Rhythm of Life
Chapter Twenty-One
There was a gentle shaking of Kanda's body. "What is it, what do you want?" Kanda's grumble was muffled by the pillow in his face.
"Good Morning son, it's me, Tiedoll," he whispered cheerfully, glad to see his son had gotten some sleep and was still holding Allen's hand.
Kanda slowly opened an eye and looked over at Tiedoll.
"You sound in a good mood this morning. What time is it? Better yet, why the hell are you here?"
"It's five o'clock in the morning, son. You wanted me to wake you in case Allen woke up this morning. I stopped by on my way to an artist gathering that's out of town," Tiedoll said quietly, looking at Allen and then his son, not mentioning Cross had brought him to the hospital to get his car.
"Thanks, you can leave now, I'm awake," Kanda's voice muffled into his pillow.
"Alright, I'll stop by this afternoon. Did anything happen with Allen last night?" Tiedoll asked, hoping there had been some response from him.
"Yes, he squeezed my hand and left me a smile," Kanda said, groggy, not fully awake.
"That's wonderful son, he's going to be alright," Tiedoll whispered, tears formed in his eyes, what a sentimental old fool he could be. 'Cross will be relieved to know Allen's out of danger," Tiedoll thought, remembering Cross's concerns from last night.
"Yeah, now would you get the hell out of here, someone is trying to rest," he mumbled into his pillow again.
Tiedoll bent down and stroked his son's long hair that lied mussed around his shoulders and kissed the back of his head.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" another grumble came muffled from the pillow.
"Because I'm proud of you and I love you. Now, I'll see you later, son," Tiedoll whispered, smiling, and without doubt, in a very good mood.
Once Tiedoll had left, Kanda rolled over on his back with the pillow over his eyes and moaned. It's never been a problem in the past for Kanda to get up and be out into the fresh air jogging first thing in the morning, but this morning he felt like he had a hangover from lack of sleep.
He pushed the pillow off his face and rolled onto his side so he could look at Allen, "Good morning, Moyashi," Kanda whispered, to the unmoving Allen sleeping peacefully.
He slid out of bed, dragging himself into the bathroom to wash his face which helped revive him a little, but a hot tea would be great right about now. Coming out of the bathroom, there on the stand next to Allen's bed sat a large white Styrofoam cup. There was a note in front of it.
"Good morning son, I thought you might like this when you get up. Love, T"
"Damn, he knows me too well," Kanda muttered, happy his foster father had thought to bring him a hot tea.
Kanda stood drinking from his Styrofoam cup by the window watching the sun rise when a nurse came in to check Allen's vital signs and then left. Finishing his tea he climbed back onto the cot. 'Mediating will help me re-focus. My head feels fuzzy, like there's a fog in my brain,' Kanda thought, and settled into his pose.
He took a few deep breaths and slowly exhaled the last one, releasing all thoughts from his mind. Meditating had always helped clear his head and to re-energize him. Usually, nothing could interrupt his being present, in the Now, except one thing.
"Good morning, Kanda," a weak, tired voice spoke to him. Kanda slowly opened his eyes, glowing cheerfully— his eyes connected with Allen's sleepy ones.
"Well baka, you decided to join the living once again," Kanda smirked at him, his heart pounded wildly in his chest.
"Yeah, well I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, because I'm back to listen to your arrogant ass," Allen smiled, his voice hoarse and his eye lids drooped with fatigue.
"I guess you did hit your head hard, arrogant is it?" Kanda smirked at him, his eyes danced with delight.
"Seriously Kanda, thank you for staying here with me, it means a lot," Allen said, all ready getting tired and closed his eyes.
"What are friends for, plus someone had to stay to make sure you didn't fall out of bed and break the other arm too," Kanda said, nonchalantly.
Allen's eyes popped opened, moist with soon-to-be tears.
"Friends? You'd consider me your friend?" Allen whispered, stunned.
"Look idiot, don't get all emotional about it, it's not like I asked you to be my boyfriend." Kanda rolled his eyes.
'Christ where the hell did that come from! Maybe it's because I think about it too much,' Kanda cursed himself silently.
"Well, I wouldn't mind that either," Allen muttered, falling back to sleep, with a wonderful smile on his face.
'Fuck! What the hell's wrong with me? Good one Kanda, "not like I asked you to be my boyfriend," that was real smooth. What am I doing—losing my fucking mind? Why? Because I do want him in that way … it's just … damn he's so young and I'm not supposed to have feelings for him. Fuck, Cross would have a conniption fit.
I've fought these feelings all summer. I didn't intend for this to happen—it just did. They just developed on their own accord,' Kanda thought, reasoning with himself. They say you can't stop falling for the right person—and Allen is the right person for Kanda.
The nurse brought in soup and other liquids on a tray for Allen when he woke up again.
'Hell, I wonder if food for Moyashi is like smelling salts to other people,' Kanda thought, thinking this would be a fun test to try.
Picking up the soup bowl, Kanda placed it under Allen's nose, so he could smell the rich aroma. The nurse stopped and watched what Kanda was doing.
Sure enough, Allen's eyes slowly opened to the smell of the seasoned broth.
'Well that's solved, Moyashi will wake up to the smell of food,' thought Kanda, enjoying his little experiment. The nurse giggled and exited the room.
"Hunger, Moyashi?" Kanda asked, chuckling inside about the success of his little experiment.
"Kanda, did you just do something to me?" Allen asked, suspicious of the mischievous glint in his friend's eyes.
"Me? No, I didn't do anything. Would you like some soup?" Kanda repeated innocently, smirking inside.
"Actually I am hunger … hey, what's wrong with my arm?" Allen asked excitedly, not understanding why his arm was in a cast.
"You broke it moron. Don't you remember you had a cast on when you woke up?" Kanda asked a little bewildered.
"I didn't move my body when I woke up I was enjoying looking at you," Allen said, quickly realizing his blunder.
Automatically he slapped his good hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. 'Stupid shit, that's it, go ahead and spill your guts in front of Kanda,' Allen's pale complexion flushed a rosy red color.
"Oh … you were enjoying looking at me, eh?" Kanda grinned, now interested, ready to probe further into this discussion.
"Tell me what did you enjoy looking at the most, Moyashi?" Kanda asked his blue eyes twinkled as he looked directly into Allen's silvery ones. Allen was at a loss for words. As luck may have it, Cross barged in emitting his superior attitude, silencing the room.
"Well, I see we have some color back, except, that's a very deep shade of red—as in blushing. There must have been something going on in here before I entered and interrupted it," Cross bellowed at the both of them.
"Good morning to you to—Cross," Kanda said, sarcastically and scowled, annoyed with Allen's guardian was always interrupting them.
Cross ignored him and asked Allen sweetly in a nauseating tone of voice, "Well now, how are you feeling this morning, Allen?"
Allen's mouth dropped open at the sound of his name coming out of Cross's mouth. 'What the hell's gotten into him—Cross caring?'
"Well … I have a headache, my body aches all over and I just found out I have a broken arm," Allen snapped at Cross, recovered from his initial shock at his guardian's concern.
"You sure are feisty for someone who's been unconscious and has a concussion. Do you remember anything about yesterday?" Cross asked Allen.
"Yes, of course, I fell down the stairs. I evidently hit my head hard, seeing I have bandages wrapped around it and I have a headache. I must have broken my arm in the fall too," Allen retorted, lifting his casted arm.
"Do you remember what the argument was about?" Cross continued on.
Kanda snippily interrupted, "Cross do you have to bring that up now?"
"Why? The brat should be brought up to date, don't you think, boy?" Cross asked, and turned his head, his dark eyes narrowed on the older teenager.
"He just woke up, he has a headache and he finds out he has a broken arm. Do you think he wants to think about the accident last night and what—?"
"Shut up, boy, I never asked for your opinion on this matter," Cross snarled at Kanda.
Kanda's eyes darkened, shooting daggers at Cross, his fists balled at his side, and the color red crept up his neck from the anger Cross so easily managed to ignite.
"Okay Cross, could you calm down some, you're upsetting my friend and making my headache worse. Why don't you let Kanda tell me—quietly. Would that satisfy you?" Allen asked, trying to remain calm, for his headache's sake.
"Well seeing he's the prick who started all of this, fine. I'm going to get a coffee and maybe I'll check out the nurses while I'm drinking a cup," Cross said, and left the room.
Allen closed his eyes afraid what Kanda had to say to him.
"Well, you might as well get it over with. I'm sorry I upset everyone, but I deserved my 'F' grade, I didn't want to upset you displaying your portrait," Allen sighed. He kept his eyes closed, so the words from Kanda wouldn't hurt as much.
Kanda sat on the bed, facing him, not caring about anything else but being truthful to Moyashi. And for the life of him, he can't imagine how these words were formed and spewed from his mouth. Everything seemed to take on a life of its own at that moment.
"Idiot, open your eyes. I'm not going to yell at you. Yes, I saw the beautiful portrait you painted of me. I thought Tiedoll had done it and well … I don't like being put on display for the public." Allen opened his eyes when he heard no anger in Kanda's voice—only sincerity.
"You didn't get an 'F' for a grade," Kanda said quietly, and looked down at the bedding, adding, "I had Tiedoll take your portrait to the school to be exhibited like mine and all the others…" his voice trailed off.
"You … you let it be displayed? But Kanda, you're my friend and I didn't want to hurt your feelings and have you angry at me. I was prepared to let go of the 'A+' for you," Allen said, his heart pounded faster, wondering what this could possibly mean.
"Will you shut up … there's more … well … yes, your portrait is on display next to my own painting … ahem … well … which is a portrait of you," Kanda finally confessed, with a slight blush to his face.
"What? You … you did a portrait of me?" Allen asked, stunned by the news. Kanda lowered his eyes, waiting for Allen to yell at him for displaying his portrait in public.
"Kanda … that's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," Allen whispered, tears started to roll down his cheeks.
Kanda looked up quickly not believing what Allen had just said and saw his tears. He took his thumb and wiped them away, keeping his hand on Allen's soft face, his thumb skimmed over the scar, looking steadily into those haunting silver eyes.
"At first the idea was to rile you and put you on display in front of the class, to make a fool of you. But the more I painted you … the more I was with you … the more it took on a different meaning," Kanda's voice was now barely a whisper.
"You painted me—that's all that matters—the same as I painted you—. " Allen stopped. Emotions welled up inside of him, ones that were stronger than he had ever felt for another person.
Their eyes betrayed the affection they had kept from one another. Kanda held the side of Allen's soft face with his hand and leaned in closer to Allen. So close, Allen could feel Kanda's breath on his skin. Closing their eyes, they felt the magnetic pull bringing them together—Kanda's gentle, soft lips barely touched Allen's when—the door slammed open and Cross walked in.
Startled, they both jump at the intrusion of what would have been their first kiss! 'Damn Cross!' they both thought.
"Well, well … was that going to be your first kiss, or just a sample of lips? I thought you weren't fucking my charge, boy!" Cross said, in his brusque manner.
"I'm not fucking Moyashi, and it's none of your business which kiss this would had been," growled Kanda, now really annoyed with Cross's interruptions.
Allen was in shock, but he wasn't sure which shocked him more; Kanda taking his breath away with an attempt at the most romantic moment to kiss him, or Cross stomping in here catching them. He felt faint, light-headed, and the room spun. He couldn't hold on any longer, letting go of everything, he allowed the blackness to overcome him as he sunk back into his pillow, unconscious.
To be continued …
A/N: Wow, if Allen fainted over an almost kiss, what would happen with a real kiss? I hoped this chapter was enjoyable. Our two little love birds ... ah … how adorable they are, so until next time — Thanks to all who responded to the last chapter and wasn't upset with the Cross/Tiedoll coupling.