AN: I was originally planning another Yashiro flashback for this chapter but I think I'll put it in the next one instead. The news story will also play out next chapter.

Chapter Fourteen

My body feels stiff and my head feels tired. I'm completely drained. I don't want to admit it but having the seizure earlier and now listening to Yashiro whilst I feel so tired is making his language hard for me to understand. I don't want to admit this to Kyoko though. She's been telling me that she is happy I've been making so much progress. Right now I've had a setback and I don't want to trouble her with it. I let myself smile weakly.

Yashiro says something about his business again. It's something like a small agency for start up actors. He wants to see if I can help him with it. I don't know but I nod. I'd help him with anything.

"Are you feeling okay, sweetheart?" Kyoko asks very slowly as she tries to make eye contact with me. "Sorry," she turns to Yashiro. "His brain might…"

I don't even listen to the rest of that, "Ff-ine," I struggle to tell her. "I'm fff-ine"

"I understand," Yashiro moves forwards and looks at me cautiously. I know that they are worried about me pushing myself too much. I hate that people don't give me credit for being an independent person. I have always been able to take care of myself. Kyoko kisses my cheek. "Would it be better for me to go?" Yashiro asks slowly. He's trying to be respectful.

"No.." I struggle, "Ffine"

Kyoko looks to me and rubs my hand. She turns to Yashiro with a sympathetic look and Yashiro moves awkwardly. Kyoko bows her head. "Shotaro was here earlier," she says and Yashiro hums. We've asked him to not use this information against Fuwa, not that we should be protecting Fuwa.

"I'm sorry," Yashiro says and Kyoko shakes her head.

"He knocked Kuon down and started kicking him," Kyoko says and I struggle to keep up with her. I feel that my head is breaking again and that my brain is stuck. "When Kuon had a seizure he laughed."

Yashiro looks to us in shock and leans in my direction. I know he's worried that I'm okay. I don't know how to respond to him. It was a shock to me too that he would come here but he's obsessed with Kyoko. He thinks that because I am having problems at this point that he owns Kyoko and can take control over her. I shouldn't worry about this. There's a lot more that's worth worrying about.

"I can't wait to see the girls," Yashiro tells us as he changes the subject. I smile as I hear that. The girls have been amazing. I'm not the father that they've known and relied on but they can still see my want to be that father. I love them. I wouldn't be going through all of this if I didn't love my family.

…

….

As I observe Kuon, there are a lot of questions. Kyoko told me that the doctors had to do a lot of work for him and that somehow he survived but his brain was bleeding so badly that they had to go in for emergency surgery as soon as he entered the hospital. Kyoko told me that the doctors tried to do everything they could to preserve as much of the brain as possible.

That thought is scary to me. As much of the brain? Humans generally tend to need their brain to function properly and I'm not sure what 'as much as possible' means. I look at him. I can understand why regular people don't think that he will make it but Kuon is…scary. He's always mastered anything he's put his hand to. I think it would seem insensitive to think that he wouldn't be able to wake up.

"I'm trying to take as best care of him as I can," Kyoko admits and I nod. I know she is. There's not much that you can do when a person is in a coma.

"I believe in him," I tell her and Kyoko smiles gratefully for the support. "I mean, think of all the things that he's achieved. I am sure that he's fighting in order to make it back to you and the girls."

"Yashiro," she says nervously and kisses Kuon's cheek again. He doesn't respond to this. I don't know why I was hoping that he would. "Kuon is, when someone has been in a serious accident like Kuon…" she says nervously and I listen to her. I have my suspicions on what she is going to say. "When their brain is…"

"He might not be the same Kuon," I finish for her and she nods, sniffing away some tears.

"As his best friend, if you rejected him because he had mental difficulties then that kind of a bl—" I raise my hand. I'm not going to say anything unkind because of the way that she's judging me. I know that she's just trying to be concerned and protective. If she was in a less emotional state then maybe I'd have a right to feel offended.

"Kuon Hizuri is my best friend," I tell her. "We've known each other for years. I am not going to suddenly stop being his friend because he has some challenges mentally. I don't care how sick he is. I want to be there. Don't treat me like the type of guy who would judge him like that."

Kyoko nods before bowing her head. "Thank you," she tells me. I watch her. Have there been people or moments when he hasn't been accepted? He did this to save his wife. That's an act that should be admired.

….

….

I smile to Yashiro. He appears happy and more than that, having him here is definitely making Kuon a little happier. He's not judging. He understands how difficult it must be for Kuon so he's speaking in a slower form of English to accommodate him. Once again, I am really thankful for Yashiro. I hear my phone buzz and pull it out. I blink. Kuu's sent me a link to a video? I open up the message and see that it says there is video footage released of the accident.

I freeze before starting to stand up, both men look at me in concern. "Keep talking," I assure them. "I just need to sort this out." I squeeze Kuon's shoulder and walk away. I hear Yashiro smiling.

"See, she doesn't think that anything bad is going on. You really need to stop being so critical of yourself, Kuon. You're a really great guy." I look back at them and nod. It's okay to walk away to look at this and I don't want Kuon to see it until I know what it is.

I grab the tablet and turn down the volume a little before opening the link. I blink as it loads and I can see that it's from an aerial view, the traffic lights maybe? Do those have cameras in them? I can see myself and Rose starting to cross the road as Ana and Kuon are on the other side. He has her in his arms and she's snuggling next to him but as I start to cross the road, I see Shotaro restraining my arm. I keep watching as the camera zooms in a little. Was this actually being observed by somebody at the time?

I notice the crack where I got my heel stuck and cringe but my eyes widen. Somehow I managed to side step it. I must have realized it was there at some point. However, as Shotaro yanks on my arm, my foot slips and that's how my heel became stuck. I can see myself attempting to free it and Shotaro is just staring at me. From the upper left I see the bus – most likely breaking speed limit – turn from the corner behind me. Shotaro puts his hands up and starts backing away as if none of this concerns him. He turns and sees the bus and starts moving away from me faster.

I see the camera view go even closer to me and I'm struggling to move. I see the bus draw nearer and nearer, not slowing down and then I see it. Kuon shoves me over so that I'm on the ground and he's bent his body a little acting as if he's a shield so that I don't get run over. I then see the bus strike him and stop.

Instead of him crumpling onto the floor on top of me, he is thrown backwards where another car is attempting to beat the lights. His body flips and his head strikes the window, shattering the glass and I can tell he's unconscious. This time his body is thrown towards the traffic and he falls head first to the dashboard of the stopped vehicle and rolls forwards until his body is limp on the ground with blood surrounding him.

I freeze and play back the video to the point where he is sheltering me. If he had been standing instead of crouching at an angle, would he be thrown like that. I look at him carefully. He's attempting to use his hands to block me like he's done in the past but his arms are at a point where he's not protecting his body, he's doing everything to protect me. Shotaro has run off at this point when he caused me to stumble. He could have helped in some way but he just put his hands up as if he had nothing to do with the problem and ran away.

I haven't seen anything like this before, this type of freak accident but every move Kuon made at the beginning was so, apart from the injury to my ankle, I wouldn't get hurt. I feel the tears in my eyes as I think about some of the things that he asked me. Putting him in an assisted living community? Committing adultery with his permission? He's offering me these options when everything he did in that moment was to protect me and save my life.

I see that there are various news segments on this, I'll watch those later. Right now I want to see that Kuon is okay. It's almost impossible that he lived through that and came out without deeper injuries. I go and stand in the room where Yashiro is talking about how excited he was to see Kuon win that Academy Award. I feel tears in my eyes and both men turn to me.

"Kyo—kko?" Kuon asks slowly and I just stare at him not sure what to say. "Ar—are y-y-yo—" he puts a hand to his forehead and I feel tears in my eyes as I remember how his head got injured. I go over to him and wrap my arms around him.

"Just fine, Corn," I tell him as I nuzzle his neck. All those choices that he made were for my benefit. He knew he wouldn't be able to whisk me away in time despite us knowing that's what he wanted. There were more chances of him dying after that then living and yet he made those choices so that even if he did die, which was the probability, I would be okay. "I love you," I tell him and he reaches for my hand, squeezing it slightly

"Llo-vve y-y-y-yo-u t-t-tt-o" he tells me and I can't believe that we're this lucky that all he has to deal with is his speech and how he hears and listens to words. He could have ended up in a vegetative state very easily and yet he is still showing independence. I don't even have words to express my gratitude.

End of Chapter Fourteen

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Thirteen

H-Nala, Kaname671