Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or any of the bands that may show up in here. That is not yet my privilege…
A/N: This is a relatively short chapter, but is very impacting. Imagine Shigure or Aaya singing the song at the end. That is one of my very favorite songs, btw.
Hatori's eye was engulfed in pain. As was the rest of his face; he tried to open his left eye, but found he couldn't. His right eyelid he could sort of open and sort of see through. And what he saw was blackness. With alarming speed, he sat up.
"Whoa, Haa-san! Lay down, buddy!" Shigure's voice came at him from his right. It sounded like he was running over from the side of the room. Hatori was promptly shoved back into the mountain of pillows behind him.
"Where the hell am I?" he croaked. His throat was dry beyond measure. He could feel the bed sag as Shigure sat down.
"In the hospital. The doctors have re-bandaged your eye. You remember that part don't you?" Shigure asked. Hatori was about to respond when a door opened and a voice called for his friend. "Be right back," he whispered and got up and walked toward the voice.
"What is it, doctor?" he whispered. The man that was the doctor sighed.
"His eye; It's damaged beyond repair. The vase totally shredded the lens, apparently. As you know, the lens takes in light and the retina reflects that back as the image you and I see. Without the lens, there is no way that he can see. That eye is pretty much useless. We can save it, but he definitely won't see clearly from it again." Silence followed. Then:
"Haa-san?" Shigure called. "I know you could hear that," he called softly. Hatori covered his bandaged face with his rough hands. They apparently had to scrub quite a bit to get all the blood off.
"Akito… Kana is going to blame herself, isn't she? Akito's words are going to influence… she's going to make it all her fault," he shook with unshed tears. Shigure was back at the bed in a flash.
"I can't say, Haa-san. No one can. We'll just have to see. Kana-chan's strong, she won't just let herself waste away. You and I both know that. And even if she does, you can heal her. You can heal anything. And even if you can't heal her, Aaya and I will always be here for you. Know that. We want to be there for you; even if you push us away, we'll be there. We always will be! I swear on my life." Hatori found himself unable to reply. Tonight he was seeing parts of his friends that had never surfaced before. At least something good had come of tonight.
Shigure was apparently waking a sleepy Aaya up. His other friend stretched and complained for a few minutes, then joined Shigure on the bed. He yawned.
"Gure-san's right, Tori-san. We're never going to leave you. We wouldn't even consider it! We're gonna be there for you, through everything."
The night is long, but eventually, the sun will rise again. And his friends would never leave. The three everlasting pillars. Of what, who knew? But that didn't matter. As long as the Mabudachi Trio was together, they were invincible.
Sometimes I'm a selfish fake.
You're always a true friend.
I don't deserve you 'cause I'm not there for you.
Please forgive me again…
I want to be there for you…
Someone you can come to…
It runs deeper than my bones…
I want to be there for you.
Flyleaf: There for You
A/N: I absolutely adore Flyleaf. They're not as amazing as Sanctus Real, though. Wasn't it touching? I can totally see Shigure and Aaya doing it. Review.