I'm back! And I did manage to win NaNoWriMo, for anyone interested. I actually reached word count five days early, but I needed to take a tiny bit of a writing break to clear my mind and get back into fanfiction mode. I did find that fanfiction is definitely a comfort zone for me, one that I'm not going to ever fully leave, I don't think. I just feel a lot more comfortable here, which is good for all of you. Not to say I don't like writing me own stories, but you know. This is fun.
Well yes, I just have to thank you all for waiting so patiently, and here's the new chapter.
Chapter 53
Cooro had told Nana that he talked to Husky the day before during lunch, explaining that the younger boy really was just sick and that there wasn't really anything to be worried about. The relief on her face had been nearly immediate, although the fact that he was sick, and apparently still too sick to come to school definitely wasn't a good thing either.
When things could always be so much worse though, it was nice to know that it was nothing permanent. Much rather a cold than some other possibility neither of them really wanted to think about all that much.
The black haired boy was walking back home now. He'd realized that Keane had been waiting for him to get out, despite the fact that Husky wasn't actually with him today. He'd done the same thing yesterday as well, but Cooro hadn't given it any thought. It was a… he guessed it was a really nice realization, despite the hint of guilt it left inside of him. Keane was a good friend, and leaving him in the dark about everything was for the best. He'd thank them if he knew why they were doing this.
"Cooro?" the redhead asked, knocking him out of his thoughts. They were stopped in front of the church now. He hadn't even realized they'd reached it already.
"Yeah?" he asked back cheerfully, plastering that ever constant smile back on his face. Keane just stared at him for a moment, looking slightly confused before speaking again.
"I said I'll see you on Monday," he apparently had to repeat, only then making Cooro realize that he'd even missed him saying something in the first place. Cooro laughed a bit and nodded quickly.
"Right, I'll see you then!" he told the older boy. Keane didn't immediately turn to walk away though, still watching him, almost as if he was a puzzle that wouldn't go together right.
"You and Myrrha are always doing that…" he mumbled, causing Cooro to cock his head to the side in innocent confusion.
"Always doing what?" he asked, not entirely sure what the red head was talking about. He hadn't been doing anything just now from what he could remember, but Keane just started to shake his head, like he was trying to take back the previous sentence.
"Nothing, never mind. See you later," he backpedaled, starting to turn away and lifting one hand in a half-hearted wave goodbye. Cooro just nodded slightly, not entirely sure what had just happened, but it wasn't like he could force Keane to explain. He wouldn't want to do something like that anyway, it would be mean. He doubted whatever it was that had bothered him was that much of a problem anyway.
"Okay, bye! Tell Husky I said I hope he gets better soon," the black haired boy said happily, starting around to the back of the church as he did. Keane nodded, saying he would pass on the message before turning fully around and continuing on with the rest of the way to his house.
It was really starting to get cold now, the months having turned over to December, and Keane bunched up his coat when the wind began blowing a bit harder than it had been before.
The redhead felt his mind return to what he'd been just told Cooro a few moments ago, not entirely sure what he'd even meant. Cooro and Myrrha always… they did that thing. That odd little thing where they were all spacey and then pretended that nothing had happened and it was weird. It was like they were always thinking about something, but he had no idea what that something could be.
Keane quickly started shaking his head, trying to distract himself. Whatever it was, it was none of his business. If they wanted to tell him, they would.
The redhead started thinking about what had happened earlier today in attempt to change the subject in his mind. Nothing much of any real note, expect for the fact that today was his second day with that councilor guy. It was weird; having to talk to some guy he didn't even know about his 'problems'. He didn't think he really had any problems, but it was better to just go along with this so that it would end sooner.
The therapist had asked him about why Myrrha hadn't come to talk to him today, so he guessed the younger boy was supposed to have his meetings before he did. Keane had told the man that he was sick at home, but that he should be better by Monday. Mr. Greena had simply nodded at that, saying that he hopes that his brother feels better soon before changing the subject once again.
Keane knew their therapy sessions were supposed to be about everything that had happened, what with his mom and Myrrha and everything, but they hadn't really talked about it much yet. Mostly just school and how he was currently feeling and things like that.
Reaching his house, he started up the stairs to his room without bothering to go get something to eat first or anything. He wasn't really that hungry at the moment. Stopping in front of Myrrha's door, he hesitated for a second before knocking softly and waiting for the younger boy to answer.
"Come in," a muffled voice called from inside of the room, and Keane slowly opened the door and peaked inside before walking in completely.
The silver haired boy was sitting on his bed, a blanket pulled up around his form, hiding almost his entire body from view. He seemed pretty tired, a hand sticking out from the blue folds of fabric to cover a yawn. Keane remembered Cooro mumbling once about how Myrrha always wrapped himself up in blankets when something was wrong with him, but he didn't seem to be stressed out or having a panic attack or anything of the like right now.
"Hey, how was your day?" the redhead asked, just in an attempt to sound casual and out of a loss for ideas of what else to do, waiting for Myrrha to finish yawning before starting to speak.
"Fine, I mostly just slept. You just get back from school?" he asked, and Keane nodded, running a hand up and down his book bag strap.
"Yeah," he answered. Keane stayed quiet for a moment, just watching the younger boy as he tried to figure out if there was anything else to say. Myrrha just squirmed slightly, shifting the blanket farther up his body as it began to fall down again. "Want me to get you some medicine?" he asked after a moment. The silver haired boy was silent, apparently thinking the question over before shaking his head.
"No, it's fine. I'll just get it myself, thanks," he insisted, pushing himself off of the bed. He didn't let go of the blanket though, keeping it held tight up around his neck. Keane frowned slightly, watching the younger boy walk past him. Running to his room, he dropped his book bag down quickly inside, not bothering to shut the door before starting off after him again.
"You cold? I could turn up the heat or something," he asked, walking down the stairs. Myrrha shrugged slightly as he continued towards the kitchen.
"Um, you can if you want to, it's fine," he mumbled. Keane nodded, watching the silver boy a bit. It looked almost like he was wearing a large blue cloak or something; the only thing he could really see was his bare feet when they poked out of the blanket as he walked. The redhead stopped at the thermostat in order to turn the heat up just slightly. It was a bit cold in here too, the weather from inside seeping in ever so slightly, so he wouldn't mind.
When he reached the kitchen, Myrrha was struggling to open the pill bottle while keeping the blanket from falling from his shoulders.
"Need some help?" he asked, the younger boy instantly shaking his head, causing the blanket to slip a bit more and his irritation to grow just that much more.
"I said I got it," he grumbled, the bottle finally opening and Myrrha shaking a couple of the pills into the palm of his hand. Settling the pill bottle down, he pulled the blanket up again before turning to pore himself a drink so that he could actually swallow the pills.
"Are you sure you don't -" Keane started to ask, not able to get his whole question out before Myrrha interrupted him.
"I'm fine. Why won't you leave me alone already?" he asked, the irritation in his voice pretty evident, even under the raspy-ness that the cold added to his already strange tone. Keane tried to keep himself from shrinking back or getting annoyed with the question.
"I'm just trying to help," he grumbled, turning to look out the window towards the backyard almost completely as an excuse to keep from looking at Myrrha. The younger boy didn't say anything for a few seconds, barely able to keep himself from spilling the drink. Only once the cap was back on the bottle and it was safe did he actually start to speak.
"I don't need any help, okay? I'm sick, not helpless," Myrrha insisted, and Keane just nodded slightly, looking away from the window but not bothering to actually look at him. The silver boy was always like this. He wasn't being mean; he was just being himself, really. It shouldn't bother him.
"Okay, I'll just see you later then," the redhead mumbled, turning out of the kitchen without another word and leaving Husky alone once again. The younger boy just stared at the empty doorway for a moment, before sighing and shaking his head. Keane was being weird again; he should be used to this by now. Keane was just weird.
Quickly, he managed to swallow the two pills, coughing slightly afterwards when some of the water got caught up in his throat. The tiny surge of panic that ran through him in that moment was quickly pushed down as he started to breathe again. He couldn't drown anymore, it was impossible for him now. There wasn't any need to panic.
Pulling his blanket up a bit more, Husky quickly put the bottle away before starting back up to his room. He hadn't been awake for very long before Keane had come home, so he really hadn't been doing much of anything.
It was annoying that he missed school again. He wasn't feeling nearly as bad today as he had been yesterday, so it might have been possible for him to go if Keane (he guessed it had to have been Keane, there wasn't anyone else to do it, after all) hadn't turned off his alarm before it could go off and wake him up. Sure, his head was still feeling all muffled, and his throat was feeling as scratchy today as well now, but it wasn't that bad.
Sitting on his bed now, Husky wasn't entirely sure what to do. He didn't have any homework, since he hadn't gone to school again, and he wasn't sure if he should try to call Nana or Cooro, they might not even be home yet, and they probably didn't want him bothering them every minute of every day. Today was one of Keane's weird days (which increasingly seemed like a weird day would be every day with the redhead now) and he had just kind of told him to leave him alone. Plus, there was the whole thing where he would probably get the older boy sick if they stuck around each other too much.
In turn, Husky was bored, which was odd and didn't sit right with him in the least. With what his life had become, he shouldn't be capable of being bored anymore.
He was though, despite all of that. Flopping down with a sigh, he just stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the cold medicine to start to take affect so that he could think without that smog clouding his thoughts.
He ended up falling back to sleep, only waking up when a knock at his door sounded and Keane's voice came in saying something about dinner. Husky called back an okay, pushing himself up as he heard the redhead's footsteps going down the stairs, annoyed with himself knowing that there was no way he'd be able to sleep tonight now.
Neither boy spoke much while they were eating, Husky starting to wonder slightly if he'd ended up hurting his feelings or something like that. He hadn't said anything that bad, just to leave him alone and that he could do things himself. Whatever this was, it's Keane's fault for being all sensitive or whatever.
After he was finished eating Husky retreated back up to his room, saying a quick goodbye to Keane as he did.
It was barely five minutes after he got into his room that Husky heard his cell phone go off, startling him quite a bit. Looking at the screen, he saw the church's number flashing and quickly answered it without a moment's hesitation.
"Hello?" he asked, figuring that the only person from the church who would ever be calling him was Cooro, and was instantly proven right when the other boy's voice started to come out cheerfully from the other side of the line.
"Hey Husky, I just wanted to see how you were doing today and stuff. I was kind of bored," Cooro said, and Husky nodded, a little bit glad that he wasn't the only one who was feeling like that. It made the fact that he was seem slightly less disturbing.
"Same here. I'm fine, better than I was yesterday, at least," he told him. The two ended up talking about what felt like amounted to nothing for a while. What he missed in school, how long did he think before he was better again, that so far nothing was changing with the animas, so they were at a dead end.
"I'm bored," Husky mumbled after a lull in the conversation. In the church's small kitchen, Cooro nodded in agreement. "It's weird, I don't feel like I'm allowed to be bored anymore, but I am," he continued.
"You're allowed to be bored Husky. I mean, it'd be really bad if you were in a constant state of panic all the time, you know?" Cooro said, and the silver boy definitely couldn't argue with that logic. He hated being in states of panic for just small amounts of time.
They didn't end up talking for much longer. Senri would be moving in sometime around the middle of the week next week, so they would get to see him again then. Husky wondered slightly if he should bring up Keane, but decided against it. After a few more minutes, the two ended up saying goodbye before hanging up. Husky wished slightly that he wasn't sick, so that he could have possibly made plans to actually leave the house and see Cooro and Nana during the weekend, but he was, so he couldn't.
The silver haired boy ended up being right thinking that he wouldn't be able to sleep that night because of all the naps he'd taken during the day. It was well past midnight now, and he could start to feel the effects of the medicine he'd taken with his dinner beginning to wear off.
Walking downstairs, Husky still had the blue blanket that Cooro had lent (given?) him wrapped around his shoulders. He guessed carrying a blanket around with him everywhere he went was childish and just kind of silly, but he was sick, so he had that as an excuse. When he tried to get himself the medicine though, this time he allowed himself to drape the blanket over a chair so that he didn't risk spilling everything.
He was starting back to his room, out of the kitchen and into the dark next room when something was caught in the corner of his eye, stealing his attention and causing him to turn around and look out the back room window. An almost irritating sense of de-ja-vu struck him at the sight of the redhead, sitting out on the now old porch swing in the backyard.
This had happened before… When had this happened before? Slowly the memory started to come back to him, Husky frowning as he struggled to see Keane clearly in the dark.
It'd been, what? Two years ago now? Yeah, that seemed about right. Back when his mother had still been alive and he had to visit here on weekends and such. He couldn't remember why he'd been downstairs at the time, but he remembered seeing Keane outside on the swing, and waiting for the older boy to come inside. And then… something, he must have fallen asleep. Whether or not they had ended up talking about it later was lost in the current foggy state of his mind.
Walking over to the back door, the silver boy ignored the fact that he wasn't wearing any shoes and stepped outside, tightening his grip on the blanket due to the cold. What in the world was Keane doing out here on a night like this? It was freezing.
Husky barely ever went in the backyard; he didn't see what the use for it was. It was just a large patch of grass with a few trees and bushes and the swing that Keane was on, so there wasn't really anything there to entice him. Because of this though, he found himself tripping over some path markers he never noticed before, alerting the older boy to his presence.
"Myrrha?" Keane asked, having immediately jumped up from his seat when he'd seen the movement out of the corner of his eye, only to relax slightly in realizing that it was just the younger boy. Even still, he quickly started over to where Husky was shivering, the annoyance in the skinny boy's form, even under a blanket clear.
"What are you doing out here? It's cold and you're already sick, go back inside," Keane said, the confusion in his voice obvious. Myrrha just rolled his eyes though before speaking.
"I c-came out to see what you were doing. Why are you being so w-weird today?" Husky asked, irritated as the say the chilly night caused him to stutter slightly. The redhead didn't seem to be as bothered by the cold, but he was wearing a coat over his pajamas, as well as shoes, neither of which Husky had.
"I… huh?" was all Keane managed to say at first though. He seemed to recover a bit after that though, stuffing his hands into his pocket, although Husky wasn't sure if it was due to the cold, or embarrassment.
"It's nothing, go back inside, you'll catch your death out here," Keane said, but the silver boy didn't move from his spot.
"I'm fine. Geeze, you sound like a mom or something," Husky mumbled, even though it was really cold and his bare feet were starting to grow numb in the freezing dew covered grass. Before Keane could start arguing with him again, the younger boy started speaking again. "I'll go inside if you come with me," he said. It would be a lot more comfortable talking about this inside anyway.
The redhead seemed to hesitate for a moment before sighing and nodding. Husky was just barely able to see his breath in the light shining out from the kitchen window that he'd forgotten to turn off.
"Okay, just come on, you," Keane said, taking one hand out of his pocket and starting to lead Husky back towards the house by his wrist. Husky almost pulled away, about to insist that he could walk the few feet back perfectly fine all by himself, but reluctantly decided to just let the older boy do what he want. He didn't particularly enjoy being touched, but if they didn't fight then Keane would probably be more likely to tell him what was going on.
Once they were inside though Husky immediately broke away, going to sit in the dim living room as he tried to rub some heat back into his feet. Keane came into the room a few seconds afterwards, still wearing his coat and shoes, squinting at the younger boy in the darkness.
"So, what were you doing out there anyway?" Husky asked, in a tone like he was just asking about the weather or how school had been today. His eyes were starting to adjust to the lack of light, so it was getting easier to see Keane's expression, which had turned to a frown as he turned slightly away from the boy on the couch.
"I just like it out there, it's nothing," he mumbled. Husky stopped messing with his feet, now just pulling his legs up to his chest and covering his body up with the blanket. He was still cold, but it wasn't anywhere as bad as it had been when he was outside.
"In the middle of the night in the freezing cold? That kind of sounds like something to me," he said, not about to let Keane just push this away as nothing. Probably what had happened all those years ago too, thinking about it. He didn't know what he should even really care, but Keane had pushed into his business with finding Senri, so it was only fair if he pushed into his insisting he talked about why he was being a total weirdo and going outside in the middle of the night.
Still. Even after all this time. Something was still wrong.
"I have a coat and shoes on; it's not that cold when you're actually dressed. And it's quiet at night, I just couldn't sleep," Keane said.
"You've been acting weird all day," Husky insisted. It was true; he had been, at least since after he'd gotten home from school. He couldn't speak for anything before that though.
"No I haven't," Keane said, starting to turn away from the younger boy and heading up the stairs to where both their rooms were. Husky instantly sprang up to head after him, still not remembering to turn off the light in the kitchen. It wasn't like that mattered anyway, though.
"Yes, you have," he said, following him up the stairs. "Keane, talk to me," the silver boy demanded, although Keane didn't stop walking as he answered him.
"I thought you wanted me to leave you alone," he said simply, causing Husky to groan slightly in annoyance. Really now? There's no way that's what's been bothering him all day, was it? He'd been acting off even before that. All snuffy and clingy and stuff.
"Seriously? That's what this is about?" he asked. Both boys had reached the top of the stairs now, and Keane actually turned around to look at him now.
"Huh?" he asked, seeming genuinely confused about what Husky was talking about.
"This. You know, you acting all weird and moping around outside and stuff. This is just because I told you to leave me alone?" he asked, watching as Keane frowned and started shaking his head.
"That's not it, and I'm not moping either. I'm just… I don't know," he stumbled, not seeming to be able to find the right words. Husky wasn't entire sure what he was supposed to do. It's not like this was something serious, right? He was just acting weird because Keane was simply weird.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, watching as the redhead shoved his hands in his pockets again.
"I'm just confused, okay? You and Cooro and all your stupid secrets, it's confusing! And I don't think you're ever gonna tell me what's going on either," he said, surprising Husky. So… Keane really did know something was going on. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. They couldn't let him know what was happening. He wasn't even supposed to know there was anything happening in the first place. Why was he so bad at keeping secrets?
"I… I don't... What are you talking about? There aren't any secrets, you're paranoid!" he said at last, figuring the best plan of action right now would to be to just deny everything. Keane seemed annoyed by the accusation for a few seconds, before sighing and actually nodding in agreement, once again shocking Husky. What the? Why would he agree to something like that?
"Yeah, right. I'm just paranoid," he grumbled, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. Husky just stood there for a moment, not entirely sure what to do at all. Keane obviously didn't believe him, but it would be bad if he tried to snoop around and figure out what was really happening. Before he was able to try to convince the other boy that he was wrong though, Keane started speaking again.
"Just go to bed Myrrha, it's late and you're sick," he said, turning around and starting down the hall to his own room without letting the silver boy have any chance to speak.
Before the redhead had managed to close his door behind him though, Husky had started to let words tumble from his mouth without really thinking about it. It was stupid, he should just let Keane go to sleep and hopefully forget about all of this. Anything he told him about what was going on would just make the whole situation all the worse, but even still, his brain wasn't working quite right. He was sick, after all.
"We're not doing it to be mean, okay? It's just… it's really complicated. I can't tell you. I mean, at least not right now. Maybe someday when things make sense again, just… not right now…" he fumbled, clutching the blanket tight around his neck so that there was no way for Keane to see the Anima markings. The cause of all their problems.
The redhead was staring back at him now, seeming just as surprised by his outburst as Husky was himself. After a few moments Keane nodded slightly, actually appearing to take what the younger boy had just said as an appropriate answer.
"Okay. I'm holding you to that, alright? Promise you'll tell me someday," he said, and reluctantly Husky found himself nodding, all the while berating himself in his head about how stupid he was being. He didn't want to ever tell Keane if he could get away with it, but even still he heard himself speaking, as if someone else was controlling his voice.
"Sure, I promise," he said, as if this whole thing wasn't as big of a deal as it really was. To his surprise Keane actually smiled at that, nodding once again.
"Goodnight," the redhead said.
"Yeah, night," Husky mumbled, turning back around and heading into his own room. His light was still on, and the brightness hurt his eyes a bit. He didn't bother to go and turn it off at first though, instead heading right over to his bed and falling down onto it in a heap.
Stupid, stupid, stupid Keane. Why did he have to ask so many questions? And why in the world had he actually agreed to tell him what was going on someday? He shouldn't have said anything. It was all so very stupid.
Half-heartedly reaching over, he flicked the switch for his lamp, casting his room into darkness. He still wasn't very tired, but he guessed he needed his rest if he was going to get any better.
It seemed like he definitely needed it too, if he was doing such idiotic things.
And yay, finally a new chapter after so very long. I hadn't planned anything that had happened in this chapter, just kind of letting the characters do what they want in order to get the feel for the story back (this explains the gratuitous amounts of Keane and Husky, doesn't it?) and this is what happened. The night that Husky was remembering what from the first two bonus chapters, Family Times and Like a Redheaded Stepchild.
Well, I hope you liked the chapter. Hopefully updates will continue as normal now. Thanks for reading, and as always, please review.
