This is Your Fight

Chapter Twelve

By KellyQ

Aichi stood in an open meadow that stretched out for miles. Many types of flowers danced, bobbed, and quivered in the wind. Aichi couldn't identify what type of flowers, but he didn't care, he thought the landscape was beautiful. Aichi closed his eyes, taking in the cool sweet air. He opened his eyes and started to walk.

Aichi didn't get as far as a mile when he saw a figure in the distance. What caught Aichi's attention was red hair. His first thought was Ren as the person came closer. Aichi stopped and his eyes widened—it was Ren. Pure nervousness griped Aichi's heart. He had no idea what was going on. All Aichi knew was that he had somehow connected with Ren.

That thought confused Aichi. They didn't know each other, so what could be the reason? Ren came into full view now and Aichi just stared—taking in Ren's full appearance. He had cherry-red eyes that held curiosity. Ren's hair was shaggy and un-kept. The outfit he wore was a white long gown, but his smile was sad.

"Y-you must be, Ren," Aichi breathed.

"And you must be Aichi. Kai spoke of you often," Ren started. A light blush made its way to Aichi's cheeks at the notion. "I wanted to meet you too, but I was too sick to even do that."

"K-Kai told me what happened," Aichi stuttered, growing nervous. "I'm sorry."

Ren shrugged it off. "It doesn't matter now. Things just happen, you know?" he paused for a moment before he continued his ramble. "I'm glad that Kai chose you—you're a sweet guy, considering that he needs to move on and not mope over what happened to me."

"He is trying to…but he still has feelings for you."

"Maybe …"

Aichi frowned, "I don't understand. He said that you two were a couple."

Ren sighed and turned to walk a few feet away, and sat down. "Things weren't the same after Kai found out that I was suffering from cancer—especially when I told him how long I've had it …"

"Why would you keep it a secret for so long?" Aichi demanded, feeling sudden anger rise. He was now standing next Ren, staring down at him with confusion, "he was crushed when you died!"

"It's not that I didn't trust him to give me support—I knew that I wasn't going to live very long," Ren explained. "I tried to veer him away so that he wouldn't feel a whole in his heart after I left …" Ren paused again and glanced up Aichi, "but he just clung on to hope that I would get better…" There was light bitterness in Ren's voice, "until he said that he met a soft-spoken boy named Aichi. He had a lot to say about you, and they were good things." Ren smiled at him. "I asked him to give me a description of you and you're exactly the way Kai described you—but I didn't suspect you to be this cute." Aichi blushed and chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry. Did I make you feel a little uneasy?" Ren noticed.

"Just a little …" Aichi murmured, not making eye contact. He knew he shouldn't feel this way around Ren, when he should take the opportunity to get to know him. Kai loved him after all, Aichi thought.

"I do have a knack of doing that to people," Ren spoke up snapping Aichi out of this thought. "Kai was the only one who didn't seem to be bothered of my actions."

Aichi decided to sit next to Ren, "Kai did love you …"

"He also liked you," Ren pointed out, "when he mentioned you … I knew that something had clicked—like he cared about you just as much as he did for me. I tried to get him to pay more attention to you than me, but it wasn't easy … he kept on telling me that he wasn't interested. I knew that he was lying to himself …" he paused again, "I do have a question though … do you love Kai?"

"Yes. I do."

Ren smiled. "I know you do …" he paused for the third time, "and make sure you get well, okay? You have a much better chance surviving than I did."

Aichi nodded his head …

Slowly, Aichi became aware that someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes to realize that he was in his own bed, and Emi was the one shaking him a wake.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," she urged. Aichi turned his head to see his sister. "Whenever you're ready, come down for dinner."

Aichi nodded his head and sat up, watching Emi walk out. He sat there for a moment, remembering how vivid the dream was.

"Are you ready to come down?" came Kai's voice from the doorway. Aichi turned to see him stand there for a moment as he studied Kai for a moment. "Did you have a bad dream or something?" Kai asked. He walked up and sat down.

"Ren was in my dream …," Aichi murmured. He made sure he was looking down. Aichi didn't want to meet Kai's gaze, because he knew that Kai wasn't going to like what he was going to share. Especially when he finds out that Ren sacrificed everything … Aichi thought. "We had a talk…" he started in a soft voice. "And he had a lot to say …"

A sigh except from the back of Kai's throat, "he did that a lot."

Aichi looked up to see that Kai had a calm face, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "He didn't say anything hateful about you at all!" Aichi quickly said, assuming that the expression in Kai's eyes meant that Ren was accusing him for not giving him enough support. "Ren just said that he wants you to stop blaming yourself for what happened to him and move on. I told him that you are trying though."

Kai closed his eyes for a moment. Aichi took this as a sign that Kai was trying to ignore his own feelings. Aichi reached out, pulled Kai close, and rubbed his back.

"Ren's okay now, Kai," Aichi murmured in a reassuring voice, "he looked happy when we talked…"

It took a moment for Kai to find his voice, and when he did, there was a lump in his throat. "H-he was?"

Aichi nodded his head, trying to refrain from crying too, "he also wants you to be happy because you have me now …" Aichi had straightened himself and Kai so that they were eye level by this point.

All Kai could do was nod his head. He had no idea that Ren felt that way, even after his death.

To Be Continued …