I am so mad! I can't get my video to upload to YouTube. It was a Sukisho AMV with the song 'Somewhere' by Within Temptations. I had it done, but for some reason, there's an error. NEH! Oh well. I'll just keep trying. Hope it works, though.
Disclaimer:*sighs* Sukisyo doesn't belong to me…but I do own the Yoru doll *holds up Yoru doll and hugs it tightly*
Rosie: *rolls eyes* I thought I got rid of that thing.
Renee: I found it in the shed.
Lola: I told you that we should have hidden it under the bed!
Renee *speaking as if the doll is talking instead* on with the fic!
NOTE: I LOST THE GAME! If you don't understand that, then please don't ask.
Chapter 7
Kyouhaku
(Threat)
It was the very next day after Sora and Sunao's outing. Yoru was still on his weekend break, so Sunao usually hid in Sora's room. Sunao sat the top of the staircase, peeking out into the den, seeing Yoru sitting on the couch, typing away on his laptop. Sora explained earlier that Yoru usually spends his free time with school work when he has at home.
Sunao was intrigued to finally see Sora's brother. He's heard so much about him from Sora, but really was curious to seeing this stranger for himself. Like Sora said, he and Yoru did have a lot of the same physical features. What caught Sunao's attention were his mismatched colored eyes. His right eye was that same shade of blue as Sora's eyes were, but his left one was like a golden color. Sora mentioned that Yoru had that mismatched trait from their father. "So this is Sora's older brother," Sunao whispered to himself. There weren't many observations or notes Sunao really took about Yoru; he was really just curious about the other person living in the same place him.
Sunao couldn't help but notice that Yoru was always busy doing something, whether it was schooling, paying bills, or really anything. He just never seemed to make time for himself. Sunao couldn't even help but even wonder if Yoru even had friends…or even a lover at that matter. "He seems caught up with school," Sunao said. "It's kinda sad…"
Yoru stopped typing and Sunao gasped. 'Did he hear me,' Sunao thought. Quickly, Sunao step back a bit, hiding every bit of his body except a bit of his face from the opening, seeing what Yoru's next actions were. He stood up from the couch, leaving his laptop closed and still on the couch as he walked into his own bedroom, closing the door almost all the way, but left a crack.
Sunao sighed of relief. "Thank goodness."
Mew.
Sunao spun around, looking down the hallway, finding a small black cat sitting at other end of the door, staring directly toward Sunao. Sunao shivered. "It's you," he said, pointing to the cat. He remembers the cat from what Sora has told him about the night he first came here. This was what Sora referred to as the 'healing cat.'
The cat slowly stepped toward Sunao. Sunao kneeled down and opened his arms to the small creature. "Eri-chan," he said, as he picked up the cat and held it in his arms as if it was an infant. He carried the cat into Sora's room and lay down in the bed, with the cat curled up on Sunao's torso.
The cat starred at Sunao as he petted it, smiling peacefully to it. "You may belong to someone else," he said, "but I think Eri fits you perfectly. Eri means 'my protector' after all…had it not been for you and Sora; I don't think I would've been alive to this day."
Mew
Sunao smile quickly faded to a small frown. "I was told that Eri was also the name of my mother," he laughed half-heartedly. "I wonder if she's worried about me. I wonder if she knows where I am. Kinda stupid, huh?" The cat rolled over on its stomach, playing with Sunao's fingers as if it's trying to catch them as Sunao petted him. Sunao giggled to how sweet it looked. "You say nothing, and yet you can be so comforting to me," he mused as the cat finally was able to catch one of Sunao's fingers and held it down to him. The cat rolled its head up, looking at Sunao with those large green eyes.
Mew.
The cat quickly hopped off the bed and dashed into Sora's closest. "Eri," Sunao called out softly. The cat walked out the closest, now holding something shiny in its mouth. Sunao's eyes widened. "Hashiba's ring," he gasped. The cat raced out the door. Sunao gasped. "Oh no," he said. "Eri! Wait!" Sunao got off the bed as well and ran after the cat. Sunao caught the cat running down the stairs. Sunao stopped at the top step. He felt as if it was too risky to go downstairs, but he knows that that ring was too valuable to lose.
Sunao took each step down as quiet and slow as he can. "Eri-chan," he whispered as loud as he think he could go without Yoru hearing him. The cat sat right at the door of Yoru's room. "No! No! Eri! Please, NO," Sunao whispered in a begging tone, shaking his head 'no' rapidly. The cat never listened to Sunao and walked right on in. "Damn it," Sunao hissed. He waited to hear Yoru screaming at the bed, but there was no answer. Sunao tip-toed to his bedroom and peeked through the cracked opening. Yoru wasn't anywhere to be found. Sunao walked into the bedroom slowly. He could hear water running coming from the bathroom attached to Yoru's room. Sunao sighed of relief. He concluded that he only has a while to search of the cat. "Here Eri, Eri, Eri, Eri," Sunao called, looking all around the room for any sign of it. Sunao found the cat under the bed, lying on its belly toward the center, out of Sunao's reach with the ring still in its mouth. Sunao reached its arm out as far as he could under the bed. "EEEEERRRRRIIIIII," he moaned. The cat was playing with his fingers again, poking them with its paw. Sunao groaned. "This isn't funny," he said, "We have to hurry and get out of here before Yoru…"
"Before I what?"
"What are you doing under my bed," Sunao hears someone asks him from behind. He freezes and then slowly turns around. There Yoru stands at the doorway of his bathroom and his bedroom, wearing nothing but a thin robe.
Sunao tries to smile, but was too scared of Yoru glaring daggers at him. "Umm….."Sunao says. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he simply ran for it. Yoru chased after him. "Get back here," he shouted. Sunao and Yoru's chase lasted for quite a while. Sunao kept running from room to room on the first floor running around in circles. Yoru held his arms out, trying to reach to boy with his hands out like he ready to choke him. "I'm not after anything I swear," Sunao screams out. He stopped when he made it to the dining room. Both were standing opposite sides of the table. "I was only trying to catch my cat," he said. Yoru never listened to him. Sunao and Yoru continued to run around in circles; Sunao continued to try to explain that he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Sunao thought quick and knocked a chair over from behind him, making Yoru trip over it and fall flat on his face. Sunao ran out the door, slamming the door right behind him. Yoru pulled himself up. "Oh when I get my hands on you," he growled as stood back up and chased after the pink-haired beauty.
Yoru stopped at the doorway of his house, looking around to see if there was any sign of the intruder. He caught someone at the corner of his eye. He saw a figure at the pond, trying to pull them up from the dock. Yoru smirked. "Got you," he sneered. Yoru walks over to the docks. The closer he was, the easier it was for him to notice more details of the person. Yoru saw the long pink hair. Yoru smirked again. "Couldn't have run far, huh," he scoffed.
He now stood at the edge of the docks, just inches away from the boy. He watched him struggle to pull himself up, but then noticing that he was completely exposed, not wearing a single bit of cloth on his body. However, Yoru didn't care to the least about that for the moment.
"Now then," he said, reaching down and pulling him by the arm up. The boy yelped out in pain and surprise as he was lifted up. He lost balance as he pulled him up and both of them fell to the ground. Yoru lay on top of him. He growled as he lifted himself up. "Now what the hell do you think you're doing," he barked. He looked deep into those crimson red eyes and felt his face heating up, just as this stranger was. "I-I'm sorry," Ran whimpered. "I didn't mean to invade your land."
"W-Who are you," Yoru stuttered as he got up from the younger male, "And I should be the one apologizing…I thought you were someone else. I hope I didn't…"
Ran rather changed his position. He was now on his knees, bowing down to Yoru. "Please forgive me for intruding your land. I'm Ran Fujimori, heir to the Fujimori throne. I only came here to search for someone important to me, not to cause trouble to you at all, sir." Ran kept his head down, didn't dare to look up to this man. He may be royalty, but he knows his place when he is not in his kingdom. He felt his hand brush gently over one of his wounds, and gasped to his touches.
"Why are you so hurt," Yoru asked in a concern tone. Ran didn't answer right away; he was trying to hold his tears from the pain of Yoru's touches. Yoru gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's alright, sir," he said. "It's not as bad before my knight found me and tried to heal my wounds…I'm just sensi…"
"You're not sensitive; you're in pain" was all Yoru said, interrupting Ran from him to continue lying. Ran glanced up, seeing Yoru looking down at him with a worried expression. Yoru's robs was loosened up, exposing Yoru's sun kissed tanned chest. He blushed to the sight before him; he has never seen someone outside of his family exposed as much as Yoru was. Ran quickly bowed his head back down, feeling completely embarrassed. Yoru chuckled. "How about you come inside and we'll get some clothes on, okay?"
Ran whimpered as he tried to lift himself up. "I can't move, sir," he cried. Yoru carefully picked him up from the ground and held him bridal-style. "Just hang in there, okay?"
Ran's blush darkened as he nodded his head, feeling Yoru's skin against his own. He bowed his head to hide his blushing from them.
They walked together to the house, passing Yoru's car, where Sunao was hiding. Sunao popped his head out, looking through the driver's window, seeing the one who shared a lot of similarities with him. It didn't take long for him to figure out who he was. "Ran," he breathed, sounding very shaky in his voice.
Ran and Yoru sat on his bed together. Both were now dressed. Ran was given a pair of dark pink wind breaking pants and lighter pink tank top. Yoru wore his lose black muscle shirt and dark navy pants. Yoru had a wooden tray placed in the middle of the two with two large mugs of hot tea. Yoru handed Ran his cup. Ran smiled. "Thank you for your kindness, Yoru," he said before taking a large sip of the tea.
"Sure," he said. "But may I ask you something?"
Ran chuckled. "You just did, but yes you may."
"What did you think you were doing out there?"
Ran bit his bottom lip, looking away. "I was…I was being a fool." Yoru raised an eyebrow. Ran bowed his head as he began to cry. His grip on his mug tightened. "I thought for once I wouldn't be the one sitting behind and waiting for people to rescue me as usual. I thought I could be as strong as everyone else…that I could save myself…and those who I love dearly. I'm like a bird that still hasn't learned to fly and still sits in the nest I was born in. I tried flapping, even waited till the wind could pick me up, but I still fell. Gravity is always pulling me down…always holding me back for my dream to fly with everyone else. She was right…I am pathetic. Here I now, crying out because of how useless I realize I am, actually believe that I had a chance to save him…when I don't even know where to begin looking for him. For all I know, they already have him." Ran looked up to Yoru with sad eyes as his tears flowed freely from them. Yoru placed his hand over Ran's. He smiled sadly. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to go on and say so much. It's just…I want to do so much, but I'm incapable of such."
Ran looked out the window as he went on. "Everyone asks me what kind of ruler I want to become. I don't have many plans...all I really want is to make people happy. I'm told that I'm naive for thinking such…but I want nothing more." Yoru chuckled. Ran turned to him, glaring at him. "You find this funny," he hissed.
"No," he explained. "I just find it refreshing meeting someone with a hopeful personality. It's rare around here."
Ran looked down sadly. "It must be nice," he said.
"Actually…it's not." Ran looked back up to Yoru, seeing the reassuring smile on his face. "I don't find your dream childlike, and hope you don't give it up. You'll be a promising king one day." Ran smiled again. "You really think that?"
"So long as you don't give up on it," he said, "I don't have a doubt in my mind."
"Thanks," Ran said. "My brother was the only whoever supported my goals as king…even though he found it stupid really. He hated it when I spoke about peace and happiness."
"How so?"
"Sunao always locked his feeling within. When our parents were murdered, he changed. At one time, he was this happy child who loved loving people. But on that day…it broke him. He never really made friends since then…he kept everything to himself. He's afraid to love another person, because he's scared of what could happen to them. He loves me, I know, and he shows it by the way he's always protecting me. At one time, he even wanted to become my knight, but a Fujimori isn't allowed to fight in battle…and the thought of my brother willing to die for me was too much to bare. We depend on each other in that sort of way. Deep down, I feel that he's afraid of me dying…he's scared of losing everyone he loves that he became a warrior at heart, wanting to have a chance to save them…instead of watching…like before."
"He blames himself for his parent's death?" Ran shook his head. "When we watched our parents die…he was always afraid of them killing us too…years later, he used that fear to motivate him to fight. It's kinda complicated."
"I understand," he said. "Death of a loved one is a hard thing to overcome."
"It is."
"So how did you overcome it?" Ran shook his head. "I never really did surpass the idea of my parents dying a horrible death. To this day, I still morn for them…but…I know that they don't want me to wallow in the darkness, and it's been twelve years since they died. However, my mother always taught me that there is joy in life…it's just a matter of finding it. So in honor of her, I kept that lesson close to heart, and seek happiness." Ran took the last sip of tea and placed the cup back on the tray.
"So you're here in search for your brother," Yoru asks. Ran nods. "I found him, though. I sense him close by…in fact. I believe he's on the other side of the wall." Yoru looks up, now seeing someone running upstairs that wasn't Sora. "It's you," he called out, ready for a round two on the chase. Yoru crawled off the bed and stood up until Ran took a hold of his hand. "I see now," he whispered. Yoru turned back to Ran.
"What?"
"I knew I recognized your features," he explained. "At first, I thought you were the one who I requested to protect Sunao…that is until I saw your eyes. The one who I pleaded to had two blue eyes. He has the same hair style as you, though, and I think he's shorter than you."
Yoru's eyebrow twitch. He face morphed into a very angered expression. He thought about everything odd that has been going by the past week. The fact that he spends all this time upstairs, how he always has servings for two when he eats, how there was a major shortage of waffles in a couple of days—it all makes sense now. "I'm going to kill him," he growled.
Sora was walking down that long road, carrying a sack of groceries in one hand as the rest were in his bag—stuffed to the extent that he barely could zip it up. Sora watched the sun set for day and groaned. He wished he could've beaten the dark, but doesn't see that happening. He laughed. "Fujimori is going to have my head I don't hurry home with these waffles."
A sudden gust of wind suddenly blew, picking up all the leaves from Sora's path, blowing ahead of him. Sora watched the path the leaves followed. Ahead of him, he saw a figure standing yard away from him. The person wore a thick green cloak. They stood there for a long moment. The person broke the silence by smirking. "He's close by and seems to be healing well…you ruined my hard work. But don't worry, it'll just as fun tearing him and that vexatious brother limb-from-limb all over."
"Wh…" Sora froze of confusion, but quickly changed to a growl. "Who are you?"
She giggled viciously. "There is no concern for you to know my name. However, I'll be taking my prisoners, so…" she began walking toward the same direction as Sora was walking.
"LEAVE FUJIMORI ALONE!"
She turned around, now facing him again. She smirked. "And you think you can stop me." She cackled. "Foolish boy…" The wind blew harder, now blowing off the hood of the cloak, revealing her face. Sora's eyes widened. "You're…" A forced pushed him up against the tree right behind him, knocking the wind out of his lungs. When he opened his eyes, he saw a knife pointing to him. "If you dare stand in my way, you may lose your life. Understand?" Sora glared daggers at her. "Love is such confusing thing. Here you are, trying to save a life, when you're risking your own life…careless, isn't it?"
Yoru waited at the same place he stood for Sora to answer his phone. He growled. "Answer the phone, baka…"
Ran giggled. Suddenly something clicked to him. "Tanaka…" he gasped. Yoru tilted his head. "Who?"
Ran shuffled out of bed and ran out of Yoru's room. Yoru tried to grab the boy, but missed. "Ran…careful. You're still hurt!" He heard Ran opening the front door and then gasps. "Yoru…Hurry!" Yoru acted quickly. He ran toward Ran, and was in shock to what he found.
"Sora…" Yoru gasped. Ran held onto a weak Sora against him, struggling to hold both of them up. Sora looked as if he was in a fight. His clothes were wrinkled up and dirtied. Yoru saw blood at the top of Sora's shirt. Sora looked up with one eye open with a smug smirk on his face. "You're right, Yoru," Sora grunted. "I would get my ass kicked by a girl." Sora leaned his head back into Ran, feeling the urge to allow his body to relax. Ran gasped as he felt Sora putting all his body weight on him. With his condition and plus supporting Sora, Ran struggled holding him up. Ran fell forward landing on his knees. Yoru managed to catch Sora before he hit his head against the coffee table. "Sora…" he gasped.
"She's close by…Yoru…"Ran breathed. Yoru turned to Ran. "What are you saying…"
"She knows Sora has been looking after Nao…She got to Sora…Tanaka…your hatred for Sunao and me has gone too far…hurting innocent people."
"Kuu-chan," Sunao breathed.
Sora stirred in his sleep. His eyes slowly opened. "Fuji…mori." He found himself in his room. It was dark, but Sora could see Sunao through the moonlight beaming through his skylight. Sunao smiled softly. "You're ok."
"Yeah," Sora said, slowly sitting up. "I lost the waffles though." Sunao rolled his eyes. "You think after finding you're hurt that I would give a damn about waffles?"
"I don't want you to worry about…" He stopped. He now noticed the dried tear tracks on Sunao's face. He caressed Sunao's cheek. "Were you crying," he said.
"For a while," Sunao answered in a blank tone, not really caring that he was upset, but sounding as if he was trying to forget about it. Sora couldn't ignore it though. "I figured you'd be happy in seeing your brother again."
"I am happy he's alive," Sunao murmured, "but you didn't see him in the condition he was in. He looked like he was in so much pain. He barely had the strength to even walk. Yoru practically had to carry him here. It was too painful to see him. I don't even remember him, but I wanted to cry for him. I didn't even realize I did until after a long time of crying; I was just too deep in my thoughts to comprehend what I was doing." Sora could tell Sunao was fighting tears from falling again. "I wonder if I was always like this," Sunao said, "Was I always so worried about him. He even said I was the protective brother ever since our parents were murdered…he said it changed me."
"You're such a worry wart," he sneered. Sunao stuck out his tongue. "Well sor-ry if I'm bothering you." Sora chuckles. "You're not bothering me," he says, "It's just you seem to be down about the person you find out you were."
"The more I learn about who I am, I find so many sad things about me…I was tortured, my parents were murdered, I apparently was capable of taking other's lives, and my brother was willing to get killed just so I was safe. Honestly Hashiba…I'm scared of myself. I'm scared to know the truth…I want to stay like this. I feel so happy and carefree when I'm here. I want to stay here, with Kuniye, Chou, Ran, Yoru, and you. I want to start a life here…a happy life. No more killing…no more torturing pasts…no more…no more"
Without really thinking, Sora crawled over to the pinkette and pulled him into a warming embrace. He wrapped one arm around his waist and the other rested on the back of his head; his fingers entwined into his hair. Sunao was surprised Sora would do something so suddenly.
"You don't have to leave," Sora whispered. "You don't ever have to afraid…whatever is caused you pain is in a different world. No one will hurt you here…" Sora immediately thought back about what he witness just a while ago.
'Stand in my way and you may get yourself killed.' Sora just held onto Sunao tighter. "I'm not going to allow anyone hurt you…so long as I have a single breath…I swear."
"Hashiba…" Sunao felt his heart warming up to Sora. Sunao snuggled into Sora's warmth. Yet, all wasn't well in his mind. There were still things bothering him. "Hashiba," he said, sounding a bit nervous. "Could I ask you a something?"
"What is it?"
"How is that you understand what I'm going through?"
"What do you mean?" Sunao bit his bottom lip. He exhaled deeply before he explained his question. "When I cry each time I learn something about my past, you're always there to comfort me. You always say exactly what I need to hear. It's almost like you understand my pain. Is that true? Did you experience the same things?"
Sunao was worried to how Sora didn't answer immediately. He looked up to his friend, and noticed he appeared distressed. "Hashiba, I'm sorry. Did I say too…?"
"I did experience something similar," he said, interrupting Sunao's apology. "Before I moved here, I use to live with my parents. Yoru was starting off in college at the time. Everything just seemed to be playing the way it should; all was well. But then, one day…everything changed." Sunao looked up to him once again. He saw it in his eyes what happened, not to every detail, but understood what it was leading to.
"The house was set on fire by a random arsonist. It was late and everyone was sleeping. I woke up to the warmth of the flames. I thought it was the heater just turned up too high, so I went to go turn it down, but as I felt the doorknob, I felt it burning against my hand. I knew then what was going on. I then could hear screaming coming from my mother. I passed out from inhaling too much smoke. I woke up in a hospital. Yoru was there…telling me…I was the only survivor."
He wrapped his arms around Sora's waist, trying his best to comfort him. Sunao could feel it within his core that he wasn't use to this; comforting others as well as people comforting him. However, he welcomed this new feeling with open arms. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't any memory of my parents' death, but I'm sure it was painful either way. And I know that I would never want anyone to go through…" he stopped and was surprised once again by Sora's actions.
It was getting dark, and he couldn't see what was happening, but he could feel what was happening. The hand that was against the back of his head was now cupping the side of his face. Tears formed at the corner of Sunao eyes, as he felt Sora's lips against his own. Sunao's eyes widened.
Attention my fellow readers. This is what I like to call a cliffhanger. Hope I lured you into reading the next chapter now. How will Sunao react to this? Will a love bloom? Read and find out.
Lola: What about your discussion?
Me: Eh. It's passed midnight…I'll wait.
Rosie: Ja ne!
Lola: Bye-bye for now.
Renee: .
