A/N: Soon, my lovelies. Soon.
Disclaimer: I'm still waiting for white chocolate M&M's.
Fortunately, Morinaga was better by the weekend. Dr. Uzuki finally allowed Saitou and Peter to continue with Morinaga's therapies on Monday, with one difference: Souichi and Kunihiro would both be receiving careful instruction on how to accommodate Morinaga' condition.
Peter had joked that he would need the patience of a saint to actually teach Souichi anything. Souichi was Not Amused, especially when Kanako, who was visiting at that time, laughed and told Peter that he really would.
Morinaga was set to be released in a week-incidentally, the same week that Kunihiro would return to his work.
Kunihiro conferred with Dr. Uzuki more often since that announcement. Souichi suspected that he was trying to get the doctor to allow Morinaga to live with Kunihiro.
Sunday was a good day for Morinaga. Peter finally allowed the jaw brace to be removed. Morinaga was also progressing to soft diet. Hospital food was bland, but Peter insisted that he try to finish it all.
His stitches were taken out, as well. A nurse taught Souichi and Kunihiro how to clean and re-bandage Morinaga's wound. She also directed them to the drugstores that sell the things that they would need.
Dr. Miura, Peter's father, dropped in too. He repeated the same things that Dr. Uzuki said about his condition, with a stern reminder not to overwork himself. "We're really very fond of you, Morinaga-kun, but we'd prefer not to see you again."
Morinaga had smiled and promised that he'd try.
They needed a back up plan.
Kunihiro glanced at his brother, who was playing shogi with Kanako. Tetsuhiro seemed healthy and content-different from the event a week ago.
Kunihiro was glad. The excitement of their parents' arrival, and the consequences of it, was worth around a month's energy. It was already enough that Tetsuhiro got into an accident-more than enough. Kunihiro would appreciate it if things got boring for a while.
But still…
Souichi was not in the room. He was with Isogai, buying takeout for lunch (he adamantly refused to eat food from the hospital cafeteria.) Tomoe and Kurokawa were already in their hotel, packing for their flight out. They planned to visit later.
Souichi was willing to take Tetsuhiro back.
The question was, was he capable of it?
In as much as Kunihiro appreciated what Souichi had done for Tetsuhiro, he still didn't think that Souichi was capable of taking care of another human being, at least not someone who would need as much help as his brother. Souichi was loud and brash, the very person that would get impatient every time Tetsuhiro tripped. And based from what Saitou was telling them, Tetsuhiro would tend to trip a lot more from now on.
"Junya," he said now.
The man across him turned, away from where he was watching Tetsuhiro's game. His expression was open, expectant.
Junya, like him, would do anything for his brother. Even if it meant taking Tetsuhiro away…for his own good.
"I need you to do something for Tetsuhiro."
Morinaga was allowed to see his visitors off: Masaki, Kanako, Tomoe and Kurokawa were going to share a taxi to the bullet train. Once there, they would part ways.
Morinaga was starting to really hate the wheelchair, and everything it implied. His helplessness, his inability to walk in a straight line. He couldn't even turn his head without feeling that he was about to topple over.
He tried to hide it, though. He had Senpai by his side…and it seemed that he was really allowed to stay. That ought to be enough to keep him happy.
Kanako gave him a kiss on the cheek, while Tomoe gave him a hug. Kurokawa patted him on the shoulder and smiled.
"You take care of yourself now," Kurokawa said.
"Of course. Thanks for everything, Kurokawa-san, Tomoe."
"We'll be here whenever you need us," Tomoe said. "As long as Nii-san tells us."
"I told you-you didn't need to know," snapped Souichi.
"But if we didn't come Morinaga-kun's parents would have forced him to go to counseling! You don't want that, do you?" Tomoe argued.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Souichi said.
"You were crying," commented Kurokawa idly.
"Of course I wasn't! Why would I cry?!" screamed Souichi. His face was completely red, bright as a beacon. It was as good as a confession.
"My shirt got wet," added Morinaga.
"Those were your own tears!"
"How can I cry into my own shirt when you were hugging me?" Morinaga asked, confused.
"You wiped your tears away!"
"It was the back of my shoulder."
"Shut up!"
By now Tomoe and Kanako were laughing. "I've forgotten that you were always like this," Kanako said affectionately. "Oh, the taxi's finished loading our bags."
"Take care, Tetsuhiro," Masaki said, smiling. "I hope we can see each other more often."
And before any of them could stop him, Masaki drew Morinaga to him and kissed him on the cheek. Souichi yelled in total indignation, drowning out something that Masaki whispered in Morinaga's ear.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Souichi snarled, striding forward to pry them apart.
But Masaki had already let go of Morinaga, who was currently sitting stunned in his wheelchair. This didn't matter to Souichi, who continued ranting at Masaki. Masaki remained unruffled.
"What did he tell you?" Kunihiro whispered, as the taxi left.
Morinaga touched his cheek-the one that Masaki kissed-and smiled.
"He said that I could cry on his shoulder, too."
The next morning, Saitou and Peter discovered firsthand how short Souichi's temper really was.
They did just fine on Morinaga's morning stroll, but when Saitou took Kunihiro and Souichi to the physical therapy room, Souichi began to show signs of impatience within the first fifteen minutes. Saitou emphasized the care that Morinaga would need, and how they must always be standing ready in case he would fall. Morinaga could do most of the exercises himself, but there was always the chance that he would overbalance.
"These exercises are really simple. You might have known most of them in school," Saitou began. "But remember that they're not as easy for Morinaga-kun. He still has a broken arm, so these are designed not to strain him too much. Don't force therapy when he's feeling unwell. Morinaga-kun, you would have to be honest about how you're feeling during therapy. If you begin to feel so dizzy you can't stand, tell them. Morinaga-san, Tatsumi-san, your part is to give Morinaga-kun time, support and patience."
Kunihiro nodded, seemingly unperturbed. However, Souichi frowned. All of those seemed to be his weak points.
"Morinaga-kun can stand, for limited periods of time, with assistance. For now we're using these steel bars so that he can hold on to something, but we're hoping that by the end of next week, he can progress to a cane. There's nothing physically wrong with his legs. But if you are planning to live with Morinaga-kun, handrails should be installed throughout the house, especially in the bathroom. Never let Morinaga-kun out of your sight in the bathroom, as there's a greater possibility that he could fall and hit his head. Understand?"
"We have to bath with him?" Souichi spluttered, turning scarlet. Morinaga smiled slyly.
"Not necessarily," Saitou said absently, not seeing Morinaga's smile. "Just watch him in the bath."
"But-" Souichi protested.
"I understand, Saitou-san," Kunihiro interrupted. "Why don't we proceed?"
"Of course. Now, watch the therapy. I'll be allowing you to do these tomorrow by yourselves, I'll just be observing you. Keep repeating these exercises with Morinaga-kun until I tell you to proceed to the next level of exercises. Morinaga-kun, you'll have to drop in at least twice a week for an hour of outpatient physical therapy sessions. All right. Neck," Saitou prompted.
Morinaga was on his feet, propped between two steel bars. At Saitou's command he turned his head left, center, and right, doing eight repetitions. There seemed to be no problem.
"Good, Morinaga-kun. Now, shoulder."
This time Morinaga included his shoulders in his turns, so that the upper half of his body was also turned in that direction. Morinaga was being especially careful during the right turn, since it was the side where he hurt his arm. He fell after five repetitions.
Kunihiro and Souichi both lunged forward, but Saitou was faster. She steadied Morinaga, and assisted him in putting his arm on the bar. "Again, Morinaga-kun. From the top, eight repetitions."
"But he fell over," interjected Souichi.
"I'm fine, Senpai," Morinaga assured him.
"If we don't repeat the parts he has difficulty in, he'll not progress," Saitou said firmly. "If he can't do eight repetitions of any exercise, you must make him repeat it over again."
"That sounds tiring," Kunihiro commented.
"No pain, no gain," Saitou said dryly. By this time Morinaga had successfully done eight repetitions of his shoulder exercise and was moving on to torso. Saitou proceeded with a series of turning and rotating exercises that didn't seem much to Souichi, but were obviously giving Morinaga a hard time.
His kouhai fell over a few more times. Each time, Saitou was quicker at catching Morinaga than either Kunihiro or Souichi, which left them feeling rather foolish.
"And we have to do this every day?" Souichi groaned, when Saitou finally let them go after two hours. It was nine-thirty, enough for thirty minutes' rest before the stork came.
Morinaga was only a little tired. Without a word, Kunihiro went to a thermos to fix him some instant soup. Morinaga took the cup of soup gratefully.
"Saitou-san's very strict, but she's also very good," Morinaga told them. "Last week I couldn't even walk."
For Morinaga, to their surprise, could walk now, with the aid of steel bars attached to the wall. He was very slow, but if he could walk this early, it was an enormous achievement.
"I didn't know you could walk," admitted Kunihiro.
"I asked Saitou-san to make it a surprise. I still think we've got a long way to go, though."
"That woman is a slave driver," grumbled Souichi.
"Well, I'd say she get pretty good results," someone said mildly. Peter was in the doorway, holding two folders. "Good morning."
"You were supposed to be here at ten, not nine-forty five!" said Souichi.
"Early bird," Peter returned cheerfully. "These are for you."
He gave a folder each to Souichi and Kunihiro. "It's a list of the physical and speech therapies that Morinaga-kun needs to complete , for the first week at least. I've also consulted with Dad, Dr. Uzuki and a few other doctors. They've put in reminders to make your lives easier, so to speak. There's also a list of the medicine that Morinaga-kun should be getting, and their respective dosages. Please make sure to read them carefully. Additionally, and I'm sure that Saitou-san already told you, but giving Morinaga-kun support and patience is as important as medicine and therapy. I'm going you this a week ahead so that you can get ready for Morinaga-kun's release.
"Now, unlike Saitou-san's routine, speech therapy is not very physical. But it does require persistence, and discipline. You have to do these exercises every day. Morinaga-kun can do them on his own. Morinaga-san, Tatsumi-san, your job would be to make sure that Morinaga-kun does his exercises. Speech therapy is easier if the patient can imitate someone-try making him mirror certain facial expressions, so make sure you read the pages on speech therapy."
It was the longest speech they ever heard Peter say-not that he ever said much.
"So you're really a speech therapist," Souichi said at last.
"I've no idea that you thought I was a fake," Peter said, laughing slightly. "So, let's start, Morinaga-kun?"
Kunihiro proved himself reasonably proficient in assisting Morinaga's therapy, but Souichi had problems. He was always too impatient, and didn't understand why Morinaga needed to be praised for every small achievement.
"I told you, it's to encourage him," Saitou said patiently. "Now you better tell him like you mean it, or we'll start all over again."
Even Peter was having difficulty with Souichi. Souichi didn't like the mirroring exercises, which made up a big part of Morinaga's speech therapy. Souichi was supposed to do some facial expressions and have Morinaga mimic them, but he always complained, saying that the "faces were ridiculous."
"Quit complaining," Peter said, exasperated. "Your face won't freeze that way!"
"He's always like this, I don't really mind," Morinaga assured Peter.
"Your patience is commendable," retorted the stork. "But if Tatsumi-san is like this, we'll never get anywhere."
"We completed his exercises!" said Souichi.
Peter sighed. "Can I have a word with you outside? Tatsumi-san and Morinaga-san."
Morinaga looked quite worried when they trooped outside, but they didn't take long. After only five minutes they were back, both looking chastised. Morinaga just knew that Peter said something that hit home…quite accurately. And this was only Tuesday.
Peter poked his head in, choosing not to follow them inside. "I have another patient. Tomorrow, we'll try something different. Get some rest, Morinaga-kun."
And then Peter left, leaving Morinaga to wonder exactly what "something different" was.
"Senpai? Nii-san? What did Peter say?" Morinaga asked.
Kunihiro smiled. "Nothing terribly important."
Which meant it was very important. Morinaga glanced at Souichi, who was looking at his hands.
"Senpai?"
Souichi didn't respond.
"Senpai, don't take Peter too seriously. I know he meant well, but I really don't mind. I'm very happy you're helping with my therapy, It's more than enough."
Still, Souichi was obviously troubled, and Morinaga felt helpless that there was nothing he could do. It looked like his Senpai wanted to go through this alone.
Morinaga wanted to tell him that it would be all right, but he couldn't. At this point he wasn't sure that he could believe it himself.
They found out Peter's plans in physical therapy the next morning, where Saitou was waiting…with an Ipod.
"Peter told me that you're having difficulty with speech therapy, too," Saitou began, without waiting for them to ask. "Today we'll try therapy with music."
"Music?" all three of them chorused, incredulous.
"But I don't know how to dance!" Morinaga protested.
"Not dancing." Saitou grinned. "You can do the therapy as usual, but with background music."
"That doesn't sound so hard," Kunhiro admitted nervously. Like the other two men, he was not musically inclined.
"It doesn't," Saitou agreed.
And once the music started, it turned out surprisingly well. It was classical music, which was a bit strange, but bearable. All three of them found it easier to relax with music in the background.
"You're still not praising him," Saitou said critically, when they ended.
"Shut up, it's hard enough to catch him when he falls," muttered Souichi.
"Senpai!" exclaimed Morinaga, shocked that he would be so rude.
Saitou didn't seem impressed. "You're going to be doing a lot more of that from now on. Great work today, Morinaga-kun. I'll see you tomorrow."
Peter's session was strange: he brought them to a room with an upright piano, and instructed them to carry on with therapy while he played.
"You play the piano?" Kunihiro said, looking surprised.
"Since I was ten, yes. I was part of the team that introduced classical music as an aid for physical and speech therapies. Usually it's more advanced than this-basic dance lessons for physical therapy and voice lessons for speech therapy. The Nagoya General Hospital is still studying the effects of music in therapy. We're covering a wide range of age groups, and on different kinds of injuries, too."
"I never knew that," Morinaga said, amazed.
"So does it work?" Souichi inquired.
Peter shrugged. "So far? Yes. In varying degrees, of course. Children seem to be the ones who benefit most from the music. We're setting some stipulations, of course. One, we only use classical music. For another, Nagoya General is one of the very few hospitals in Japan who allow music therapy. And generally, people do better in therapy when the music is being played on an instrument, compared to a recording. Seriously, I could go on and waste our whole hour explaining this, but we need to carry on. Any request, Morinaga-kun?"
"You can play anything?"
Peter shrugged. "I'll tell you if I can't."
"Then, Claire de Lune, please."
Peter smiled, nodded, and began to play. He gestured for them to begin, as well.
Peter was quite good at playing the piano. Souichi remembered that he had actually noticed Peter's elegant fingers during the first time they met.
Music ended up being the key- with it, Morinaga progressed faster than any of them would have believed possible. He still fell in physical therapy, but he had greater stamina. Saitou and Peter ended up changing all their therapies to include music.
By the time the weekend came around, everyone was optimistic about Morinaga's recovery progress. They thanked all the doctors who helped them, then proceeded to Souichi and Morinaga's apartment, where Kanako, Matsuda-san, Hiroto, Masaki and Isogai were waiting. They had a small dinner party celebrating Morinaga's return. No alcoholic drinks were served, but it was quite noisy enough.
After the dinner, Kunihiro and Masaki left for their hotel, promising to come over tomorrow morning before they returned to Tokyo. Kanako would sleep at Matsuda-san's house, and Isogai offered to drive them there. Hiroto had work. Souichi walked them to the street, and by the time he returned, Morinaga was on his bed, still fully clothed, completely asleep.
He got tired with only coming home and eating dinner?
Souichi glanced at the clock. It was only nine. He entered the bedroom and removed Morinaga's shoes, grunting with effort.
"Good night, Morinaga," Souichi murmured.
Morinaga grunted sleepily in reply. For the first time in a month, Souichi smiled.
Morinaga was here, at last. This apartment was home again.
Back in his room, Souichi became free to think about more important things. First, what would happen to their life from now on? He would have to go to the University tomorrow and tell Yanagi-sensei that he was taking the offer…No, wait, tomorrow was a Saturday and no one would be in the offices. He would have to take care of Morinaga's therapies and then run over to the drugstore to see about the bandages and medicine. And…to the grocery store for Morinaga's food. Soft diet, Dr. Uzuki had said, but what did that mean exactly?
Damn that Morinaga, making him do everything.
And, there was a piece of paper on his desk. A different kind of paper, from the notepad around Peter's neck. There was an address scribbled on the paper. He remembered, quite clearly, how he had come to receive it.
Peter took them outside on that very first teaching session that they had, shortly after Souichi declared that it was enough that they completed the therapy.
"Morinaga-san, Tatsumi-san, first of all, I'd like to thank you for staying with Morinaga-kun for this long. I know it hasn't been easy, especially the thing about your parents."
Peter's tone was still polite, but both Kunihiro and Souichi knew enough to realize that Peter would not have called them to the hallway just to thank them for sticking with Morinaga.
"I'd also like to remind you that healing is psychological as much as it is physical. We might recommend medicine, a balanced diet, send him to therapy, but's equally important that the patient wants to heal. In his head, in his heart, he needs to want to be better. And that's not going to happen if he senses that you efforts are half-hearted. Completing the exercises is not going to be enough. If he senses that you think he is a bother, he might want to heal, but for others, not for himself. We would end up with a patient who wants to please others. In the limited time that I've been with Morinaga-kun, I'm sensing that he needs approval from others, more so since his parents just left him. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Peter's tone was sharp, bordering on annoyed.
Both men nodded silently.
"Very well. You can go back in. I have to make my rounds."
Kunihiro and Souichi turned towards the door, but Peter stopped Souichi.
"Wait."
"Haven't you lectured us enough?" Souichi grumbled.
Peter laughed. "It's going to happen a lot less than you're anticipating, so don't worry. No, what I really wanted to say is that if there's one day that you might need me for anything, you can go here." The stork handed him a piece of paper. "By the way, Yama told me that he told you about us."
Kunihiro was looking on, mildly curious.
"He already told me everything." Souichi said coldly.
"I wouldn't put it past him to lie." The stork smiled sadly. "Keep the address. You'll need it, I think."
In the present time, Souichi picked up the piece of paper.
"What does he mean, I'll need it?"
The address on the paper was for a respectable part of town. Peter's clinic?
"And why would that bartender lie?"
Somewhere in the city, not too far away from Souichi and Morinaga's apartment, Kunihiro and Masaki were talking.
"Did it go as planned?" Kunihiro asked Masaki.
"Yes."
A/N: That took longer than I thought. Hopefully you weren't too bored, lovely reader-I am dropping hints about what's ahead. Look forward to the next chapters!
I promise there's a point to all this. I am just realizing now that I am leaving you with another cliffhanger, not as bad, but I'm slowly revealing the reason why I chose those words for the summary.
Seriously, Souichi is bad at romance, ne?
Oh, and about music intervention being used in therapy. I made it up. There are actually very little studies on this, and the results aren't that conclusive. But the bit of physical therapy that Morinaga undergoes in this chapter is real-those are being used in vestibular physical therapy, which is the physical therapy that focuses on balance. No, I am not a physical therapist.
Lovely reviewers: thank you so much!
Lady Tsuru27: I usually update BB very late at night-11pm-ish.I go to sleep almost right afterwards, so it's amazing that you get to see it around half an hour after I post it. And the idea about Soujin is really quite good. I'll have to look for him in the jungles of Africa or something. And here's a hint about Peter and Hiroto: Hiroto lied to Souichi. A lie of omission, but still a lie. Thanks for your review!
Amity33: I think the disaster is just coming, haha. But yes, you're very right-Souichi's life would change with Morinaga's accident, especially since Souichi said he'd still take back Morinaga. Wait for the next chapters! Thanks for your review!
Bloodyrose23: You're welcome! And here's your next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for your review!
Bunny-chan2202: Souichi gets defensive of the weirdest things-see how he denied letting Mori cry on his shoulder in this chapter? And he was practically suggesting that Mori could be a contortionist. And, as I've told Lady Tsuru, Hiroto omitted a few major things when he and Peter talked. You guys will find out the complete story, I promise. Thanks for your review!
fullmoon: Hiroto es una persona interesante, su historia con Pedro también es un poco triste. Y no creo que Mori podría ir muy lejos en la terapia si Souichi es su maestro. Ah, la tortura. Gracias por tu comentario!
Miny: Yes, there's more to Hiroto's story, and you will all find out in a few more chapters. Souichi's such a bad therapist, though-the profession is definitely not for him, haha. Thanks for your review!
souichitatsumi: Yes, i have a habit of planting things early so I can use them later on. This chapter will also prove important later, though it might seem like nothing is happening now. I'm not sure about the hidden feelings, Souichi tries to deny everything- did you see him trying to say that Mori could cry on his own shoulder when he has a head injury? honestly. haha. i hope that i keep on meeting you expectations! Thanks for your review!
inuyasha33: i've finished school (all the way to college, haha!) so i can say i know how you feel. you're welcome, and thanks for your review!
Swt Cutie: I've almost finished making Hiroto and Peter's story, mentally anyway. You're right that there is more to it, and it will also impact Souichi and Morinaga. I never meant for Hiroto and Peter the main story, just a back story, but you lovely readers ended up liking it more than i could anticipate. look forward to it! You'll know the truth later. thanks for your review!
Review, my lovelies, or the Easter Bunny won't visit this Christmas.