"Why are you squirming around? Do you have to go to the bathroom again?"
"No," Hikaru glared slightly at Akira for the sarcastic tone in his voice, "but I'm starving! I really didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to get up, but my stomach is getting kinda loud about it."
"Oh! So that's what that noise was--I thought I was hearing things!" He chewed his bottom lip for a moment, thinking, then sighed. "We need to go and see that doctor again later. I was hoping to stay in here a little longer, but you do need to be checked out. I hope I haven't been over exerting you," Akira smiled warmly.
"I doubt most guys that almost die feel this good!" Hikaru's stomach rumbled loudly, and his face flushed a bright crimson. "Except for that anyway."
Akira laughed at him and stood up. He pushed back a sliding door that normally concealed the futon during the daytime, and pulled out a folded, metal wheelchair. "This was the only one they had. I hope we can trade it in for some crutches later, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."
Hikaru shrugged, then drug himself closer to the antique appliance.
"You want me to help you up?"
"Nah, I can do it," Hikaru hauled himself up with little trouble.
Akira wheeled Hikaru to the kitchen, only to be met by a cold stare by the old woman who ran the minshuku. Touya shivered involuntarily, he'd been too exausted to notice when they arrived how much she reminded him of the doctor. Oddly rounded eyes, an almost greasy if not slimy quality to her skin, and a sense of something familiar that he couldn't identify. Hikaru seemed to take no notice of Akira's sudden tenseness, or of the woman's gaze. He cheerfully requested breakfast or lunch--whichever had more food.
"Breakfast is at 8am, dinner is at 8pm. Your food has been left out today, in future it will not be. If you'll excuse me, I'm a busy woman," she sounded stern though her voice had an odd timbre to it. She pushed past Akira, and went out the front door roughly sliding it closed behind her.
Akira glared harshly at the closed door. "Nobody'd stay here voluntarily--even if it wasn't in the middle of nowhere."
Hikaru had already rolled himself to the table, and was examining it's contents. He determined pretty quickly that it wasn't ramen, and also just as quickly that he was hungry enough that he didn't give a damn.
"Is that a salad? I guess those are mushrooms..." Akira couldn't finish what he was saying, Hikaru was gagging violently and spitting out the piece he'd tasted.
"It's disgusting! What the hell is this?!" He choked down some of the lukewarm water that sat in a glass beside his plate, but the putrid taste of the unidentified food seemed to cling to his tongue. He continued to cough, eventually settling on an expression of resigned disgust.
"It's really that bad?"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow, "You eat it."
Touya hesitated a moment, then picked up a piece from Hikaru's plate. He took the smallest bite he could, and chewed slowly. Hikaru waited for the slightest reaction but it never came.
"It doesn't really taste like anything."
"You can't be serious! Were you born without taste buds?! I don't know what that is--I was thinking dead slugs, but I doubt even they'd taste that awful!"
"It's not like I said it to piss you off. At worst it tastes like a really bland mushroom you might pick up at a fast food place. We can't be picky, it's not like we're paying for any of this--at least eat some of the lettuce."
"No thanks," he voice was flat and somewhat challenging.
"G--" Akira stopped himself and took a deep breath. He was getting much too upset about something so petty. If Hikaru doesn't eat it's his own fault if he gets hungry, I don't have much of an appetite anymore anyway. "Let's just go by the hospital OK?"
"I wonder if they have those sugar-free suckers in a basket like they do at home."
"Isn't that the dentist?"
"I don't know. There's this office near one of the Go salons I go to. It sits in a chair right by the door, so I usually grab a big handful and stuff 'em in my bag when I walk by."
Shindo looked so serious Akira had to laugh. "Well, don't set your hopes to high." He ruffled Hikaru's hair playfully.
"Don't do that," he whined, not to convincingly.
"If you can play with my hair, I can play with yours," his chest rose and fell as he stifled another laugh. Akira pushed Hikaru towards the door, and hoped they'd be gone for a short time. I doubt we'll be able to be together like this so much in the future. I'm going to make the most our time together.
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It's kinda shorter than I wanted, but I figure everyone who didn't read the last pr0n chapter would be getting pretty restless by now. Question: I've been thinking about not naming the doctor or the old lady, but do you think seeing The Doctor or The Old Lady would be more distracting than anything else? Anyway, anyone who doesn't do onsite feedback is welcome to email me!