Chapter 8
He remembered weakly fluttering his eyes open to Riku's red face, wet with tears and snot, his once bright rustic eyes looked terrified, his light yellow eyebrows scrunched up worriedly and the desperation in his cracked voice evident as he repeatedly muttered 'Tomoe, Tomoe', over and over again, like a broken record. At his younger brother's side was another figure he was overly familiar with.
The love of his life, Kyousuke. But, compared to Riku's apparent sobs and sniffles, Kyou was much more calmer, although his face at that moment betrayed his usual aloof and indifferent disposition. He was frowning deeply, his attention never left Tomoe's face and the raven could detect a hint of regret mixed with despair in those morose grey eyes.
Within seconds, other sounds became more and more prominent as he felt his body being lifted onto a stretcher and into the emergency white vehicle; blaring sirens of the ambulance, beeping noises of a machine, multiple voices talking at the same time, revving engines and screeching tyres as they sped towards a definite destination; the hospital.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep it a secret. I'm so sorry...
Tomoe gave Riku a light squeeze to the hand intertwined with his, indiscreetly murmuring "S-sorry..." before he passed out once more.
And Riku started sobbing loudly as he followed the medical officers carrying Tomoe into the ambulance, securing him on a makeshift bed with Kyousuke following closely behind.
"Yagami..." Kyousuke started as he side glanced to the younger boy beside him in the ambulance, who was now silently crying while holding on tight to Tomoe's boney hand. The blond looked so frail and lost right now that the silverette couldn't help but want to support him, in place of his older brother. He brought his right hand to the blond's head and gently tilted it so that Riku was now leaning on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, it'll be just fine so don't worry..." His hand automatically stroke through the soft yellow tresses of Riku's, and he noticed how the blond's tensed shoulders gradually loosened up. Good, he thought.
"K-kuga-senpai... My brother... Tomoe, he'll be okay, right?" Riku whimpered, the thought of losing his brother forever scared him endlessly. All of a sudden, he felt suffocated, as if someone went and brutally crushed his lungs to the point where he can't even breathe anymore. Another raven-haired boy came into mind. Fujiwara Takeru. His childhood friend. His classmate. His teammate. The one guy who daringly confessed his love for him.
Riku didn't understand why he thought of his childhood friend when he did. All he knew was he needed him so bad right now. Takeru's magic touches that never fail to soothe his unsettled heart. Takeru's kind words that never failed to calm his troubled mind.
The blond was pulled back from his trance when he felt a small pressure on his hand holding Tomoe's. Could it be that Tomoe was actually..? Was he too, trying to comfort Riku even in his unconscious state? Riku's eyes stung once more, the tears threatening to come out any second the more he thought of every possibility that could be Tomoe's condition.
You can't die. You can't leave me alone. Please, Tomoe.
"...he'll be alright for sure. After all, Tomoe's the strongest person I've ever known." Kyousuke quietly replied after an interval, hoping he won't be proven wrong this time.
And Riku nodded mechanically in the end, he simply didn't know what else to do. Hearing Kuga-senpai's statement somewhat reassured him a little but the feeling of being left behind kept on haunting him, more so now that he truly felt as if everyone was leaving him all alone again.
"Mind explaining what the hell is going on, Fujiwara?" Heath demanded, looking very grim in the face. What had his two juniors been hiding from him and the rest of the team? "I don't appreciate you keeping secrets from us, especially when it involved the principal himself!"
Takeru stared right through his captain, he was overwhelmed with an unspeakable wrath still, but even he himself knew nothing would change the fact that he was utterly powerless against the older man just now.
"Heath-kun, please calm down. I'm sure Takerun has a very good reason behind it all, right?" The softspoken Hozumi intervened, hoping to dispel some of the tension amongst them.
"L-let's all be reasonable now, okay?" Ayumu timidly added from behind his new boyfriend.
Heath roughly exhaled, "Well, I'm listening." And the other two second years stared expectantly at their younger teammate.
"Looks like the cat's out of the bag, huh?" Takeru sighed, and leaned against the wall. I'm sorry, Riku.
"Truth is... Riku... He's been abused by his uncle."
"...what?"
"I found out only recently myself but that basta - that degraded man had been using violence against Riku ever since his parents' deaths, threatening him using his brother, Tomoe-san."
"What kind of lie are you trying to pull, Fujiwara?" Heath snapped at the dark haired teen, every word that came out of Takeru's mouth seemed absurd if not downright impossible. It's the principal they're talking about here!
"WHAT? Hasekura-senpai, I AM NOT LYING!" Takeru exclaimed, baffled by Heath's decision to not believe him. He would never, EVER lie or make up stories when it comes to Riku!
Vzzt.. vzzt.. vzzt..vzzt..
"Your phone's vibrating, Takerun." Hozumi pointed out as he stoof between the two before they start a mini war. "It could be important so why don't you pick it up?"
"...Who's it from?" Heath asked, still unconvinced by the raven's story. He strongly believed that Fujiwara simply had a huge misunderstanding regarding Riku and his uncle's relationship.
"...Riku." Fujiwara hotly breathed out and quickly accepted the call.
"Are you Yagami Tomoe's relative?" A middle aged man wearing a white coat approached both Riku and Kyousuke with a notepad in hand.
"I am. I'm his brother." Riku nodded weakly, his eyes were red from crying too much.
"And you are?" The white coat man glanced at Kyousuke.
"I'm his cousin. Could you possibly be the doctor?" Kyousuke smoothly lied and directed another question to the man.
"Yes, I am Dr. Kawamura. Mind if I have a word with the two of you?" The doctor solemnly asked with a sympathetic look on his face.
At that particular moment, both Riku and Kyousuke immediately sensed what was coming next.
The male doctor purposely cleared his throat, "I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Yagami Tomoe has been diagnosed with..."
"You should go home for now, Ya-...Riku." Kyousuke said, feeling somewhat responsible for Riku's well being and education. He always thought of the blond as his own younger brother. He had a lot of siblings back at home, maybe that's why he couldn't help but try to be a good older brother to the younger male since Riku reminded him of his younger brothers so much. "You haven't eaten or taken a shower ever since you came here, didn't you? I'll keep a lookout for Tomoe for now, so don't worry."
"H-home...?" Riku looked hurt at the word, as if someone had slapped him hard across the cheek. "There is no home without Tomoe... I d-don't want to leave him."
"At least you should tell your uncle. Don't you think he deserves to know about Tomoe's... condition?" Kyousuke asked, struggling a little with the last word as he still couldn't really believe the painful news, and noted how pale Riku's face was at his suggestion. "Is there something wrong?"
That's right. Tomoe didn't know the truth about their uncle so of course the same applied to Kuga-senpai as well.
"N-no, it's nothing. You're right, I'll go call him now..." Riku vigorously shook his head with a forced smile, grabbed his phone and stormed out of the room before the silver haired could say anything else. Shit, shit, shit. He forgot all about his uncle! That man would definitely slaughter him alive as soon as Riku contact him.
Anxiously scrolling down the names in his contact list, Riku silently prayed that his uncle would miraculously be kinder to him just that one night. Suddenly, his eyes caught the name of a certain dark-haired boy in which Riku definitely won't admit missing with all his heart.
Fujiwara Takeru
Gulping on air, Riku carefully tapped on to the name with a shaky finger.
Call?
"Come on, don't chicken out now, Riku!" The blond took in few more deep breaths in order to calm himself down. He'll be alright. And Takeru would always be the best option to call by a hundred thousand-fold instead of an emotionally unstable psychotic uncle with a lot of pent up frustration and having the worst parenting skills ever in the history of parenting.
After one last exhalation, Riku lightly tapped the 'Call' icon. "Here goes nothing..."
Trrt...trrt...trrt...trrt...
Click!
"Hey, Riku... Are you..are you alright?" Takeru's voice sounded strained and exhausted somehow but the pain accumulating in Riku's chest finally broke free and he couldn't stop himself from crying on the spot.
"Takeru, it's horrible! Just now- I was- backstage- then Tomoe-! He-!" Riku immediately broke down into small sobs and whimpers as soon as he heard Takeru speaking from the other end of the line. "Help me..! I can't lose him too- I can't-" More sobs followed suit.
"Riku? Riku, are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt? Did that old man hurt you?!" The clueless Takeru bombarded the weeping teen with multiple questions at once, his voice now filled with nothing but genuine concern and worry for the blond. "Tell me where you are! I'm coming to you now..!"
"N-no, I'm o-okay. I'm fi-fine..! B..but.." Yagami laughed bitterly through his tears at the irony of it all. Takeru, who was not connected to him by blood, was sincerely concerned for his well being more than his uncle would ever be. Breathing out a few times, Riku finally spoke clearly, "I'm at the hospital. Tomoe's been hospitalised. He-"
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"Look who we have here."
The startled Riku jumped a little and quickly spun around only to see the face of the last person on earth he didn't expected nor wanted to see.
"Un-uncle?! Ah-"
The line went dead seconds later. Takeru's heart was now beating loudly against his ribcage, ready to jump out of his chest anytime soon. What the hell just happened? Did Riku just said uncle? That fucking bastard's with Riku right now?
"What happened?!" Both Ayumu and Hozumi chorused, panic evident in their voices.
"Shit..! The call got disconnected!" Takeru redialled the number but alas it was to no avail, his call was sent directly to the mailbox and he reluctantly gave up after a few more times. "Goddammit, Riku, get away from that bastard..!"
"C-calm down, Fujiwara! W-w-what happened to Yagami?" The greenhead said, although he wasn't the slightest calm himself.
"Riku's at the hospital... And the principal is there with him!" Takeru fisted the wall behind him hard. How could he'd been so careless?! He should've ran to the blond straightaway!
"WHAT?!" All three of his seniors simultaneously vociferated in disbelief.
"Then, what are we waiting for? Rikkun needs us!" Hozumi was the first to leap off his seat and was ready on his feet, pulling the stupefied brunette up. "Get up, Heath-kun!"
"So, the principal really did..?"
"Worry about that later, Hasekura-shi! Our priority right now should be saving Yagami!" Ayumu hastily cut the brunette off as he pulled him up along with Hozumi.
"And you too, Takerun, please snap out of it!" Hozumi then gripped on Takeru's shoulder hard, bringing the raven back to reality. "I-I am."
"Let's... let's take the cab!" Heath suggested, finally shaking himself out of his shocked trance.
And the four of them dashed to the nearest taxi pickup location with one destination in mind; the hospital.
"Uncle... wh-what are you doing here? What happened to y-your face..?" Riku retreated away from the older man as he wiped his residual tears with his sleeve and couldn't help but notice his uncle's now swollen face covered in bandages.
"Why don't you ask that cunning little blackhaired friend of yours?" Mr. Yagami asked back, looking very peeved as he recalled the short confrontation he had with Takeru. He should've landed a hit or two on the obnoxious boy, student or not.
'Black-haired... Friend..? Did he meant... Takeru?!'
Russet eyes grew an inch wider. What have Takeru done to his uncle? But, why - why did he felt oddly satisfied with the outcome even though he know fully well the consequences following any action of defying the older man?
"I thought I must be imagining things when I saw you going through the stairs just now... I'm glad I did followed you." His uncle's smirk stretched more and more by the minute. "What are you doing here, Riku? Do you know what time it is now?" The man stared patronisingly at the younger boy.
Riku swallowed nervously, "It's...none of your business."
Mr. Yagami raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Oh? Are you trying to defy me, Riku? Don't you care whatever happens to your beloved brother anymore?"
"I-I'm not afraid of you! And I won't ever let you hurt Tomoe! You can't threaten me anymore!" Riku boldly shouted back, he no longer had the reason to feel such pathetic emotion for the older man. He had been protecting Tomoe all this time from his uncle's evil clutches, been beaten like a living punching bag for months now, and he had been enduring those degrading words and mockery for so long. He could definitely handle another beating, no problem. Because he no longer felt alone and isolated, he had true friends he could rely on now and also his precious brother who might be fighting for his life as they speak at the moment.
"Where did you learn such impudence?! From that same rude friend of yours, huh?!" Another backslap hit Riku's swollen cheek and the poor boy stumbled backwards against the diamond-shaped railings. "You should be thankful I even allowed you to stay alive, when I could just leave you in the gutters to rot away like the useless piece of shit you are!" Mr. Yagami spat more demeaning insults accompanied by more unrestrained slaps and thrashing kicks to the blond's abdomen until he actually coughed up blood.
"Hnn..." A weak moan escaped Riku's lips, a stabbing pain attacked his abdomen and he was pretty sure some of his ribs had fractured from the assaults.
Seeing Riku in his vulnerable state stirred a new emotion in the heartless man as he recalled watching his nephew cross dressing and acting in the play. "Why, yes... If I can't have Risako... I can always have a taste of you." Two pools of black eyes filled with nothing but lust and a disgusting yearning for the blond, thin nicotined lips forming the eeriest smile Riku had ever seen.
And for the first time, Riku experienced true terror sprouting from his heart. It branched out throughout his entire system and from there, he began to tremble uncontrollably, his dilated rustic eyes starting to accumulate panicky tears as he shrunk further against the railing, wishing it would just swallow him up. "Please uncle... don't."
"Shh, don't be afraid now, my dear nephew..." Mr. Yagami seemed terrifyingly gentle for once, but instead of relief, Riku felt incredibly repulsed if not scared to the bones. "I'll be gentle..." Large clammy hands shoved him down to the ground and Riku started crying helplessly, too overwhelmed by fear to even retaliate or fight back. To make matters worst, he was heavily injured to even move properly; one wrong move and he might just bleed to death.
The gray haired man roughly locked Riku's hands above his head before ripping the front of his shirt by force.
"L-let go of me..!" Riku continued squirming under the disgustingly perverted man and yelped in surprise soon as he felt something warm and wet trailing along his exposed neck.
"No, no, NO! I don't want to! Please, stop!" The blond flailed around agitatedly, not wanting to be devoured by the other man who to him, wasn't any different than a predatory wolf.
SLAP!
"I said SHUT UP!" Mr. Yagami furiously hissed after giving a brain-rattling slap to the unprepared Riku, who turned mute at that instance. "...!"
"Heh! That's better..." The man grunted in satisfaction before dunking his head lower to lick the pale white chest, flicking the pink nipples with his tongue until they became hard and bruised. He was beyond aroused at that point, playing with his nephew's chest surprisingly made him hard from the sinful incestuous pleasure.
Riku, on the other hand, was close to throwing up as his uncle sank teeth to his skin and teased his nipples with a slimy tongue. "A-ah! N-no..! It's disgusting..! St..stop it-!" All that while, Riku continuously chanted Takeru's name in his mind over and over again, hoping the real Takeru would come and end his nightmarish misery.
Takeru, please save me-!
"LET HIM GO, YOU SICK FUCKER!"
One second later, someone roughly tackled his uncle, effectively pushing him out of the way and the two of them then hovered dangerously near the metal railings.
"Ta..Takeru...?" Riku blinked in bewilderment as he witnessed his childhood friend now battling with his uncle. He's here! The real Takeru really did came for him!
"WATCH OUT!" The blond shouted, frantically reaching out for his friend when the railing broke, and along with Takeru fell down, but Riku managed to grab hold of Takeru's hand in the nick of time. Unfortunately with his uncle clutching tightly to Takeru's left leg, the weight of two men became a bit unbearable for the injured blond.
"Agh!"
"Ri...Riku..." Takeru looked upwards to see a panic if not crying Riku, holding unto him tightly.
"D-don't let go..! Please..." Riku pleaded, all the while wincing in pain. "Un-uncle, you too... I'll get the two of you up now.."
"It's fine..Riku.. let go of my hand." Takeru said not long after. "I don't want you to fall as well..."
"NO! Stop that! I can do this-"
"But, you're bleeding!"
"I said it's fine!"
Just then, Takeru noticed how the older man was slowly slipping from his leg. "Don't-" He was just a second too late to catch the fallen man.
Unbeknowst to them, Mr. Yagami willingly release his hold on the raven.
"UNCLE, NO-!" Riku managed to catch a glimpse of his uncle's face, who mouthed his final words to the blond.
'I'm sorry.'
"Aaaahhhh-!"
The man sadly fell to his death.
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"D-don't let go of my hand...! Don't you dare-..!" Riku warned and tightened his grip on Takeru's hand, but was obviously pained by his own action as he could feel the other's weight further crushing his broken ribs.
Takeru gritted his teeth as he felt red liquid dripping from Riku's arm onto his face. "You idiot! You're gonna lose an arm at this point! Just let go of me!"
"S-Shut up! You don't get to leave me again, you hear me?! Please, Takeru, hold on... I-I'll pull you up even if I have to lose both of my arms!" Cried Riku, suddenly filled with new determination, he swiftly grabbed onto the raven with both hands before hoisting him up through sheer force.
"Ta-Ta...Takeru..." Riku, trembling from head to toe, buried his face onto the raven's chest, "I was- I was...so scared..! He tried to- tried to...! If you had fallen ju-just now- I- I would've-" The terribly shaken up blond could only form incoherent sentences as Takeru squeezed him tighter, closer to himself. And Riku began bawling like a child, a range of emotions such as relief, lingering fear and post-shock, all of them broke free out of the blonde at the same time and he would've enter a state of convulsions if it weren't for the raven calming him down.
"It's alright now, Riku... I got you.. I got you so you're safe now." Takeru gently said, however unable to contain his own tears, pearly teardrops fell one by one from lazuli eyes and very soon both of them silently sat in each other's embrace with dampened shoulders.
"Cry as much as you want, Riku. I'm here for you. And I won't ever leave you again, I promise." The raven vowed, peppering the top of Riku's head with soft kisses, his right hand occasionally rubbed small circles behind the shaky back as Riku let all of his tears out.
The last time he ever cried this hard was during his parents' funeral. He lost another family member yet again, but ironically he regained his own freedom back.
And the next thing he remembered was falling asleep in Takeru's arms, multiple voices that sounded like his other teammates resounded from behind him.
To be continued...
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Preview:
"I'll do the bone marrow transplant." Takeru offered, and everyone else stared at him in a shocked silence. "Me and Tomoe-nii had the same blood type after all." The raven played a bit with the blond's messy fringes, who was sound asleep from the meds.
"Takerun, are you sure..?"
"There's nothing left to discuss, Kohinata-senpai."
"You know you don't have to do this, right?" Heath quietly said, his face frozen from any emotion.
"Of course, Hasekura-senpai."
Meanwhile, Nana and Ayumu said nothing but worry and anxiousness apparent on their serious faces.
Takeru then looked at everyone in the room before giving his final saying, "I'll still do it."
He'd do anything, anything at all to keep Riku happy. And he certainly won't allow the wounded blond go through the transplant himself.
It's better this way.
Kyousuke seemed torn between guilt and gratified. "Thank you, Fujiwara. I can never express my gratitude well enough." The silverette sincerely bowed to the raven, a mixture of emotions welling inside of him that the man could just break down and start weeping like a child.
-meow? :3-
Okay I swear I didn't mean to kill the uncle off (or did I?) Anyway! I know I've been gone for so long so here's an extra long chapter from yours truly~ but everyone is so damn miserable in this chapter somehow? (I know, I know) I'll definitely make up for this with some fluffs and *coughs* more takeriku smut *coughs* in the next one! ;D
Thanks guys, for sticking with me and this crappy fic from the beginning... :') I'll wrap this story up in a couple more chapters okay? *okay stfu now, me* Toodles~ xxx
