A/N: Here is Chapter Nine I hope all of you like it.

"He is going to be fine," Penny said to the crowd. She saw all of them relax. Before she could speak again to tell them what else might ensue for the child his father spoke up.

"When can I see my son? When can I explain how much I love him?"

"I think, sir, we need to speak in private," Penny said looking grimly at everyone else.

Mr. Haninozuka looked at the children and followed the nurse into a meeting room on the other side of the ER. Once they were both inside she clicked the door shut and turned on Chika's father with a solemn look on her face.

"You will not be able to see your son for some time," Penny said looking at him sternly, "You caused that panic attack and he can't afford to have any more of those because it could cause permanent damage. Until we can convince your son that you mean well you will not be allowed into his hospital room. I also have one question. Why would your son freak out like that just at the sight of you? What have you done to make him that afraid?"

"He was raised in the Haninozuka way. A very strict upbringing, I must say. His brother strayed from our family's ways and I had to make sure that one of my sons was somewhat worthy enough to take over the family. My youngest has followed my orders so far although I must say they are very harsh. Restrictions on diet, intense practices, hours of meditation are all part of the routine," Mr. Haninozuka said looking at the ground. He had no idea that it would strike this much fear into his youngest son. He put his head in his hands and sat there until he heard the door click letting him know that Penny had gone out of the room. He didn't get up though. He didn't move. He just sat there looking at the wall thinking of what the next move would be.

(ER)

Penny had left Mr. Haninozuka in the meeting room to deal with his emotions. She had to go tell the children what had happened. Especially the new kid that looked about Chika's age. They seemed to know each other very well and the kid seemed eager to find out what happened. She walked slowly over to the kids and saw that three of them were pacing back and forth. She saw the brother look up and stop in his tracks.

"What happened back there? Is he going to be alright?" Hunny asked.

"He will be fine," Penny responded, "He had a panic attack, but nothing serious happened. Your father, however, was the one who caused the attack and I have informed him that until we can convince your brother he means no harm your father is not allowed to see him."

"Can WE see him?" Satoshi spoke up nervously wringing his hands in front of him.

"Of course you can. After all you have not caused him a panic attack. For now how about three visitors at a time, so we don't stress him out too much," Penny recommended as she was followed by Hunny, Mori, and a very worried Satoshi. They went through the halls winding in and out between rooms until they came to the ICU and found Chika's room. Satoshi was the first one to step in and the older two let him. They had seen the kid for the past day so it was only fair they let his best friend be with him at first. The older two decided that a walk down the hall would be the best thing to do for now.

Satoshi gasped at what he saw. The Yasuchika he saw lying in the bed was nothing like the Yasuchika he normally saw. Even though he looked somewhat normal Yasuchika had a pallor about his face that made him look half dead. Not to mention the face mask he had on delivering oxygen didn't help the atmosphere. Satoshi went over and sat by his best friend. 'Geez Yasuchika,' he thought, ' You have gotten yourself into a hell of a lot of trouble in the past, but this I can say is the worst I have ever seen you. And it's not even your fault.' Without thinking Satoshi grabbed his best friend's hand rubbing it softly letting his buddy know that he was there for him. All of a sudden the heart rate monitor spiked. Satoshi let go of his hand very confused. 'What just happened?' he thought. He decided that speaking to his buddy might be better.

"Hey there Yasuchika. It's your best friend Satoshi. I've been really worried about you. I am glad you are still alive. You can make it through this. I'll be there for you the whole way along with your brother and my brother. I'll never leave your side you can always count on me."

(Chika)

There was the squeeze again. That hand squeeze. It made him come out of his state slightly, but his eyelids were too heavy to open. Then out of nowhere the hand let go. He calmed down a bit but still wondered why the heck they would let his dad back in after he had just suffered a panic attack. He then heard a voice. He tensed ready to hear the fulmination of his father. Instead he heard a gentle voice. It was Satoshi! What the heck was he doing here? Now Chika had to open his eyes he just had to he couldn't afford to miss seeing his best friend. He gathered all his might and slowly started to open his eyes. Then he saw him Satoshi sitting there looking extremely relieved.

(Normal?)

Satoshi had just finished his sentence when he looked at his friend and saw that his eyes were open. He pushed the nurse call button. He gently touched his friend's hand again hoping it would not cause a bad reaction. It didn't. Satoshi sat there gently rubbing his friend's hand. He started to talk again.

"You know Yasuchika I was about to beat the heck out of you for missing club activities. Then I found out you were here and I got so worried. I'm so glad you're OK. I don't know what I'd do without you. So how you feeling? After that run in with your dad you have to be pretty crappy, not to mention the illness."

Chika just smiled under the mask and rotated his hand signaling that he was OK.

"HAhah I'm an idiot you can't talk with that face mask on. The nurse should be here soon so she can get it off and then we can get on talking about what you have missed since you have been gone."

Chika froze and mentally face-palmed. His brother was an idiot, Mitskuni had left out one VERY important piece of information. 'How the hell am I going to tell him that I can't talk? I don't know any sign language yet. This is going to be interesting.' Chika waited for the nurse to come in hoping that his best friend wouldn't see the worry in his eyes. The nurse removed the mask.

"Hey Chika. Are you able to breathe on your own, honey?" the nurse asked. Chika breathed deeply a few times and then nodded and gave a thumbs up to signal that he was all good. "I'll leave you to be with your friend, dear."

After the nurse walked out Satoshi started rambling on again. "So you missed the best thing at club today. Some kid tried to do a kick and managed to kick himself in the face! I was wondering how that was even possible. I mean he wasn't hurt or anything, but man the look on his face..." he trailed off looking at his buddy who was grinning from ear to ear. "SO Yasuchika why didn't you call me when you started to feel crappy? I could have helped you, you would have been OK." Satoshi waited for a reply from his friend. All he got was a shrug. Satoshi was starting to get worried. Was his friend not in the mood for talking? What was happening? He was going to try one last time and then he would push the nurse call button. "What happened before you got sick?" All he got was a sigh. 'That's it something is wrong with him and it is my job to make sure he is OK,' Satoshi thought pushing the nurse call button about ten times.

Penny saw that the button in Chika's room was being pushed and she rushed over at once worried for the young boy. She had grown fond of the kid and almost felt a motherly presence toward him. When she got there nothing apparent was wrong with Chika, but his friend looked extremely worried.

"Hey there what can I do for you?" Penny asked the worried looking friend.

"He won't talk something is wrong with him. I keep asking him questions and all I get is a shrug or something. Help my friend please help him. What the hell is wrong with him? What is happening to him? Will he be OK?" Satoshi went on freaking out over the fact his best friend wasn't speaking.

"Sweetie calm down before you faint like he did. He is perfectly fine-" Penny was cut off by a delirious Satoshi.

"FINE?! He obviously ISN'T fine if he can't say anything now is he?!" Satoshi yelled standing up to confront Penny, "How can you be so rude as to say he is fine?! What kind of nurse are you? I am supposed to take care of him and there is definitely something wrong with him!"

"Satoshi calm down," came an even tempered voice from the doorway. It was Mori.

"Taka-bro. Can you tell me why they are letting this incompetent nurse take care of my best friend?"

"She is not incompetent little brother. Your best friend is fine. It was discovered yesterday that he is temporarily mute. His voice will come back in time, but for now he can't talk," Takashi explained calmly.

"Wh-what?" Satoshi asked. He groped for a chair behind him. He plopped down and looked at his best friend who was currently finishing an eye roll. "Yasuchika? Is this true? Are you mute for a while?"

Chika looked at his best friend and nodded. It was about all he could do. He felt bad he couldn't give more to his friend. He wanted to comfort Satoshi. To tell him that everything was going to be fine. But seeing as he couldn't talk that would be very hard. He did the only thing he could think of. He got his friends attention by banging on his hospital bed. When Satoshi looked up Chika pointed to himself and then gave a thumbs up trying his hardest to communicate that he was going to be OK. Satoshi nodded seeming to get the answer.

"So Yasuchika…um how will you get done with school? I mean how will you answer teachers' questions?" Satoshi asked wondering if that was even something his friend could answer.

"He will be learning sign language," Mori answered for the boy knowing very well that playing charades would do neither of them good.

"I will be right there learning with you," Satoshi said smiling at his best friend.

Chika smiled back. It was good to have so many people that cared about him. He was so glad that there were people here who wanted to take care of him. There were no more people here like his father that wanted to hurt him and didn't give a damn about him. His father had another son. 'I'm not even the oldest,' Chika thought, 'Why the hell would he even give a damn if I live or die?'

A/N: There you are Satoshi went a little crazy but he will be there. Please read and review!