Oyasumi Nasai
Chapter 9
Happy Easter everybody!
Please enjoy and REVIEW
The to-ing and fro-ing of his friends made Souji feel wonderfully happy, but he could feel his body slowly weakening. He found it harder to stay awake for longer than a few hours and his almost total lack of appetite was making him so emaciated he could no longer face his own reflection. Despite seeing his friends, he missed Hijikata desperately and couldn't wait for it his turn to visit.
The latest of his friends to arrive in Edo was the Ichimura brothers. Tetsu had come running into his room with a huge grin on his face, excitement in his eyes
"Hey, Souji! Your hair looks nice like that! How are you feeling?" he asked, sitting down beside him
"I'm ok, Tetsu, how are you? Where's Tatsu?"
"He's bringing the bags - we really miss you at Headquarters." He said, smiling. Souji smiled at him
"I miss being there. Hey, have you grown? You look taller - and more muscular." Tetsu could barely contain his happiness
"Thanks for noticing, Souji! I've been training all the time; I'm trying to get stronger." Souji smiled, nodding
"It's really working, keep up the good work." Souji said with a smile, admiring his improving muscle definition (completely innocently of course). Tatsu finally appeared at this point, panting and his face flushed
"Tetsu, I told you…to wait.."
"Sorry, Tatsu, I was just excited to see Souji!" Tetsu said. He then stood up and took one of the bags from his brother. Souji couldn't stop himself giggling at the sight: Tetsu was now only a foot or so shorter than his older brother, as opposed to two or three. They took their luggage to their room for the week then went back to Souji.
"Hey, Souji! How're you feeling?"
"I'm fine, thanks. How was the journey?" he asked
"Good, took us less than a day." He replied, smiling.
"That was fast! Heisuke and the others only left an hour or so ago."
"We were lucky with the weather and such, I guess." Tatsu said. Souji smiled, his eyes going to the window
"It's been sunny for two weeks, no clouds or rain at all. Nice and breezy though, the cherry blossoms smell wonderful." He said. The brothers smiled
"Are you allowed to go outside, Souji?" Tetsu asked
"Not today, my chest hurts, but maybe tomorrow. I must ask my doctor."
"So, how were the terrible threesome? Not too noisy for you?"
"Oh no, not at all - it was nice to have some energy around. They were the most fun I've had since I got here. How is everything at Headquarters?"
"Fine, pretty average. There have been a couple of house fires but they caught the people doing it - something to do with debts - and some fights but other than that, not much had happened. Mostly everyone just misses you." He said, making Souji smile
"I miss everyone as well, I'm so glad Mr Hijikata had the idea for everyone to come visit me - I don't know what I'd do without you." He said, they grinned
"It's pretty boring here, huh?" Tatsu asked. Souji nodded
"Very, there's no-one to talk to except the doctors and they're all either busy...or really boring." He said, his voice quieter with a mischievous smirk. The brothers laughed; very glad their Souji wasn't gone.
"Is Saizo around, Souji? I've missed him around too!" Tetsu asked
"Yes, he's in the outside pen - he's not allowed in here." Souji said
"Oh no, that sucks!"
"It's ok; he comes in at night to sleep with me." He said, his voice quiet again for the secret and a smile, his finger to his lips. They grinned
"That's ok then, I'm glad you're not feeling too bad here, Souji; Mr Hijikata was worried." Souji smiled but his eyes went down to his lap
"I miss him a lot…" he said.
"He said he'd come to see you as soon as he's done with the mission."
"Oh, he's on a mission?"
"Yeah, he left a few days ago - it's something to do with meeting with another army captain, he didn't tell us the details. He said it wouldn't take long, a week or two." Souji smiled and nodded
"At least it's not too dangerous - I've been worried there's gonna be a big battle and…I won't be there to help.."
"You don't have to worry about that sorta stuff, Souji - Kondo said the Shinsengumi's reputation has never been better and there aren't any gangs around to threaten us."
"Well, that's good - have they managed to rebuild all those house that were burnt down yet?"
"Almost, they've finished a couple - oh, that's right, a few families are moving into them and they have some kids my age!"
"Oh, wonderful! Be sure to make good friends, Tetsu. Say, have you seen that boy again? They one with silvery hair?" Tetsu sighed, looking down
"Suzu… No, I've looked all over for him.." Souji mirrored his sad expression
"I'm sure he'll turn up, didn't you say he's an orphan?" Tetsu nodded "Then he hasn't got anywhere to go…have you asked anyone at Headquarters to keep an eye out for him? His hair and dark skin must be pretty hard to miss, ne?"
"Yeah, maybe..thanks, Souji." He said, smiling. Souji grinned at him
"No problem, Tetsu, I hope you find him. He looked like he could use a family - hey, maybe when you find him he can join the Shinsengumi, ne?" Tetsu grinned more
"That would be great! But…would he be allowed? I mean, he was on the enemy's side…"
"If you find him and he wants to join, I'll speak to Mr Hijikata." He said with a smile. Tetsu grinned and nodded
"Thanks, Souji. So, are there any good places to eat around here? We were thinking we'd take you out for dinner one day."
"Oh, I don't really know, I haven't really been out of the hospital since I got here - I don't have much of an appetite anyways. You can ask one of the doctors if they know anywhere though." He said.
"C'mon, Souji, we want you to have a good time!" Tetsu said but Tatsu jabbed him in the ribs
"Tetsu, if Mr Okita doesn't want to go out, we can't force him." He said, making Souji smile
"It's ok, I don't mind. I'm afraid I wouldn't be much fun, I get tired so quickly."
"Then we'll have to be here to make you have fun, huh?" Tetsu said with a grin "We bought some games we can play and stuff like that."
"That sounds much better." Souji said, smiling; he did so love games.
The spent the rest of the day - while Souji was feeling up to it - playing games and telling stories. It was a lot of fun but Souji started getting tired. The nurse came in to give him his medicine and told the Ichimura brothers to leave Mr Okita to rest. They went back to their pokey room in the doctor's quarters, away from the sanatorium section, and spent the rest of the day and evening in quiet.
"I can't wait to tell Souji what we have planned to do! He's gonna be so excited!" Tetsu said, grinning as they walked to Souji's room
"Tetsu, you know Souji's sick so don't be too disappointed if he's not up to doing all the things you want to do." Tatsu warned him
"I know, I know, but he'll wanna do some things, right? I mean, he's bored and-" he was cut off by two doctors running past them, Tatsu pulling his brother out of the way. The panic was immediate
"Are…are they going to Souji's room..?" Tetsu asked, his eyes wide.
"I, um…maybe we should go back to our roo- Tetsu, wait! This is a hospital - come back!" he sighed and ran after the redhead, towards their friend's room.
"Who are you?" a doctor just leaving Souji's room asked, frowning. He was wearing a medical mask and shielded the door
"We're friends of Mr Okita, we're staying here-"
"Oh…well, I'm sorry, you can't see him today."
"Is something wrong?" the doctor sighed
"He has a fever; we're doing our best to keep him cool until it lowers but it's quite high at the moment- you won't be able to see him for a while."
"Will he be alright?"
"If we can get his temperature lower then yes, but we won't know for a few hours. Please go back to your room and let us handle it."
"Ok…um, tell him we'll come see him as soon as he's ready?" the doctor smiled and nodded, going off. Tatsu sighed and led a blank-faced Tetsu back to their room.
"I'm sure he'll be ok, it's just a fever-" Tatsu said sitting on his bed. Tetsu was looking down, cross-legged on his own
"You don't have to baby me, Tatsu, I know Souji's sick. I just didn't think-"
"It's not. Souji won't give up, you know that."
"But…he's so weak, he could-" he bit his lip and looked down. Tatsu sighed and went to sit beside him, hugging him tightly and smiling sadly as he felt his shoulder grow wet.
I hope this worth waiting for, sorry it took so long!
Review! Please and thank you!
PMKnut xx
