Warmer Chapter Eight

Dir en Grey

Ware-Yami-Tote

I know this one is short, but I've got more, and I'm out of time for today! So, look for the next chapter tomorrow!

Time passes when you're taking care of someone other than yourself. When you love someone so much, you're willing to forget about your own needs, and you want to make the others life so much better than what you had. Love is a strange emotion; it can't be written down or logically proven. It's something that just happens and never stops growing, even if the person you love is no longer in your life.

Love is a small seed, and if taken care of properly, watered with attention and care; it can blossom into something wonderful. Something so small can mean the world to one person, yet with one hateful gesture it can be torn down in an instant. Though, time may heal it, if given the chance.

Tora

"So that means that he'll be okay?" I looked at the doctor, his name escaped me. I never was good at recognizing them, they all looked the same. It had been about a month since Kyo's accident with his ear, and the doctor said that it was healing better than expecting.

"He says that there is still slight discomfort in his ear," he told me, "but with a little more time, he'll be able to sing. We were lucky that it was only one ear, but he'll be partially deaf in his left ear for the rest of his life." I wanted to heave a huge sigh of relief, but we still weren't out of the woods yet, "He needs to take better care of his body. He's so small."

Each time I would ask Kyo how his ear felt, he told me that it felt great, was he lying to me? "Sensei, is there anything that I can do to help?" I asked worriedly, I felt useless when he would just lay there in bed and laugh at how stupid the whole situation was. He always had a blank stare whenever I entered the room, and when he saw me, he would smile and act like nothing was wrong.

"You can just be there for him." The doctor grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it supporting, "He talks about you often, and it's obvious he cares for you deeply."

When I left the doctors office, I finally let out my sigh. This had all been rather stressful, waiting for Kyo's test results took much too long, and when the weight was lifted, I felt lighter. I looked down the hall, ready to go tell Kyo the news, but I felt a little dizzy. The hall looked longer than I could remember, it sort of stretched.

I saw a man, standing across the hall from me, just staring. He had short black hair, and he was wearing a black suit. He smiled back at me kindly, as though he was waiting for me. He finally said, "How are you?"

I knew that I really wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but he seemed harmless enough, "I'm fine, just a little winded that's all." I picked myself off the overly white wall and stood up fully, "Thank you for your concern."

Before I could really think about it, the man was closer to me, and he grabbed my arm, "Tora?" he asked, a small devilish grin cracked his lips, "You're Tora Murasaki, right?" the grip on his arm tightened slightly, "You have no idea how much I've wanted to meet you."

"I d-don't understand…" I looked at him, an average business man type grabbing a young girl. "Please let me go." I pleaded softly, "I need to go…" I had never met a fan like this before, nor had I ever thought I had fans. I wanted to Kyo to get all the publicity, he was the one that wanted to be famous.

"Shh, it's okay." He grinned, "You're the prettiest girl I've ever met." He whispered, "I never thought I would run into like this. Not ever in a million years, but here you are." He glanced at his watch, and then looked worried, "Here, come with me to my car, we can talk more on the way there."

"Excuse me!" I yelled, "I don't even know you!" He ignored my comment and started to drag me down the hall away from Kyo's room. "Hey! This isn't funny!" I struggled against his arm, but he was stronger than he looked. "Help." I cried out desperately when we reached the elevators.

Panic set in when no one heard my plea. My only hope was that someone in the elevators would help me get away from this crazy man, "It won't be long now," the man said as the meter on the upper part of the elevator door indicated that it was one floor away from us.

When the door opened, I almost started crying when I saw Kaoru and Makiko standing in front of us. Maki looked shocked and Kaoru looked pissed, "What in the hell are you doing?" he snarled, "Do you know him?" he looked to me. When I nodded no, Kaoru grabbed the man's arm and yanked me free from his grip. I fell on the floor.

The man looked down at me, looking slightly lost, then his face contorted into an angry shape, "What the hell are you doing!?" he roared at Kaoru, "That was my chance!" He shoved past Kaoru and Maki and made it in time to go down the elevator.

Kaoru, Maki, and I all stood there in silence. Something like that happening was strange. Did fans really do that? They really went to the extent of kidnapping? "Are you okay, Ne-san?" Maki finally said, "Are you hurt?"

"No…" I sighed as a headache rushed to my temples, "He was just crazy."

"You have to look out for people like that." Kaoru looked down, "Just an hour ago, someone tried to cut Tochi's hair." I looked up at him in disbelief, "I'm not kidding. Some fans do stuff like that. You just have to be more careful, it seemed like that guy was your stalker or something."

"A stalker?" I asked in wonder, "Why would I have a stalker? I'm not even famous." I rubbed my head in frustration. "This is all rather confusing. Should I get a bodyguard?"

Maki laughed, "Tell Kyo about it, and you won't have to! He'll eat that guy alive."

I laughed, and so did Kaoru. She was always able to bring up the bright side of things. "Hey…" I started to put some things together in my mind, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Maki looked like she was caught stealing something and Kaoru looked away, "I uh…" she looked around, "Let's go see Kyo!" she ran down the hall and went straight to his room, like she had been there before. Kaoru just stood there, not meeting my gaze, and he bit his lower lip.

"Shinya gave me the number…" he whispered, "She wanted to make sure Kyo was okay. They are like brother and sister you know…" he met my gaze, and when he saw my irritation, he looked away immediately, "I'm sorry, I can never say no to her. She's so convincing."

I rolled my eyes, and starting walking away from him, "I don't care anymore, she's almost eighteen anyway." I sighed, "She's gotta grow up sometime. I just wished you wouldn't have stopped bothering me about her number. I was about to give in."

Kyo

The door flung open, and Makiko fell on the ground, "I've got to hide!" she whispered crawling on her hands and feet under my bed, she then grabbed my blanket and draped it over the side closer to the ground. "I'm not here!" I almost called out to her, and asked what was wrong when I saw Tora and Kaoru walk in soon after her. I immediately stopped and acted like there was nothing wrong.

"Hey!" I felt my eyebrow twitch a little as I tried to act normal, "How's it going?!" Tora crossed her arms and looked at me with a raised brow, and Kaoru looked like he was about to start cracking up any moment, "What did the doctor say? Anything good, he is a nut job after all."

"Where is she?" Tora always seemed to see through me, "Kaoru needs to talk to her." Tora rose her foot, and placed it on the side of the bed, then proceeded to shake it roughly, "Come on out imouto! Your boy toy wants you!" Maki stifled a laugh, but stayed under the bed.

Tora then grabbed the covers and pulled them up over me, "You found me!" Maki exclaimed.

"You're the worst hider ever!" Tora laughed, "Get your butt out from under there." She reached under and helped Maki out, "Go out to the hall, and figure things out." She pointed to Kaoru, and instantly she ran over to him and dragged him out of the room.

"That was interesting." I said instantly, rearranging my blankets, "You've given in?"

"You knew I would." She blushed.

"Yea, I know." I grinned, "So when do I get out of here!? I'm ready to rock and roll!" I made my fist into devil horns, "My fans need me!"

Tora laughed, "The doctor said in two days was when you could leave." I yelled a call of victory, "BUT, you can't go on rocking just yet. You need to get better all the way. He said that you might have to wear a hearing aid during your concerts."

"Wow, I'm old." I laughed, "Fine, whatever, just get me the hell out of here!"

"Sure," she giggled, and took my hand, "Then when you get home, you deserve a treat." Right as she said that, my mind assumed the worst, I was a guy after all. When she saw my grin, she immediately turned red, "That's not what I meant you freak! I was talking about going someplace nice or vacationing or something!"

I couldn't stop grinning. "I'd rather have you."

She rolled her eyes, and walked out of the room.

Tora had rarely been to the house while I was in the hospital. When she dropped my bag on the ground a little dust rose in the air, "Um, why hasn't my mom been here?" I looked around, the place wasn't a mess, it just wasn't lived in. It seemed musty.

"She's been down in Okinawa." She fiddled with the hem of her jacket, "She told me she would look after it while I was with you at the hospital, but she left two days later." That figured; she was with her boyfriend in one of the best places in Japan. Damn I was jealous, "I was going to clean it, but you came back much sooner than expected."

"It's okay," I took my jacket off, and then my shirt, "Cleaning can wait." She started to protest but I cut her off, "I need some release Tora." She went silent, and turned red, "Why is our love life so… difficult?"

"I don't know…" she looked away from me. I took her shoulders and brought her closer to me, and held her against my bare chest, "I'm just scared I guess. I really need to get over Tatsu." I could feel her tears on my overly warm skin, "I know he's gone now, and he can't hurt me, but he's still there in my mind."

"Tora…" My heart felt heavy and almost dead when she spoke of Tatsu. There were times when I was sure she managed to let it go, but then she comes back with her memories of him. It was enough to make me want to kill him. "I love you…" I kissed the top of her head, and squeezed her closer to me, "Please, don't be scared, you're with me."

She looked up at me, and kiss me softly, "I'll try"