I hadn't thought you would be that incompetent when it comes to things that are more hands-on than your usual computer stuff," he smirked.

When there was no response from underneath the curtains Nakajima walked over to Omi, a worried frown appearing on his forehead. "Shichijou?" he asked and pulled the cloths to the side. Omi was lying on the wooden floor, eyes closed and obviously knocked unconscious from the iron bar. Nakajima knelt down beside him and just then caught sight of a trickle of blood running down Omi's cheek. He cursed and slightly tilted the silver head for closer inspection. Carefully brushing the soft hair to the side he spotted a wound a few inches above the left eye, close to the hairline. The injury was not big, but bleeding quite heavy, as usual for a head wound. Some strands of hair were already soaked with blood. Quickly, he started to undo Omi's tie to use it as a bandage when he heard an angry voice behind him.

Niwa had come to check on their progress and since he could only see Nakajima and the mass of curtains, apparently carelessly tossed to the ground, he shouted. "Hey, Hide, be more careful with the cloths. Shinomiya has spent half the night ironing them."

"For god's sake, Niwa. Just shut up, would you?" Nakajima shot back angrily. The note of urgency in his friend's voice puzzled Niwa. As he got closer, he now spotted a figure lying on the ground and started running.

"What happened, Hide?" the King demanded once he had reached the stage.

"Doesn't matter at the moment." Nakajima had finally finished undoing his and Omi's ties and was now wrapping one of the cloth stripes around Omi's head to fasten the second, folded tie over the wound. It wasn't such good bandage, as the fabric would be soaked with blood quite quickly, but at the moment he had nothing better to use.

Niwa had knelt beside him and Hide now turned to face his friend. "We need to get him to the infirmary." The King nodded his agreement and bent over to lift Omi from the ground.

"You think you can carry him?" Hide asked doubtfully. Granted, the King was the strongest on campus, but Omi was not a lightweight like Keita. "He's nearly as tall as you…" he added, but Niwa interrupted him.

"It's not that far to go. I think I can handle it. Just go ahead and open the door." Nakajima did as he was told and Niwa followed as quickly as possible with the extra weigh he was carrying. He wondered a little about the worry in his friend's voice, not sure if it was directed at him or the wellbeing of the silver haired boy. A small smile touched Niwa's lips. Maybe Hide's feelings towards Omi were actually different from what he wanted everyone to think. But now was not the time to investigate this further, the King reminded himself, as he carried Omi up the stairs.

Kaoru entered the main hall and glanced towards the group of students suspiciously. He let out a relieved sigh when he realized Niwa wasn't around anymore. But luck wasn't with him today and he rolled his eyes in irritation as he heard the exuberant voice of the tennis captain. "Hoooney!" Naruse cried and rushed towards Keita to pull him into his strong arms.

Quickly Kaoru escaped upstairs to the first floor. It wasn't that he disliked Naruse on principle, but his voice and behavior sometimes just freaked him out. As he walked down the corridor, intending to take the next staircase down again to join Omi in the courtyard, he caught sight of someone rushing up the stairs to the second floor. Niwa's huge built was unmistakable and so was the man following behind.

"Hide!" Kaoru called through the corridor. The blue head turned to face Kaoru, a worried expression on his face. The Queen quickly made up the distance to his friend and asked curiously. "What are you up to, Hide? You're almost running up the stairs."

Nakajima looked up to Niwa, who had continued his way upstairs. Following his gaze, Kaoru noticed a pair of feet dangling down behind Niwa's huge back - strangely familiar feet.

"Omi," he cried out in surprise and rushed to Niwa's side. "What happened?" he snapped at the King. "And is that blood on his face?" He stretched out a hand, his slightly shaking fingers stroking gentle over Omi's cheek.

Before Niwa could even start to explain, Kaoru felt two slender hands on his shoulders.

"Everything will be alright, Kaoru," Hide assured and slightly pushed the trembling figure in front of him further up the stairs.

The infirmary was located on the second floor right next to the staircase. Kaoru opened the door for Niwa and wanted to follow him inside, but Hide grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards some chairs on the opposite side of the corridor.

"Let go off my hand, Hide," Kaoru hissed angrily. "I'm not going to leave Omi alone in this condition."

"You would just be in the way," Hide remarked - not very tactful - and urged Kaoru to take a seat. "Just calm down a little. I'll tell you what happened."

When Niwa carefully lowered Omi onto one of the beds, the door to the neighboring room opened and Matsuoka-sensei entered. On Keita's request the doctor had not been reported to the police and chose to continue working at the academy. Kazuki was secretly glad about this turnout. He had forgiven his former tutor for putting Keita into danger, since Jin's reasons were more than understandable to him.

"He got a blow on the head and fell unconscious," Niwa explained while Matsuoka bent over Omi and loosened the provisional bandage.

"Hm, doesn't look too bad. It has almost stopped bleeding." He disinfected the wound and covered it with a large square-cut plaster.

"I'm afraid I can't do anything more at the moment. We just have to wait until he wakes up."

Niwa nodded and walked over to the door. "I will let Kaoru in, then."

Kaoru was sitting on one of the chairs, nervously playing with his fingers. When the door opened, he jumped up and rushed into the infirmary, pushing Niwa to the side. Nakajima had risen as well and joined Niwa in the doorframe. The King walked over to Kaoru, who had taken a seat on the edge of Omi's bed and was holding his friend's hand.

"Can we leave you alone, now?" he asked gently. "The stage has to be set up again."

"Sure," Kaoru replied without turning around, his eyes fixed on Omi's face.

"Would you like something to drink, Kaoru?" Matsuoka offered. The Queen just shook his head. "Will he be alright?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I can't say that for sure until he wakes up, but you shouldn't worry too much," Matsuoka said and placed a reassuring hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

"Call me when his condition changes," he added after a moment and went back into his office.

Kaoru reached out with his free hand to touch the mole under Omi's left eye and then gently ran his fingers through his friend's short hair, quietly whispering his name.

He remained sitting on the bed for almost 20 minutes, listening to Omi's calm breathing and never letting go of his hand. He really tried to force himself to stay positive, but he couldn't completely suppress the fear that there might be severe damage done and Omi would never wake up again. He was about to go and ask Matsuoka-sensei to bring Omi to a hospital for closer inspection when he felt a light squeeze of his hand and Omi's eyes opened, greeting Kaoru with their violet shine.

Before Omi even had a chance to take in his surroundings, Kaoru had thrown himself onto his friend. Hands clenching tightly into the fabric of his friend's shirt he buried his head against Omi's neck, whispering his name over and over again. Omi lay still, completely taken aback by the sudden assault. But when he felt something wet running down his collarbone he started to struggle underneath his friend's weight, pushing him away a little to be able to look into his face.

"Kaoru, why are you crying?" he asked, reaching out to wipe a tear off Kaoru's face.

"Why?" Kaoru repeated in disbelief, moving aside to avoid his friend's hand.

"You do realize that you were insanely lucky, don't you, Omi? You could be dead by now!" He was sitting upright now, nearly shouting at his friend.

"Kaoru," Omi said softly, shocked by the sudden outburst. "Don't you think you're exaggerating a little? I'm fine, really." He tried to reach out and embrace Kaoru, but the other boy evaded his attempt.

"It's not alright, Omi," Kaoru said angrily. "Why are you acting so indifferent about your wellbeing? You could have lost a part of your memory in this accident!"

He lowered his head, his voice fading until Omi could barely understand him as he continued. "What if you had forgotten that you know me?" He look up at Omi again, his face wet with tears. "I wouldn't know what to do without you, Omi," he whispered.

This time Kaoru didn't pull away and Omi wrapped his arms tightly around the slender figure, his hands stroking up and down Kaoru's back in a calming gesture. When his friend had finally stopped crying, Omi loosened the embrace to look at him.

"Arigatô," he said slowly and placed a kiss on Kaoru's forehead.

Matsuoka-sensei had heard their voices in his office, but had decided not to interrupt the conversation. Now he opened the door and stepped into the room with a cheerful smile.

"It's good to see you've woken up, Shichijou-kun."

Kaoru hastily wiped the tears from his face and stood up when Matsuoka approached the bed.

"Do you feel dizzy?" the doctor asked Omi. "Headache? Or any other injuries?" Omi shook his head. "No, I feel fine."

"In that case, you are free to leave now. But I suggest you don't do anything exhausting for the rest of the day. And if you start feeling unwell, don't hesitate to tell me."

"Hai. Arigatô, Sensei." Omi replied and rose from the bed. Both students bowed slightly to the doctor before they left the infirmary.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Omi asked while they walked through the corridors. "I'm really hungry."

"About half an hour, I think", Kaoru answered. Looking at his watch he added. "It's almost six o'clock now. So we can go get something to eat if you like."

The cafeteria was almost empty when they arrived, since it was still early for dinner. Only Shinomiya and Iwai were sitting at one of the tables, the archer keeping a keen eye on his friend to make sure he ate at least half of the food on his plate.

Kaoru helped himself to a small bowl of salad and walked over to a table by the window. Omi chose a hamburger and quickly followed his friend, nodding a short greeting when he passed by the other occupied table.

"Don't you think you should eat a bit more," he asked while sitting down. "You only had soup for lunch."

"I'm not very hungry at the moment, Omi. And you don't have to monitor my eating habits like Shinomiya does with Iwai. I'm not a child."

"I was just worried."

"Well, you don't have to."

Omi didn't bother to take this argument any further. It seemed Kaoru was still angry with him, but he knew from experience that his friend would be back to normal by tomorrow if he didn't annoy him any further.

They finished their meal in silence and then went back to the dorm.

"I still have to finish an essay that is due on Monday," Omi said while pulling his room key out of a trouser pocket. "See you tomorrow at breakfast?"

"Of course," Kaoru replied. "Oyasumi."

"Oyasumi," Omi repeated, even though Kaoru had already closed his door. Sighing he entered his own room.

Omi had planned on finishing his homework today but for some reason he couldn't concentrate on the essay. After an hour of mostly staring into thin air he decided it was no use trying to get it done this evening. He had barely managed half the amount of words he was required to write, but he still had the whole Sunday to work on it.

He changed into his nightwear and made himself comfortable in bed. A glance at the alarm clock told him that it was still too early to sleep, so he reached out for a book on the bedside table that he had bought last weekend. The story was really good and got more exciting with every further page so he didn't realize how the time passed.

When he finally reached the end of the book it was nearly eleven o'clock. Putting the book aside, he was just about to turn off the bedside lamp when he heard a faint knock at his door. Surprised, he got up again. The students were normally not allowed to be out on the corridor after 10 o'clock so he couldn't think of anyone who would visit at this time. Umino-sensei would technically be allowed to, but he saw no reason the teacher would disturb him at such a late time. Opening the door he saw the last person he had expected to meet again today.

Kaoru was standing in the corridor, barefoot, in light yellow pajamas. He held his hands behind his back as if hiding something from Omi's view and shifted from one foot to the other. Whether he was nervous, or the floor just cold, Omi couldn't tell for sure.

"Sorry, if I disturbed you," Kaoru said. "Have you been sleeping already?"

"No. What's the matter, Kaoru?" Omi asked, puzzled. Kaoru had never come to his room that late before.

"I…" Kaoru started hesitantly, "..can't fall asleep. Can I stay with you?"

"…yeah, of course," Omi smiled and briefly hugged his friend to hide the surprise on his face.

"Come in," he said and took Kaoru's arm, now seeing the pillow he had been hiding behind his back.

Kaoru sighed inwardly. He had been afraid that Omi would question his motives further. It wasn't really true that he couldn't fall asleep. Maybe he was a little afraid of having a nightmare again, but he could deal with that on his own. No, the truth was, he had to tell his friend something that he would probably only manage to do in the dark.

Lying down on Omi's bed he moved over to the wall, leaving half of the mattress unoccupied. The pillow next to him smelled like Omi and he deeply inhaled the scent he had grown so fond of.

Omi had disappeared to the bathroom, claiming to need to brush his teeth. Running a hand trough his hair he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Something really strange was going on here.

First, Kaoru's exaggerated behavior in the infirmary, then the clipped conversation during dinner and now he showed up in the middle of the night with some strange excuse Omi was not willing to believe. He could not think of an explanation for all of this and, to be honest, at the moment he just wanted to go to sleep. Sighing he left the bathroom.

Kaoru was still awake when he returned to bed and after Omi had switched off the light Kaoru moved closer towards him until his head rested against Omi's chest. He felt Kaoru's hands holding onto his nightshirt and wrapped an arm around the smaller body beside him. Whatever the reason was for Kaoru's behavior, for the moment he would just enjoy this feeling.

He couldn't exactly say when he had fallen in love, but one day in Junior High he had realized that Kaoru was much more to him than just his best friend. From that day on he had tried to hide his feelings, afraid of destroying their friendship with his confession. But he had been dreaming countless times of kissing those well-shaped lips or embracing Kaoru in way that was more than just comforting a friend.

And now they were sharing a bed, lying so close to each other that Omi could almost feel Kaoru's heartbeat.

Listening to Kaoru's even breathing, he ran his hand trough the soft strands of silky hair that were spread on the pillow beside him and in this moment, he felt incredibly happy.

Kaoru's soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Are you still awake?" he whispered.

"No, but I thought you were sleeping already."

"I want to apologize for acting so strange today. It's just that I was… really worried about you. And when I saw you lying in that bed, seeming so lifeless, I was afraid I could… lose you forever."

His voice was quiet, muffled by Omi's body.

"It was then that I realized something important. But I wasn't sure how to tell you. Since we met in elementary school you have always been the most important person in my life, but it took until now for me to realize that you are more than just a friend to me, Omi. I never felt about anyone the way I do about you, but I'm quite sure that this feeling… is love."

Raising his head from Omi's chest, Kaoru looked up to meet his friend's eyes in the dim moonlight that trickled in through the half open curtains.

"I love you, Omi" he repeated. His face came closer until their lips met in a brief kiss before Kaoru drew back just a split second later, expectantly looking at his friend, waiting for his reaction. At first, Omi just stared at Kaoru's face, disbelief in his eyes. But then, a smile slowly appeared on his face. It wasn't the kind of polite smile he used at every occasion, but the one that showed his true emotions, the one that was reserved only for Kaoru.

"I'm so happy," he whispered and gently returned the kiss.

"Can I take this as an 'I love you, too'?" Kaoru asked, once he could speak again.

"Hai," Omi said and pulled Kaoru back into his arms. Burying his face against Omi's chest again Kaoru sighed contentedly and they soon fell asleep.