A/N:I can't believe I already have 19 chapters of this story. I honestly thought nobody would read this and I would stop by chapter ten but look at this story now. I want to say thank you to everyone who has read this far and it really does mean a lot to me. Without further ado...
Chapter 19: Are you okay?
He opened his eyes, shooting into a sitting position as he placed a hand to his heart. He was breathing. His heart was beating. He wasn't dead. He was sitting in his bed, staring at the wall as if he had never noticed it was there. Blinking rapidly and rubbing at his eyes, he turned to look out the window and realized it must be early morning. The sky was dark and there was a calm, calm wind.
His eyes drifted to the door when he heard a knock. On weak legs, he stumbled over to the door and unlocked it. The door opened to reveal a blurry figure, a person wearing blue pajamas and with brown hair. He rubbed at his eyes.
"Xavier?" That was Kichirou's voice. Absolutely. "Are you okay?"
Xavier noticed he was sweating. The liquid made his messy hair stick to his forehead. He wiped it away. "I'm fine, Kirou."
"I heard you screaming." His blue eyes widened as his friend forced his way into the room. Kichirou quickly retrieved the glasses from beside the bed and handed them to Xavier.
"You did? I was screa-" He stopped when he saw Kichirou nodding. The green eyed boy gave him a searching glance, making Xavier feel even more uncomfortable. "I just had a nightmare, that's all."
The brunet looked almost disbelieving for a second but the expression changed to a comforting smile so quick, he thought he imagined it. Kichirou's eyes darted around the room, observing it for the first time. He stopped and walking over to the desk. "What happened?"
"I was surrounded by fire, burning. My side felt like I had been stabbed by a red hot knife..." His voice started to tremble, the fear he had experienced flooding his system. "Something had smashed my head, I couldn't see a thing and then-"
"Stop. Don't talk about it if you don't want to." Kichirou placed something back onto the desk before turning to the door. "Hope you feel better soon, try to get some sleep." Xavier watched the smile disappear as his friend left and shut the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He picked up a necklace from his desk, holding the ruby close to his chest for comfort. He needed to abandon the negatives like always.
Why couldn't he?
Kichirou was thoroughly surprised when he saw Xavier walk into the guild with a cheerful smile on his face. He had bags under his eyes but just complained that he stayed up all night. Xavier caught his stare and shrugged, eyes sheepish.
"Xav-" He stopped, watching instead as the redhead walked up to the bar for a drink. "Honestly..."
"Oh, Xavier it's good that you're feeling better!" Chris yelled, patting the redhead on the back enthusiastically. Bandages peeked out from the neck of his white t-shirt, his jacket lying on the counter top. "You seemed really stressed on the mission, what happened?"
"I'd rather not talk about it..." Xavier mumbled. Chris sensed the mood around him darken and blinked in surprise. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when his face was pushed into the counter.
"Shut the-" Fukuro raised a hand to cover his yawn but it looked useless considering the mask already covered his mouth. "Up. I was sleeping."
Xavier looked at the man with the gold cat-like eyes. If he remembered correctly, Fukuro took Akeno to the infirmary after the fight. Fukuro looked at him, as if suddenly realizing he existed.
"Oh it's you... um... what's your name again?" Xavier winced, he was sure he had been there long enough for people to know him.
"Xavier Reed. You're Fukuro, right?"
"No. I'm Penelope." He replied. Xavier was not amused. Sarcasm, really? Chris was laughing, but Fukuro's hand kept his face pressed into the wood.
"Nice to meet you Penelope." Xavier said, making both parties roll their eyes at the same time. There was a scoff as the sound of boots clicking against the ground grew louder. He turned to see a girl look at him, yellow eyes curious.
"That was probably the weirdest thing I've ever seen." She said, flicking her black and purple fishtail braid over her shoulder. Fukuro glanced at her before looking dazedly at the wall with his head lying on his arms.
"Hey Kiki." Chris greeted, head freed from the awkward position. The girl pouted adorably, leaning onto Chris. He looked a little puzzled but was generally unfazed by her action. Xavier's mind was racing, Chris had a girlfriend?
"Chris~" She said in a sing-song voice. "Could I borrow some money? I wanted to get my nails done with Midnight Sky instead of Neptune's Kiss. I think the darker blue looks better."
The moment he looked skeptical, she pushed her chest against his, fluttering her lashes. Chris made an uncomfortable expression, trying to lean back as she leaned closer. Eventually he sighed in resignation.
"Fine, fine! Just get off me!" He said, causing her to stand back upright with a smirk. He handed her the money, face tinted pink. She grabbed it and waved before walking out the guild hall, most likely to get her nail colour changed immediately.
"May I ask what that was?" Xavier muttered, confusion displayed on his face like a glowing light. "Is she like your girlfriend or something?" He wasn't really sure anymore.
Chris snorted, shaking his head furiously. "No, no. Kirara just does that when she wants something cause she knows I find it uncomfortable. She has ways to do that to lots of people."
"Hm. Good to know." Looking past the blond, Xavier noticed that Fukuro was asleep, breath so soft, he almost didn't hear it. He shook his head. Xavier stopped his judging of the guild members when Maia walked in front of the duo. She tilted her head, asking the question without words.
"Just water for me." Chris said, waving his hand dismissively.
"I wanted to try White Roses, Daria's theme." Maia nodded, sliding the cup of water to Chris before disappearing off to prepare the milkshake.
Ever since the group came back from the mission, everyone was worried about the S-Class's odd behavior. Apparently, it had happened before a few times, Antoine would suddenly get all angry and violent before disappearing for a while. No one was really sure, well, no one other than the two original Phoenix Wing mages and his sister. They were all tight lipped about it though.
So, when the mage came running into the guild the next day, Angelique by his side and a list in his hands, people were surprised. He leapt over the bar, hands picking out bottles from the stash and setting them on the table. He had stopped dragging Angelique when he jumped over, allowing the girl to calmly walk around and take out the mixing bottle and a measuring jug.
"Antoine? Angie?" Kichirou asked, sitting up at the bar with Xavier and Sandra. Angelique stopped, looking up at Xavier strangely for a few seconds before suddenly lighting up.
"Kichirou. New guy?" The redhead immediately deflated, causing her to scoff. "I really don't know who you are."
"Really?" At Kichirou's question she scrunched her nose up in confusion.
"Well..." She leaned forwards onto the bar, looking up in thought. "I know you, but at the same time I don't. Like, I know you're the new guy. Xylophone, right? But it's like I don't really care much about someone who seems so lame."
Great offense was taken when he heard her comment. He didn't want to accept that anyone could make such a bad guess with his name and insult him without ever meeting him but, Xavier just sighed in resignation instead before diverting his gaze to the blond man who was mixing the drinks flamboyantly. The moment Antoine caught Xavier's amazed gaze, he had stopped and placed the bottles down on the counter. A small smile appeared on his face.
"Hey. How've you been? You didn't seem that well when we got back." Xavier's sudden grimace was obvious, causing the three mages next to him to give him strange looks.
"I am absolutely fine. I was just tired." The green eyed gaze felt like it was piercing into his soul. He glanced at Kichirou briefly. "What about you? You just storm-"
"Well that's the past! I was wondering if you would like to help me out with something." Antoine interrupted smiling wider. A shiver went down the redhead's back.
"I don't know... Last time we helped you, I ended up being dog piled. I had to stay in the infirmary for a couple days." Kichirou muttered. His eyes dimmed, as if all happiness was sapped out of his body. "Dr Mari was threatening me the whole time..."
"Hey, this time it won't be anything hard, I promise. I just need some help carrying some stuff with me to the hospital."
"Hospital?" The seventeen year old raised an eyebrow, confused as to why Antoine would be going there. "Why?"
"I need to visit Rae." He said blankly to Xavier in response as if it was the easiest question in the world. "There's also a guy who I need to speak to."
Before Xavier could probe more, the older man nodded enthusiastically, acting as if he had volunteered. Kichirou immediately agreed at that and Sandra, who had been unusually quiet, decided to tag along too. Antoine grinned, pouring his alcoholic mixture into a bottle and placing it inside a bag with two glasses.
"Rae!" As the man had come bursting into the hospital room, Xavier wondered if shouting was the thing Antoine should do in the situation. The orange haired woman had given a startled squeak as he sat next to her, reaching to hold her hand in his own.
"Antoine, don't yell. This is a hospital." She lightly scolded, patting his head with her one good arm, the other resting heavily against her chest in a thick cast that matched the one on her leg.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I don't know what I would do without you." His voice was surprisingly weak and shaky as he grabbed and squeezed her hand.
"It wasn't too bad." Although Antoine couldn't see her expression since he was looking down, Rae's wince was easily noticeable to the three teens as she glanced at the hand he was crushing. "You worry way too much about everything. And you're kind of killing my only good arm."
Antoine flinched, dropping her hand with an embarrassed chuckle. Honestly, from where he stood, it looked as if the two lovers were used to this, which seemed a little worrying considering he was squeezing the life out of her hand. Did he always get so worried he couldn't control himself? Xavier was snapped out of his thoughts by a sharp shove, making him almost drop the huge present in his hands.
"Crap, Sandra! What the heck?" Xavier yelled. The white haired girl snickered before walking towards the hospital bed where Kichirou now stood, setting up the large arrangements of flowers. The redhead quickly followed.
"Thanks guys." Out of nowhere, Antoine pulled out the glasses and poured the pink drink inside before handing Rae a glass. "I know you like to take a nice drink when stressed so I made you the cocktail."
"The cocktail?"
"Remember, I made it for our last anniversary." Suddenly, at Antoine's words, Rae's face lit up with realization. A grin made its way onto her face as she tried to hold in her laughter.
"The one you spilled on Marcus?" After Antoine nodded, they both broke into laughter. "That was so crazy. I remember how red his face went, and he stared chasing you around for ruining his suit! I heard he gets angry but I never would have thought it would be that extreme."
The moment Xavier said his next words, he regretted it. "How did you break your arm, anyway?" The happy and light atmosphere seemed to flip instantly as the blond's red eyes darkened.
"Well, I had been going out to get these... flowers? When I got attacked by some guy. I'm not sure why he got violent so quickly, but he did look kind of scared. I tried to fight back and I injured him but I also got hurt. Luckily, someone found us unconscious and helped us out."
"I just remembered something I have to do. I'll be right back." Before the seventeen year old could comprehend the situation, Antoine had walked out of the room. Kichirou furrowed his eyebrows, turning to Rae who just shrugged.
The silence was quickly broken by Rae who smiled and asked to see what was in the present box.
"Is this Isaiah's room?" Antoine asked, watching the terrified nurse nod skittishly before scurrying off. Ignoring her fearful gazes back at him, he knocked on the door, earning a grunt in response. The door slammed open and the man strode inside. His red eyes landed on the man who sat on the edge of his bed, looking out the window and adjusting the bandage wrapped around his head
Grey eyes glanced up at him, a snarl forming on Isaiah's lips. "I never said come-" He shut up as the fist clenched his collar, lifting him so he was on his tip-toes to look the tall stranger in the eye.
"Now you fucking listen." Antoine's voice was deep, guttural. More growl than speech. "I deal with a lot of shit and now I can't take it. If you don't want me to rip your throat out so you can't ever speak, give me answers."
"How did you two start dating, anyway?" Sandra asked, pouting in thought, watching the orange haired girl squeeze her new huge teddy bear gift. "Antoine used to be such the playboy."
"Well, I was collecting mushrooms. So was he. From there, we soon turned into cooking buddies. At first, I had the biggest crush on him - which is understandable, have you ever seen this man?- but then I got friendzoned real hard. After that, I had moved on and we started seeing different people and then the friendship sort of ended. Then, you won't believe this, but around a year later, we met again at the same place where we first met and both of us had a really cute, cliche moment where our hands touched while reaching for the same mushroom. Turns out he had been thinking of me and then, it was like, perfect moment. He asked to be my girlfriend. I said why not. That's a summary of course, if you want the long detailed version, Antoine can pretty much say every detail."
"Wow." Kichirou mumbled.
"But that's only the first time. There was some bullying from some fans, as if we were school girls. Eventually, we broke up after I saw him kissing some random fan girl. Turns out it was a misunderstanding and the girl had actually planned to get rid of me like that. You know, scaring me off. Antoine had apparently gotten really scary for a while and said that if any fan girl hurt me or tried to pull that, there would be a serious problem. Then, during a party, he had gone in front of everyone. He got down on one knee, there were fireworks and everything, and he pulled out a box. I was all 'is he actually going to propose to that girl?' and then he pulls out a necklace and says, "Rae, please, will you come back to me? Will you be my girlfriend?" And of course I did. Then, we started dating until now."
It was clear from Sandra's face that she was amazed. "You guys are such relationship goals. Haven't you ever been worried about him actually cheating? I mean, that kiss scene feels sort of scarring."
"Nope. Well, at first... But I got over it. The fangirls are still trying to get between us sometimes but never badly enough to hurt me, emotionally or physically." Rae said, thinking back with a small smile.
"How did he react? To the whole break up thing." Kichirou asked. The redhead next to him looked confused before remembering that Kichirou had been here for only two years, so they must have already been dating when he joined.
"I remember that time. He was crazy." Sandra said. At the probing looks, she elaborated. "He was so violent when angry and he was loner. But then, he started plotting to get her back and started involving the guild. It was terrifyingly beautiful! Antoi-"
"Are you talking about me? I know I'm handsome but I don't need more fans." Antoine slid back into the chair as if he never left moodily. "What are we talking about?"
"We were talking about-"
"This great teddy bear! It's so cute." Rae's interruption of Xavier's words was smooth. So smooth, it didn't feel interrupted at all. "Where were you?"
"Me? I just was talking to the doctor to see when you could get out." Antoine replied, not realizing anything wrong with the conversation.
"You should have just asked. It's not broken, just sprained, I think? I should be out in 2 days. Meaning, I should expect you to do something crazy in 2 days." Rae giggled and Antoine chuckled. The blond turned to thank the three for helping.
"Thanks for helping me out with the stuff. I might have weak requip but I can't carry much in the pocket space at once so you guys were a big help." Antoine shooed them away.
"Requip now too? Antoine, weren't you focusing on the family fire magic?" The couple's voices faded away as Sandra, Kichirou and Xavier walked off.
"I was! I'm learning with Angie, but then I wanted to carry stuff. Vibration magic and fire magic aren't very good for carrying things."
"Oh, sure. Honestly, it's like you show off that I can't learn magic."
"Rae, that's not true... Wait, no! Don't you dare rip the eye o- THE BEAR! NOOOOO! Where will I find a matching eyepatch?!"
"Mwahaha! That will teach you to mock- Don't tickle me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
A/N: I just wanted to say that I have gotten my first piece of artwork done for the story! I might not be the best artist and it was my first time turning a traditional drawing into a digital one, but I'm proud of it. It's a picture of Xavier, Kichirou and Daria and it will be on my new deviantart! If the link doesn't work, I'll leave a link on my profile to my deviantart page. art/Main-Crew4-684442232
Thanks again for reading.
SHAMELESS ADVERTISING CORNER!: If you like Katekyo Hitman Reborn, please read my fanfics about it: Rantings of a Teenage Mafioso and Even Though My Name Is Tsunayoshi, I'm Still a Girl! If you don't know the show, go watch/read it! Thanks.
Bye!