Disclaimer: I do NOT own Sukisyo nor any of the characters in the following story …except for the very few that will be mentioning in this chapter and the ones yet to come, but you will find out about that later. : P

Chapter 4

Coming Around

A few days have passed, and every night, Fujimori continued to have that same nightmare. And just like the first night, when he woke up, it was impossible for to go back to sleep. After a while, it has gotten to which Sunao would wake up around midnight and forced to stay up after that. He would just spend the next few hours, laying in his bed, thinking about the events his mind play over and over. So much for this relaxing time he was suppose to be having.

It has been almost a week, but he has never felt more stressed out in his life. All he could ever think about was that nightmare, and it has been obvious his thoughts were not in tuned with his surroundings. Within a few days, Sunao has managed to fall down a small set of stairs, poured milk on his sushi instead of soy sauce, hasn't been able to think straight when he has been doing his homework, and even walked into a few doors while they were closed. His friends were so concern, but Sunao would just say the same thing every time. "I'm fine," or "Don't worry about it." That would drive Sora crazy whenever he would say that. It doesn't take a genius to figure out something was wrong with Sunao, but for some reason, Sunao refused to open up about it. Sunao really isolate his feelings to himself, and Sora could see that it was killing Sunao on the inside. One night, he woke up to the sound of Sunao crying. That was the last straw.

"Fujimori," Sora said, raising himself up from his bed, seeing the pink haired teen crying his eyes out in his pillow. Fujimori immediately stopped crying and turned his head. His thoughts were not playing jokes with him; Sora really was there, talking to him. Fujimori tried to clam himself down by taking deep breaths, which made it appear even more obvious that he was crying, because he was just making hiccup noises as he breathed. "K-K-Kuu-chan," he spluttered. Sora slid out of his bed and walked over to the other's. He made himself comfortable on the edge of his bed, right next Sunao. He reached out and took hold of Sunao's cheek, kindly brushing away the tears away with his face. "I can't stand to see you like this anymore," he declared to Sunao. "Nao," he whispered softly, making Sunao gasp; it's been a long time since he's called him Nao, then he realized that he just called Sora 'Kuu-chan'. He must be really out of it.

"Nao," he said again, "please don't keep me in the shadows anymore. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I woke you up, Sora," Sunao mumbled. Sora smiled. "It's okay," he cooed, "but don't change the subject." Sunao bowed his head, feeling the guilt of dragging Sora into this and making him worry so much. He didn't know how he was going to say it. 'Hey Sora. Guess what? I killed people.' Yeah. That would work out nicely.

"I…" he started but hesitated.

"What?"

"I…I think I did something bad." Sora raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

Sunao hugged his pillow closely against his chest, feeling like he was about to cry again. "Back when I was working with Aizawa, I had…I had to do something that has been haunting me for a while." Sora leaned closer to his lover until his lips landed on Sunao's forehead, followed by a warming embrace. "Nao," he said, "nothing that happened in that lab was your fault. The entire fault belongs to Aizawa."

Sunao shook his head. "Not this time," he admitted. "I had a choice and I chose to do what exactly he wanted. I didn't have to…" he began to cry again, curling up against his lover, feeling so small for turning to other's for help. He gripped onto Sora's shirt, burying his face in his chest as he sobbed.

"Nao, you were brainwashed for years and years. You didn't think clearly, back then. He probably pressured to do whatever it was. Either way, it's in the past and…"

"I killed someone," Sunao blurted out as he began to shake uncontrollably, refusing to look up at Sora. "I took a gun and shot her." He gripped onto Sora even tighter because he feared that Sora would push him away once he realized that he was a murderer. "I didn't have to do it, but I did, and now these memories are haunting me. No matter what I do, I can only see her face. I can only hear the sound of the gun going off. And yet…and yet I feel so confused. I don't even remember actually shooting her, but I know I did, otherwise, Aizawa wouldn't have let me come to the academy."

Sora just held on to him as he poured out his heart. He knew Sunao was strong so whatever was bothering him wasn't something small. He just didn't believe what he was hearing. However… "Shh," he said, comforting Sunao, "It's alright, Nao. Shh. I'm here. I'm here."

"How is it alright," he questioned, "I took someone's life away! How is it that…" he stopped when Sora placed his finger against Sunao's lips, silencing him for a moment, just more than enough time that he needed. "It's alright, because you don't have to face this alone, anymore. I'm here and I won't leave you. I promise that somehow, we'll overcome this together." He looked up at Sora, running his hand against his cheek.

"Hashiba," he said, "I can't let you carry this over your shoulders. You didn't have anything to do with it. It would be selfish of me to drag you into this."

"Sunao, I can't let you just spend nights threatening over this. You're not dragging me into it. I am choosing to stand by your side through every obstacle that is in you way. I am choosing to help you, Sunao." He took a hold of the hand that rested against his cheek and kissed his palm lightly, before returning it back to his cheek, not letting it go. "I'm doing this because I love you."

"Hashiba," he murmured, letting the tears fall down freely his face. He felt so many emotions overwhelm him. He felt happiness, regret, sorrow, comforted, and at ease mixed around in his core. Sora lifted up Sunao's head, so he could he kiss the tears away, then his lips moved toward his ear, just inches away from touching. "I meant it when I said I won't abandon you, Nao," he whispered huskily in his ear, making the smaller boy's eye shot open, feeling as if Sora had sent his heart flying. Sora kissed his cheek before looking back at him, staring at him with soft eyes, sparkling in the moonlight. "How is it that you are always able to say the right things when I need you most?" Sora chuckled. "Perhaps I learned a thing or two from Yoru," he remarked. Sunao smiled for the first time in a long time, which made Sora feel twenty times better seeing a genuine-Sunao-smile, rather than the one he would use as he pretended when everything was ok, not really convincing him. However, Yoru just made Sunao remember something. "Hashiba," he said seriously, pushing back from him, showing Sora by the look on his face that he what had to say was serious. "Hashiba, I need to somehow speak to Ran, again."

Sora stared at him bewildered-like, having no idea where this is going to. "Ran," he asked, just making sure he heard right. Sunao nodded. "Yes," he breathed before he continued to explain. "I don't remember exactly killing the girl, but like I said before, I know it happened. However, I'm not sure it I was the one who killed her. I remember pointing the gun to her, but I blacked out before actually pulling the trigger. I think Ran took over before I could kill her…"

"He was looking out for you," Sora stated, "I think he realized how this could've effected you, so he took your place." Sunao nodded again. "I believe so, too. In this dream I've been having, I could hear him telling me that he wasn't going to let me go through with it just as I blacked out."

"So why do you want to speak to Ran now," Sora asked. He understood that Ran was a major part in the situation, but Sunao knows what happened. What more could he want from him?

"I wonder if Ran knew more about that girl, than I did. I want to know more about 'Experiment 005.' Maybe Ran could shed some light for me, since I already feel so lost in the darkness already. But there's just one thing: I don't know how to summon him. Yoru was the one who guided me through it all…I was hoping that maybe you could summon him to get him to help me summon Ran again. So then…Ran could tell me when my eyes are lying to me or not. However, I know I'm just biting off more than I can chew."

"Sunao," Sora uttered. He watched as he saw tears stream down his face. "Please don't cry."

"I just wanted to live a normal life," he said with a shaky voice, clutching onto the sides of his head as his eyes closed tightly, "but," he sighed, seeing the girl again with that lifeless look in her eyes just before he blacked out-just before she died, "I feel locked up in this cell in my mind. I'm forced to see these images until the day I die. I feel as if I'm not allowed to live a normal life, because of everything that has happened before."

There was a long pause before Sora finally spoke. In between then, it was Sunao and Sora, holding on to each other. Sunao feels like Sora is just pulling off more than he can handle, but feels obligated to comfort him in this time off need. "Do you think this has something to do with what happened Monday," Sora asked Sunao. Sunao shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure."

Sora kissed the top of Sunao's head and rested his chin there. "We'll figure this out, I promise."

"Kuu-chan," Sunao murmured, "Do you think this will ever end and we can really just move on?" Sora looked at Sunao, smiling at him as he said, "I believe that we can create wonderful memories together. However, no one lives a perfect life-a life without worry or pain from time-to-time. But yes, I do believe we can move on from all this. It's just going to take some time."

"And speaking of time," Sora added, "it's almost two, and we have tests this morning. Do you think you can sleep, now?" Sunao hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. Sora looked into his eyes for reassurance. Sunao, once again, nodded. "I'll be fine for now, Kuu-chan." Sora kissed Sunao lightly on the lips before he returned to his bed. "Sleep well," Sora said, turning over in his bed.

Sunao was sitting in the same position as earlier. He was sitting up, hugging his knees up to his chest with a pillow in between. He was watching Sora making himself comfortable in his bed. "You too," he responded, lying back on his bed. He had the pillow lying parallel to him, with his head resting on part of the pillow, as he wrapped his arms around it. It didn't help much; he could seem to get comfortable. "Kuu-chan, are you still awake," he whispered, just in case he wasn't asleep. There was no answer, so that means that Sora must've fallen asleep. Sunao quietly made his way out of his bed and curled up into Sora's. He held his arms around Sora the same way he did to his pillow, now feeling much better, just wished he had Sora holding on to him as well.

For some reason, it was like Sora was reading Sunao's mind. Sora made a groaning noise in his sleep as he turned over to his side, now facing Sunao, wrapping his arms around him protectively. "Mmm," he mumbled in his sleep, "Toshizou." Sunao giggled and decided to play with Sora's mind. Sunao made that soft squealing noise Toshizou would make when you held him tight enough. Sunao liked the results, Sora held on to Sunao even tighter. "Perfect," Sunao said before drifting off into a deep sleep.

Sora woke up to the sound of the alarm clock beeping rapidly and loudly. He reached over to shut it off, until he heard someone stirred in his bed. He looked in his arms, and found Sunao sleeping. 'He must've had a hard time sleeping,' he concluded. His mind drifted off to last night's discussion.

"I feel locked up in this cell in my mind. I'm forced to see these images until the day I die. I feel as if I'm not allowed to live a normal life, because of everything that has happened before," Sora replayed what Sunao said in his thoughts. "I wish I could take it all away, Nao," he whispered to Sunao's sleeping form, knowing he can't hear anything he says, "I promise I'll get you smiling, again, just like before." As he said those last words, he thought back on the days at the orphanage, before they were forced to live through that hell.

/Flashback/

"Sora Hashiba," The head of the orphanage said, walking up to him. Sora stood up straight, not moving an inch. He was guessing that he was caught sneaking out the other night with Sunao. Usually the hostess wouldn't have good news for Sora or anything positive to say to Sora. "Yes ma'am," he said, remaining absolutely still. "Shinichiro-sama is here for you and Sunao," she explained, "So go get Sunao and meet him at the front entrance, okay?" Sora literally jumped out of his shoes. "Yay," he screamed as he dashed around the place looking for his little friend.

Sunao, as a young boy, wearing his little white shorts and dark-blue sailor shirt sat on one of the swings with a very depressing look on his face. Little Sora appeared out of no where, now standing on one of the swings. "Nao," he asked, "What's the matter?"

"I miss Matsuri-chan," little Sunao sobbed, with fresh tears falling down his cheeks. "I wish he didn't have to leave." Sora hopped of his swing, landing on his feet and walked over to Sunao, giving him a friendly hug. "I miss him, too," he said, "but you're not alone. I'll be here for you, and I'm not going anywhere." Sora liked how he was able to make his friend smile so easily. He felt like he was a big brother, looking out for his little brother, making sure everything was ok. Sunao wiped his tears away and gave Sora a big hug.

"Don't ever leave me, Kuu-chan," he said, standing up from the swing, "I don't wanna live without both of my friends."

"You got it," Sora said, with a wide grin on his face. "Now come on, Oni-chan is waiting for us up front." Sunao and Sora raced to the front to spend the weekend with Shinichiro and Nanami, they're favorite time of the week.

However, at one point, they were separated, and Sunao was forced to live six to seven miserable years alone, without Sora or Matsuri around. It was hell for both of them. But now is the chance they can start fresh.

/End Flashback/

Sora growled. "I'm not going let that happen, again," he said, erasing the memories of them being taken away from his mind. He focused on the smaller boy. He watched him flip over to his stomach, planting the side of his face on the pillow with a peaceful expression on his face. As much as he would love to watch Sunao for a while longer, they do have things to do for today. He shook Sunao slightly, "Hey," he said, "time to get up."

Sunao stirred, opening a small portion of his eyes. "Sleep well," Sora asked until he looked into Sunao's eyes…they were red.

"Hashiba," Sunao groaned, "why are you looking at me like that?" Sora stared down at him with a worried and terrified look on his face, his eyes popped open along with his mouth. "Fujimori…" he gasped. There is no way this was happening! "How are you feeling," he asked the pinkette.

"Fine," he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eye. "I slept much better, thanks to you," he said with a friendly smile. He looked again to Sora, who was still looking at him with that shocked look in his cerulean blue eyes. "Hashiba?"

Sora just stared, waited to see if there was going to be any sudden change in his behavior, like if he was acting like a different person-a person they knew all too well. He watched for a while as Sunao's eye color would fade from a crimson red to the normal rosy pink color. He sighed, "Thank goodness."

"What," Sunao asked, not understanding what is going on. Sora shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he answered, "We should be getting ready for school. You better go shower while you still can." Sunao didn't bother asking it. It was too early in the morning to threat over something.

"Ok," he said, getting out of bed, followed by Sora.

Sora and Sunao walked down the halls, heading toward Matsuri's room. They found Matsuri talking to Mira at his door. Mira has been coming around the past few days. He isn't so hesitant to speak to the three, but they notice how hesitant he is around others. He speaks more freely around them, as well, which is what Matsuri is surely excited about. Sora smirked. Sunao looked to Sora, "What is it?"

Sora grinned, "I think Matsuri has found himself a little boyfriend." Sunao rolled his eyes. "It hasn't even been a week, yet you make these assumptions," Sunao said. Sora nodded, even though it was obviously a rhetorical comment. Mira eyes caught sight of his two other friends. He waved at them. "There you guys are," he said as they approached the group.

"We were tempted to leave you guys behind," Matsuri commented.

"Good to know," Sora said, smiling. They all together head toward their first class. "So Tanaka," Matsuri said out of sudden, Mira looked up, "Hmm?"

"I was thinking," he started to explain, "Nao has been taking a few days off from the 'Do-It-All' team, and there is so much that needs to be done…"

"What's the 'Do-It-All' team," Mira asked, interrupting Matsuri.

"We formed a little team and do small favors for people from time-to-time," he answered.

"SMALL FAVORS?"

"FROM TIME-TO-TIME?"

Both of the boys were appalled by such an understatement. Mira giggled at the look on their faces, as they glared at Matsuri. "Yes. So anyways, Tanaka, would you like to be apart of the team?" Both Sunao and Sora started to shake their heads uncontrollably behind Matsuri's back, trying their best to save their new friend while they still can. "I don't know," Mira said, pondering for a moment, "It seems time consuming and I have schoolwork."

"Oh don't worry," Matsuri assured, "There'll be plenty of time of that."

Mira glanced over Matsuri's shoulder again, seeing that Sora and Sunao were still shaking their heads. "Well…I guess I could give it a try," Mira thought outloud, making Matsuri smile, and the others bowed their heads in defeat. "You're in for it," Sora commented outloud. "There's no escape," Sunao added.

"Wonderful," Matsuri shouted, taking a hold of Mira's hands, cupping them together, making Mira lightly blush, "I'm so happy to hear that. As your manager, I'd like to welcome you to the team. Now we can get back to work." They entered the room and sat down in their seats they were assigned.

Both Sora and Sunao were left wondering what Matsuri has planned for the 'Do-It-All' team. Surely, since he recruited a new member it isn't small.