The Only Thing I See

Ch. 3:

Kakeru smiled as warmly as he could at Mrs. Cail. "Mrs. Cail! It's great to see you again!" He looked past her shoulder. "Hey, Lantis!"

The quiet boy smiled and nodded in response. Even Lantis, who was insensitive by nature, could tell how strained Kakeru's smile was.

"It's wonderful to see you as well, Kakeru." She looked at him carefully. "Is something wrong?"

Kakeru lowered his eyes and shook his head. He didn't mean 'no', he meant he couldn't tell her. He wasn't the one to tell her. Rather, he gestured for the two to come in, politely holding the door for them. The two walked in, admiring the changes the house had gone through since their last visit, so many years ago.

"Hanae?" called a woman's voice. Hanae turned around, and nearly exploded in happiness.

"Saooooori! It's been MUCH too long!" She promptly squeezed the life out of Hikaru's mother. The two boys shook their heads and left the two woman to talk. Hanae looked after them, and as soon as they left, she took her friend's face in her hands. "You're so pale…! And those bags under your eyes! Classic symptoms of Saori depression. What's the matter?"

Saori sighed and blinked back tears again. "H…Hikaru…"

The elder woman paled and fretted, "Oh! Has she been hurt? Picked on? Love sickness? Heartbreak?"

Suddenly, the red-headed mother broke down crying. Hanae, knowing what her friend needed, gently led her to the kitchen. She sat Saori down on the comfortable kitchen chair, and she sat down across from her. "What ever is the matter, Saori? It must be something horrible for you to… Oh, no… did Hiroshi walk out on you?!?"

Despite her unending tears, Saori looked at her in disbelief. "What? I told you… Hikaru…" Once more, she found herself unable to continue. When she pictured Hikaru, innocent, lost, and…blind… Her walls would crumble and she'd realize how helpless she was. She couldn't even protect her own dear daughter.

Hanae busied herself in the kitchen, looking for tea. She found it quickly enough, and as she prepared the drink, she chattered away. "Really, what did happen? It really must have been something horrible!"

Saori knew Hanae was trying to get her to talk to her, and the younger woman consented. She had wanted to talk about it, but it was just so difficult for her. Finally, she took a deep breath and launched into the story.

By the time she was done, Hanae had burned herself on scalding water and broken a tea cup. And Hanae was not normally a klutzy woman.

Saori soaked up the hot water, as Hanae cleaned the glass. The elder woman hadn't said anything yet, except utter, "I'm so sorry…" at the end of her story. Obviously, she was still trying to absorb it all. Saori couldn't blame her – she hadn't taken it all in yet, either.

"I don't know what to do… My poor daughter, such an unfair curse…" she trailed off, staring at a framed photo. It was of a two year old Hikaru, the child smiling happily at her older brothers.

~*~

Lantis was currently being given the 'Grand Tour'.

"All right, so this is my room, that I share with Masaru," narrated Kakeru. "And this Satoru's room, lucky bastard gets his own room." He paused in front of the next door, a simple oak clone of the other doors. "And…this… This is Hikaru's room." His hand shook slightly as he rested it on the knob. "I…should probably tell you this first… But Hikaru's recently become blind. It happened just yesterday…"

The normally somber man looked at the boy with shock written clearly on his face. "What do you mean, it happened just yesterday?"

Kakeru's lips quavered, as if he wanted to say but wasn't sure. Finally, he shook his head. "I…can't tell. Later. Satoru will tell you." With that, he started to withdraw his hand, but then changed his mind. "You should meet her now. You'll love her, I promise you." The door creaked open, and Hikaru's sensitive ears easily picked up the sound.

"Eagle?"

"No, it's me." Kakeru kneeled at his sister's bedside. "How are you? Feeling okay?"

The redhead nodded and smiled sweetly. "Yeah! Hikari was keeping me company, but Masaru had to take him for a walk."

"That's good… A guest is here to see you. His name is Lantis. Cail Lantis. You don't know him personally, of course…"

Hikaru clapped her hands together happily. "Oh! The Cail family is here? They must think I'm horribly rude, not even coming down to greet them." Her hands searched for her brother's. "Where is he? He's awfully silent…"

Lantis was staring at Hikaru's eyes. Although open, they had a certain dull quality to them. And the unattractive red welt made him sick. She was such a beautiful girl, with glassy red eyes and silky pink lips. The girl was dressed in a satin nightgown and her hair was let down loosely over it. Finally, he snapped out of his trance like admiration of her beauty, and touched her hand. "Hello…" He was surprised at his own actions, as if his hand had acted of it's own accord.

Hikaru tentatively held out a hand, and felt his face. Her fingers traced over his eyelashes, and then the soft outline of his lips. She caressed his cheek and let her hand recognize him for her. Finally, she dropped her arm, and smiled softly in his direction.. "Nice to meet you, Lantis-san. I'm Hikaru. Well, I guess you'd already know that. I wish I were more presentable…"

"No, you look fine." Lantis mentally smacked himself. He couldn't think of a better word than 'fine'? But then again, from the look on Kakeru's face… Wait a minute…He was tempted to physically slap himself this time. This was the fifteen year old daughter of a family friend! What the hell was he on!?!

"Ah… We should leave you to rest, Hikaru. Mom will come to help you get ready for dinner soon. And Masaru should be returning with Hikari in a minute… Do you want the radio on?"

Hikaru nodded, and then hesitantly asked, "When will Eagle come to visit me again?"

Kakeru bristled at his name, even though he was the one to save Hikaru. That guy was getting a little too close to Hikaru, lately. "I don't know… I think he said around 8. He'll probably stop by after our dinner."

She nodded happily and then set her head down to rest. Kakeru took this opportunity to leave, dragging the still staring Lantis with him.

"Who's Eagle?"

Kakeru blinked. "Huh? Oh, he's some blonde American guy. He… well, he saved Hikaru's life. Eagle was the one who scared off those fucked up thugs."

Lantis nodded, understandingly. "Oh, I see. She's probably rather attached to him."

The youngest brother sneered. "If you ask me, HE is the one who's getting too attached. He brought over flowers last night, and tonight he's probably going to bring over an engagement ring. I'd have to kill him, then… If Masaru doesn't beat me to it."

The older man shook his head -- he should have known how obsessively overprotective her brother's would be…

Just then, Saori popped up and said. "Kakeru, help Mrs. Cail in the kitchen while I help Hikaru."

Kakeru nodded, and led Lantis to the dining room, while Saori moved in the opposite direction. The mother rapped lightly on her daughter's door, and opened it when she received no answer. Inside, Hikaru was sound asleep. She was muttering slightly in her sleep though.

"Eagle…san… I want to see… Eagle-san…"

Her mother paused, she really hated to wake her daughter up, especially if she was having such a nice dream. Saori had to admit, he was a very handsome foreigner… In fact, if she was just a few years younger… She giggled, and finally woke her daughter up. Hikaru grumbled, and buried her head under her pillow, obviously upset about her blissful dream being dismissed in such a way.

"Darling… You must wake up." Saori opened her daughter's closet, and began searching through Hikaru's more formal clothes. "Oh! I love this one!" She pulled out a white spring dress, and a pair of white flats. "Now, WAKE UP! You need to get dressed!" she demanded, and Hikaru groggily dragged herself out of her bed.

"Mmm… Oh, right, dinner?"

"Yes - with the Cail family. Here, take my hand and I'll help you wash up and change," said Saori, soothingly. She knew how hard the simplest tasks were going to be from now on - and she would do all in her power to make her daughter's life as fulfilling as it was meant to be. No handicap would stop Hikaru's dreams - Saori would sign her soul over to the devil if she had to.

Hikaru nodded and stood up from her bed. Giving her hand to her mother, she slowly made her way to the bathroom. She tried to memorize the distance to the bathroom, in hopes that she'd be able to eventually make it there on her own. The bathroom was easily recognized by her feet - the cold tiles stood out distinctly from her room's warm carpet. Slowly, she approached the mirror and stood by it, wishing she could see in it rather than just feeling the cold hardness of it. Her mother turned on the faucet, and with conditioned moves, washed her face. When she attempted to tie her hair, though, she couldn't seem to position her fingers correctly. Saori, instead, pinned her hair up in a tight bun. The mother pulled out just a few strands to frame her face, and then helped her daughter to return to her room.

Back in her room, Hikaru stood in front of the closet, her fingers running through the soft silk of her dress. In her mind, she could still see the cute, summary dress. The memories of going shopping with Umi were still fresh and she had a feeling they would never fade. They were special memories, ones that were capable of bringing some joy into even this dismal situation. And she would have to rely on these kinds of memories even more, now.

~*~

Saori made her way down the stairs, gently leading Hikaru by the arm. Both the Shido and Cail family's grew silent as she joined them, her beauty and pride undaunted by her new handicap. She gingerly sat down and smiled. "Hello, Mrs. Cail, Mr. Cail, and Lantis. It's good to be in your presence again."

"Yes, yes, it's wonderful to see - ah, be with you again, darling. I'm afraid Mr. Cail couldn't make it, though…" said Hanae, fumbling over her words. She glanced over at her son, silently yelling at him to say something. Lantis knew he needed to say something - anything… but… Somehow at the sight of her, his usually calm and collected mind fell apart. He didn't know how or why, but he couldn't seem to push the right words out of his mouth.

Just then, to Lantis' disappointment or relief, he didn't know, the doorbell rang. The clear chimes didn't escape Hikaru, who instinctively turned towards the door. "Mom, who's at the door?"

"It must be your brother. I'll get it." With quick strides she reached the door before any of her guests could even stand up, and answered it. "O-oh! My, we weren't expecting you so soon…"

"I'm sorry, did I come at a bad time?" Hikaru's ears perked up, and a brilliant smile came to her face.

"EAGLE!!!" She fumbled towards the door, knocking into a few chairs but somehow making her way to him. The second her hand landed on his chest, she threw her arms around his neck. "Eagle, I was hoping you'd come!"

The blonde chuckled quietly and handed her a rose wrapped in film. "For you." His smile quickly dropped, though. "Oh! I didn't know you were having guests… should I return at another time?"

It was on the tip of Lantis' and Kakeru's tongues to say yes… but Saori beat them to the answer.

"Of course not, Eagle! We certainly have plenty of food for another! More the merrier, after all. Please, please, come in!"

~*~

A.N. WOW - I UPDATED! O_O That's like, a miracle! Thank you, Hemeraude-hime for inspiring me to continue this fanfic. J I'm really enjoying writing this thing, actually. I hope you all are enjoying reading it!

Preview! Dinner with Lantis and Eagle… at the same time, both vying for Hikaru's attention. ^_^ May the games begin!