Disclaimer: I don't own OTRFK.

~~ A New Life ~~

~~ 22. December, 09:42 pm ~~

Yuichi stirred awake by the flaming agony and yelped in pain as the memories of the indicent returned. He breathed hard, tried to get a hold of himself, it was useless, he couldn't stop it. His eyes fluttered open, tried to escape the darkness as he blinked several time. Nothing changed, everything remained in darkness. Nothingness. Yuichi blinked again and again with his eyelids, it was in vain. Panic rose up, his breath hitched and came out in rough pants. His head snapped to different directions and the peeping sound of a near machine reached his ears. He stopped, waited for his brain to recognize the sounds and smells. The scent held a smell of cleanness and disinfection. A hospital, Yuichi guessed.

He moved his head to the right side and regretted his choice immediately. His head began to throb as soon as he moved him and he groaned out of pain. He needed all his strength to even lift his hand to his head, his arms felt so heavy - everything on his body felt heavy and slightly warm. His legs and feet were no exception as they were numb instead of heavy. Yuichi heard steps from somewhere, which he thought came from the floor, and some people spoke with each other. The door to his room opened silently, still revealed an entering person when it fell once again into its locks. The steps were light and made hardly any noise which only a female could do. Yuichi listened carefully to every sound, even as the steps stopped in front of his bed. Yuichi hissed in pain as a sharp needle broke through his skin and slid into his right arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't seen that you're finally awake. I'll call the doctor immediately." The nurse said and finished her work, before she sprinted out of the room. The blonde couldn't say a single word, she had left him so fast. It took less than five minutes and the door re-opened and heavy steps entered. "So you're finally awake? That's good. My name is Doctor Yamamoto. May you tell me your name, please?" The man asked. His voice was strong and tired but gentle at the same time.

"My na.." His voice cracked up and he started to cough badly. His lungs ached and were dry like he hadn't taken any liquids since days.

"Oh my, have some water." The nurse laid a hand under his head, made his world spin and lifted him up. Her hand reached for something beside him and soon something cold rested against his lips, let a cool liquid float down his dry throat. He was grateful for it and took a few hasty sips. He swallowed, the glass disappeared from his lips, left him enough space to answer the question one more time.

"My name is Kazuki Yuichi." His voice was still a little husky but a least he could speak without coughing.

"Alright, Kazuki, I'll test your body for any signals of a critical condition, so please tell me if it hurts somewhere." The man laid the pen and papers down on the little table, next to the young man's bed, and began to push lightly against Yuichi's body. First the arms and hands, then the chest, the stomach, his legs and feet and at last the head. From time to time Yuichi hissed from the sudden, upcoming pain but it was bearable. "You're very lucky, young man. Most of your body is alright and not in a dangerous situation. The reason for the heavy- and numbness in your body lays by the medicine we have given you, so don't worry, it should be gone tomorrow morning." The doctor grabbed his pen and documents and started to scribble some words down on it. " Still, I have bad news for you…"

~~ 22. December, 09:36 am ~~

His eyes were swollen, red and hurt from all the crying, however, it wasn't something new for him. It had been like this since a month, Wataru had gotten used to his horrible look by now. His left wrist burnt, whenever he tried to move it. Wataru opened his eyes slowly, tried to get used to the bright light in his new bedroom. The weather outside was quieter, nevertheless, it was still snowing endlessly. The bedroom wasn't really small, the walls were painted in a warm crème color, the ground was completely laminated in a lightly, soft brown tone and the standard furniture were already inside - a double bed, an expensive desk, a big wardrobe and some other things like a big mirror and some pictures on the walls.

The teen asked himself if he had heard it wrong. He remembered the words of his friend, Asaka talked about a small and old apartment but how could it be? The bedroom was amazing enough to leave him stunned. Wataru had no chance to suppres the smile by the welcoming silence and reality. He felt, after such a long time, finally alive again. There weren't any noisy parents, who wanted to control him, and the winter vacation would start today onwards, so he wouldn't need to go to school. The black-haired teen sat up, put his feet on the cool ground and stretched his sore muscles while he ran his hands through his sticky and wet hair. The teen had had a nightmare anew and woke up all sweaty again, only this time, the nightmare wasn't as bad as the other times.

They began to get better, not so scary anymore. The young male thought about the few things which happened last night in the darkness with the heavy snowstorm.

He had stood at the end of the street and had waited for Asaka to appear. The snowstorm had gotten worse and the teen had snuggled further into his jacket which he had pulled out of his big bag. Karin had thought about everything. His bag had been full with all his clothes and some special things like some books, which looked like his school books, his toothbrush and some CDs. His sister had the same meaning as him because she had put his school uniforms in there as well.

Wataru had leaned next to a wall and had heard a car driving in his way. The car had stopped in front of him, the side door opened and Asaka had smiled at the teen with shining eyes. The ride in the car had been quiet, nobody had spoken and after some time Wataru had been fallen asleep with an exhausted but happy expression on his face.

He stood up, yawned loudly without shame. It felt good to be free. Wataru would shower and afterwards he would make himself something for breakfast. Hope was finally in sight. With that in his mind, he stood up and searched for a clock. Wataru went around in his new home, searched for the bathroom, and noticed all his luggage were already unpacked. The apartment looked as if he had lived here for already a month. The kitchen was small but all the needed equipments were there. It was painted in a bright crème color too, just like the bedroom, and he smiled unconsciously. Everything was perfect for him, it was surprising how beautiful the whole apartment was. If Kazuki could live here with him if they met again?

Every room looked like it was handmade, the most interesting one was the bedroom with a ceiling which were painted in a darker shade of crème and held a fascinating pattern. The pattern were ornated with each other, it looked absolutely beautiful. Wataru could only stare with an open mouth at the sight. He entered the bathroom, which were in a lightly white/blue contrast, and was stunned anew. It looked pretty expensive and luxurious. The bathtub was in a back-room and big enough for two people to fill in while the shower place was in the front-room. The bathroom was huge and amazing.

The teen couldn't believe it, Asaka gave him such an unbelievable and gorgeous apartment. Wataru's eyes shone more and more in amazement and a bright smile lifted his face up. He was free – the feeling sank in and the reality hit him with pure delight – he was free, nobody would be able to stop him now. His parents didn't know where he was or when he would come back. Alive - that was it what he felt, being alive after such a long time of pain and agony. He would have screamed from joy if there wouldn't have been any neighbours around him.

He unbuttoned his clothes, removed the bandage from his left wrist and the plasters from his face. The shower relaxed him, the water was hot and the bath afterwards was the best. The boy finished after half an hour, not caring how long it had taken him, and put a white towel around his waist and dried his hair with another one. Wataru opened the bathroom's door, hot steam surrounded his figure and escaped out of the bathroom. The big smile was still present, all the time, his thoughts were far away by his boyfriend. Wataru walked straight to the kitchen, where now a surprising, nice smell came from, when suddenly a familiar voice teased him.

"I never knew you had such a sweet body, Wataru." The older man teased him and Wataru couldn't do anything other than blush. His face was beet red, his movement stopped as he gazed at Asaka Masanobu. He covered his body with the second towel, which looked funny, it was better than showing his bare chest. He felt a shiver dripping all over his body by the bare thought of Asaka seeing too much - it was wrong. Asaka adverted his stare, smiled and nodded as an apologize.

"W-Wow, you shocked me. How did you come in and since when are you here?" Wataru asked with a happy and confused voice. He didn't know if he should be happy or not to see his friend right now.

"Shou gave me a spare key for important situations. I hope you're fine with it." He glanced to the younger teen once more. "To answer your second question, I'm here for around twenty minutes and made your breakfast." Asaka sat in a chair at the dinning table and pointed to all sorts of Japanese food. A grin spread on the older teen's face. Wataru was really beautiful in his spare outfit. Asaka could stare at him all the time but this would only bring the opposite effect from the one he wished for.

"Shou?" The teen asked and viewed at the large selection of food on the dinning table. Asaka stood up and guided his angel to the chair while he spoke.

"Shou is the friend of mine who let you stay here. He is a good one and if you need anything, just talk to him. He lives right next to your apartment." Wataru sat down, and while he was so focused on the food in front of him, Asaka kissed his hair. Wataru froze by the contact, stiffened till the bones and waited for the familiar contact to stop.

Asaka separated himself from the teen.

The beautiful dark hair smelt sweet and felt soft from the shampoo he had used in the shower. Asaka couldn't suppress his need to touch the thin and pale skin. His desire to take, to kiss and hold Wataru had grown rapidly in the last few hours. Yesterday, where he had seen Wataru sleeping in the seat of his car next to him, he nearly kissed the teen on his lips. The young male had slept peacefully in his arms, even as he had carried him in the flat - bridal style. He had chuckled by his naive thoughts, it had felt like the two of them were living together - like newly weds. His home was close by, only ten minutes away from here by foot, and if something would happen his friend Shou was living next to Wataru's new home and would call him.

Hopefully, Kazuki Yuichi wouldn't return now or ever again, now that his chance to get his angel had unbelievable increased. Asaka understood the clingyness from Wataru. Right now, he was just a replacement of Kazuki. However, he would change it and make the other teen understand his worth. The brunette would fight as long as he would need to prove himself. "You should eat something, it's really delicious. I'll make some tea for us." Asaka went to the water heater, ignored the confused glanced from the teen.

Wataru fought with himself, forced his heart to calm down and pushed the blood back down. It shouldn't feel so good to be kissed or touched by his friend. He should never feel like this, it would break Kazuki's heart and his own, too. The teen took a few deep breaths, shut his dark orbs and calmed his senses. It was in vain. The longing stayed, nagged on his mind, the itchy feeling to touch the other's skin and lips. He was in the same state which he had been so long ago - the same emotions, the same confusion, the identical wants - he had lived through all the signs once before.

It was the time where he had started to fall in love with Kazuki Yuichi.

~~ 22. December, 09:58 pm ~~

"The bandage over your eyes should help. We're not sure yet but it looks really bad for your eyesight. We need to do some more tests but the chance for you to recover is really small. I don't want to shatter your hopes, nevertheless, I'm sorry to say, I don't think we'll be able to bring your eyesight back. A miracle would be necessary." The doctor's voice waved in pity and sorrow. The nurse left him alone with the panic rising up in his head and sinking deep in his heart. Everything around him seemed to swim and waver. His ears turned into deafness, his body changed from warm to icy cold. Hundred thoughts circled around in Yuichi's head. All at the same time and each of the same topic.

He had never believed in something so cruel, the possibility to never see Wataru's smile and self again, he would live in darkness and would need to rely on others. Things he hated the most.

His throat was dry and lumped, He had never dreamed about such misfortune. The young man couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe in the agony and pain. He had been so close... Why now? It couldn't really happen, what had he done to deserve this? He only wanted his lover back in his arms. Why was everybody against it? Nobody would recognize him, the image of the student of the century would be gone; they would see a crying, young man with his head on his knees and silently sobs escaping his mouth. The tears streamed down his face, unstoppable.

He couldn't help but feel hopeless. How should he meet Wataru in this big city if he didn't even know which way he needed to go? His heart shattered, his breath hittched. How could he face his boyfriend in his current state? It took less than a day to turn him into a helpless, useless and relying person. He would never be the same like before and it was the most scary thing for him.

"Er..Excuse me…" A shy nurse interrupted, still Yuichi didn't look up, he needn't other people to see him. "…we need someone who can identify you. May you give me a contact number of a family member?" Something clicked in his head, something hit him hard and reality rushed on the sourface of his mind.

'Family member…Oh shit! Touko! She must be already crazy from worrying!'

"Yeah, sure." He said and told her Touko's address. The blonde knew they would inform her as soon as possible and then he would have to deal with a really worried Touko and his already broken self.

~~ 21. December, 08:42 pm ~~

How could he leave her? Didn't he love her? She was his fiancée!

Nano was confused and angry, frustrated as hell was an understatement. Her nearly husband left her without leaving a trace. The young woman had fought with the Asaka-guy but after Karin came out of her room and whispered something in the young man's ear, he left abruptly. It was a little strange and kind of suspicious. Nano was standing in Wataru's room, looking for something which would tell her where her love could have gone but the only hint she got, of what was going on in this house, was a little picture on Wataru's bed, near his pillow.

She saw Wataru and, completely taken by surprise and disbelief, Kazuki Yuichi. Both were smiling and seemed to be really happy. She dared to think about them being a couple. Since when had her fiance been gay? How long? Were they a couple or was it only her guess? Wataru's eyes sparkled in the happiness and excitement, just like the other males did. Even with the picture, not a single question was answered. Where was he?

"What do you mean with, 'he run away and is probably on his way back to his lover?' Chihiro hissed to Shohei. "Can't you take care of your own little brother? The last thing I need now is a bad publicity which says: Son of the famous lawyer is gay!"

"Honey, calm down. It's no use to scream at our son." Kou spoke and lit up another cigarette, trying to relax and focus. He was slightly proud of his youngest son. Yuichi was stubborn and smart enough to manage to escape from the war in this household. Nonetheless, he was also angry about his son who wouldn't understand their worry and help. They had no bad intention in their minds, wanted the best for him. It was the best for him, wasn't it? Slowly Kou began to doubt it. "Maybe we should let him do as he pleases. It seems to me like he's serious about the boy." The father whispered after some minutes of silence. "I start to doubt about our choice. I know my son, he won't give up so easily."

"What?" She spun on her heels, hissed through gritted teeth." If we let him do as he pleases than our years of rearing him will be in vain! I'll not let him do as he pleases just because he wants to have a little bit fun with a male! He is our son and my. Son. Is. Not. Gay!" She yelled and spitted out the last words with force. Her emotions were driving a rollercoaster. She couldn't believe and didn't want to believe her youngest son was gay. It couldn't be! It was impossible! He was a Kazuki after all and all Kazukis were perfect. The family sat in complete quietness in the living room for the rest of the day.

~~ 22. December, 10:46 pm ~~

Most of the time, he hadn't done anything useful. He had relaxed, tried to think about his next steps, about his live. Wataru also had talked to his new neighbours and had met Shou and his twin sister Shinja. They were both redheads and had both long hair, bounded to a tail. They were really friendly and gave him a feeling of a little, warm family. The two hadn't pushed him to say why he would live here from now on. They had listened to his stories as he did the same to theirs. It was the first time after a month that he had realized the truth, the reality.

Wataru had been free from the pain and sadness for the moment. Nonetheless, soon he was alone again in the large apartment, the loneliness reached out for him anew and its grip was firm and unbreakable. Coldness filled his tense body when he had laid down in his huge bed - too huge for one person. It made him feel lonely all the more, wanting someone soecial to sleep beside him. Yuichi had always done so, had held him close to warm them. It was a magic spell which his boyfriend had cast over them with such a simple thing. The loud heartbeat of Kazuki had benn his lullabye. With all the tiring thoughts circling again in his head, he had fallen asleep unconsciously.

A shriek awoke him and something wet rested all over his body. Wataru jumped out of his bed, disorientated and confused by the noises, and pressed his hand against his aching heart. His eyes wandered over the room, searched for the source of the shriek. The shriek changed to small whimpers and Wataru noticed - it was him who gave the noise, it was his voice who screamed and whimpered. His pyjama was drenched from the cold sweat and he was shaking because of the icyness inside of him, inside his veins and muscles. He tried his beset to hold back the waves of tears. The teen couldn't bear it anymore.

What would he need to do to get ride of the nightmares?
Why was it so hard to forget, to suppress his wants, needs and his heart?
Why couldn't he stop doubting his own love, even if he knew his lover would never leave him without giving him a reason. Wataru had no clue where his lover or ex-lover was, if he was alright or if he had already a new love. If Kazuki was searching for him, tried to contact him? There were so many questions but no replies. The teen knew only one thing clearly; he never wanted to love someone like this again. It hurt too much to lose the one most important person. The bedroom's door opened quietly and a figure approached him slowly.

"Wataru, it's me." The person approached him, pulled him back to the bed and crouched next to him. "Shou said, you were screaming a few minutes ago, did you have a nightmare?" Asaka's voice was gentle and tender. The older male didn't wait for an answer, he took off his clothes, put on his own pyjama, which he had brought with him, and lifted the blanket a little bit, so he could slide inside the bed with his angel. The young teen slid to the wall at the end of the bed, offering enough space for the older one.

"Come here, I'll warm you up." Asaka said and pulled Wataru in a warm and tight embrace.

He didn't want to see his angel depressed and scared.
The older male snuggled his face in Wataru's hair and inhaled the sweet scent from the morning.

It was like an addiction for him - the soothing smell.
Now he understood, why Yuichi had always his face in the teen's neck and hair. It was relaxing and calmed him down, drifted him to sleep with a wonderful dream.

At the same time, the young teen's heart beat wildly by the sudden heat and his cheeks heated up. Wataru felt comfortable and heavenly in these arms, it reminded him of Yuichi's. He let himself pull tighter into the hug and drifted slowly to sleep, listened to the heartbeat behind him, before he heard the words he thought he would never hear again.

"I love you, Wataru."