Ken groaned, one hand groping for his alarm clock as it shouted at him to wake up. He managed to shut the damn thing off, and then propped himself up on one elbow and cracked an eyelid to check the time. // 5:30. What the hell? Why am I… oh yeeeah… Today I start my daily morning run.// Ken fell out of bed and struggled into some running pants and a t-shirt, pulling a sweatshirt over the combination. He hopped on first one foot, then the other while trying to get his socks and sneakers on, and stumbled out the door and downstairs with some difficulty.
Grumbling to himself and shuffling, the athletic man somehow got to the kitchen without any major incidents and washed his face in the sink, rinsing and spitting to get rid of the unbearable taste in his mouth. Then Ken wandered down into the shop, munching an energy bar, and lifted the metal slats that covered the windows. He opened the shop's door, locked it behind himself with the granola bar in his mouth, and turned around, ready to head down the street on his morning run. Ken was stopped in his tracks by the sight before him: Aya, splayed out on the sidewalk, his limbs at awkward angles, a small amount of blood on the sidewalk around his head and by each of his wrists.
Ken gasped, choked on the food in his mouth, and rushed forward, checking Aya's pulse, frantically running his hands over Aya's broken body, counting broken bones and joints, finding the sources of the blood, and trying his hardest not to scream.
sou kawaranai mono kusatte yuku mono shinde yuku mono watashi no ai shita mono wo subete kaeshite
(Yes, give me back all those I loved, the unchanging, the rotting, and the dying ones)
Finally reassured that his teammate and the object of his affections was still breathing (barely) and able to be moved (it was a close call), Ken gathered Aya up in his arms and went around to the back of the building, knowing that it would be too much of a struggle to try and open the grate and door without hurting Aya some more. Thoughts raced through his head: // Aya's been beaten up, how could anyone beat up Aya? He didn't have his katana, he couldn't protect himself, why in hell was he out at that time of morning- and wait, his body isn't that warm he must've been out here for hours. Why didn't he yell? Why does it look as though he was pushed off the top of a building? Oh shit there's the narrow part of the alley I hope I can get 'im through without breaking anything else- there we go…//
And they were through into the back area of the house, bustling over to the green-painted, peeling door, when there was a muffled shout and someone sprinted over from the picnic table. Youji was breathless with anxiety, smokers' lungs, and his run when he leaned over Ken and Aya, an extremely worried look on his face. "What in hell happened to Aya? Where did you find him? What the fuck..?"
Youji drifted off, muttering curses to himself as he checked Aya over just as thoroughly as Ken had done, if not more so.
sou umarete yuku mono umitsukeru mono okashite yuku mono hito no kutsuu ga kono toki kara hajimaru
(Yes, those being given birth to, those giving birth, those who sin Human suffering begins from this time)
Ken just stood there, being experienced in Youji's ways, and knowing that the ex-team-leader would have a plan of action when he finished talking to himself.
Youji carefully turned over Aya's face so he could see the damage, taking notice of the heavy bruising on Aya's right temple, and then moved on the his arms and legs. Aya had a broken wrist, broken forearm, several broken ribs, and a totally pulverized shoulder joint, as well as a large gash that would need stitches, all on his right side. On the other side, there was an identical gash, a sprained elbow, and a few more broken and bruised ribs.
One thighbone was probably fractured, on his left side, and a couple of toes were broken as well. His red hair was matted with blood, a darker shade of crimson, and both arms were covered in drying blood, still sticky in the heaviest rivulets. Youji kept on sucking in breath through his teeth, sympathizing with the pain his secret love was undoubtedly going to go through when he woke up. Ken just stood there, holding onto Aya's limp form for dear life, looking blank and in shock. Finally, after what seemed like hours of deliberation, Youji came to a decision:
"Ken, go put Aya on the table in the kitchen and I'll call an ambulance. Go wake up Omi and tell him Aya's hurt, tell him… Ah, hell, I'll tell him when I see him. Wash your hands and pack some of Aya's things for us to take to the hospital for him- clean underwear, especially, you remember how he was last time he was in the hospital without clean undergarments…" Youji's directions flowed on as he held the door open for Ken, who just nodded dumbly and let his tall friend take control.
Once Ken had laid Aya down on the kitchen table and said unconscious teammate was arranged to Youji's satisfaction, Youji dialed the hospital emergency room and asked for a particular doctor he knew was from Kritiker out of habit, not remembering until too late that this wasn't a mission-related injury, that this was self-inflicted, and then Youji had to block that thought from his mind, because the horror it brought would make him ineffective, and that was not at all a good thing.
shinde yuku mono ureshisouna kao umarete yuku mono kanashisouna kao baibai Mother
yo no naka no hito wa nani mo kizukazu yo no naka no hito wa shirazu kizutsuke watashi wa hitori
(the faces of those who are dying seem so happy, the faces of those being born seem so sad- byebye Mother.
People in this society build nothing. People of this society hurt each other unknowingly.
I am alone.)
"Hai, this is Kudou Youji. Yes, this is an emergency. No, not mission-related… YES, goddammit, it's IMPORTANT! Mmm… I see… I thought you were supposed to heal people, Doctor… Well, yeah, but- Oh, fuck it, he tried to commit suicide, for crying out loud, get your ass over here! O-KAY, thank you. Yes. Bye."
Youji wiped his forehead and sagged against the kitchen counter, wondering why the hell doctors never seemed to fucking believe him when he said it was an emergency. The tall man was heading over to the table that Aya was sprawled on when Omi came thumping down the stairs, Ken trailing after him, looking dazed. The chibi leaped the last few steps, still tying the drawstring of his sweatpants, and skidded over to the table, looking as fierce as he possibly could.
"Youji! What happened?! Why is Aya like this?!" Omi did not ask so much as exclaim questions at Youji, leading to a somewhat one-sided conversation when the elder of the two had no time to get a word in edgewise. The blonde-haired teen checked Aya over in a manner similar to his teammates' earlier inspections, taking down 'broken,' 'scraped,' and 'stitches needed' inventories in his head. Finally, Omi allowed himself to ask a real question, one that he needed an answer to: "Youji, did you call a doctor? Please tell me you called a doctor…"
The younger assassin sagged in relief when Youji nodded, while lighting up a cigarette. Omi looked like he was about to protest the introduction of smoke into his or Aya's personal space, but stopped short at the preoccupied look on his friend's face when he gazed down at their unconscious leader.
Omi obsessively checked Aya over one last time, before asking Youji if he knew the E.T.A. of the doctor. When Youji replied that he didn't, Omi went upstairs to change into more presentable clothing. Which left him with another thought: Why was Youji fully-dressed? It wasn't the brunet's habit to be up so early, as far as Omi knew… So why was he wearing a perfectly respectable-looking set of clothes? The thought was dismissed from his mind when he heard the doorbell ring, and he had to scamper in order to get a shirt on before the doctor needed his catalogue of injuries.
Without a Face mure wo nashiWithout a Face nomikonde
(Without a face the crowd gathers
Without a face and sucks me in)
******
Aya's head hurt. A lot. In fact, it was only because his head hurt that he was awake. The redhead could feel that his jaw was clenched, and the dryness of his tongue, which felt huge in his mouth. Agh. The headache felt like a combination of dehydration, tension, and painkillers losing their effects. Which was odd, because he couldn't remember being hurt on a mission, or even having a mission, period. The last thing that came back to him was…
Oh, shit. Ohshitohshitohshitohshit. This was a bad situation. If he was still alive, that meant someone had to have found him. Hopefully one of Weiß, hopefully not Manx or Birman. He didn't want Kritiker finding out about his sudden slip of sanity; it would jeopardize his position in Weiß, and then the organization would have something to hold over his head. Aya moaned, his head hurting even more from the new tension he'd managed to put into his jaw muscles.
Aya's violet eyes fluttered open, aching mightily, and the redhead cringed at the bright white of the room, his dilated pupils taking in way too much light. Someone stirred beside him, mumbling "You awake?" in a concerned tone of voice. Gah. That was Youji's voice. The headache abruptly intensified to migraine proportions when Aya remembered what had driven him to crying his eyes out that morning, how many days ago? Aya grunted at the question and in pain, not able to voice his need for water, immediately. Youji seemed to understand though, and chatted amiably as he poured a paper cup of water.
hora ima ni mo oshitsubusare kokoro go harisakesou
tada atatakai ryoute ni dakarete nemuritai
(Look, my heart now being crushed feels like it's about to tear apart
I just wanna be held in warm hands and sleep.)
The slender man held the cup to Aya's dry lips while the redhead sipped; Aya noticed that Youji's fingers were warm against his chin. Finally the little cup was drained and set down on the bedside table, and Youji was still talking. How annoying. Aya grunted and shifted uncomfortably on the hospital bed. He was getting really cold, and Youji wouldn't shut up. At long last, said chatty teammate noticed that Aya wanted to say something. His emerald eyes widened and he looked at Aya as if to say, 'I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, what is it you need?' Which was all the opening Ken needed to burst into the room, not that he knew he was going to interrupt anything. // Not that anything had been going on. // Aya reminded himself. Ken's hair was mussed, and he looked as though he had been running.
"Youji, have you seen Omi, I think he has my wallet…" the soccer fanatic trailed off when he saw Aya was awake. A huge, breathtaking smile broke out on his face, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. "Aya… you're awake! Good morning." Aya was stunned. Ken had never been that nice to him before! That in itself was odd, but that Aya looked forward to it was odder still. Something to think about once he wasn't cold.
"Uh, yes, hello," Aya's answer was less than enthusiastic, but it was to be expected; after all, he was just waking up from a near-death experience. One he had, at the time, hoped would end in death. Hence the growl in his voice. Ken looked a little startled at this detail, and brushed it off in order to find out where his wallet went.
"Youji, so really, where the hell is Omi? I need my wallet for some food and the cigarettes you asked for." Youji looked confused by the way everyone was behaving, and so merely said, "Going to the bathroom," instead of teasing Ken about his anxiousness or asking Aya what he was mad at Ken about.
My Sweet Mother hohoende atatakai nemuri wo saigo niDeadly Sweet Mother hohoende yoru no naka itami wo nigirishime nemurimashou
(My Sweet Mother- smile, in the end let me sleep warmly
Deadly Sweet Mother- smile, in the night I'm going to sleep holding the pain.)
Author's Note: Hey, y'all. This the seventh chapter, and the third time I've reposted it due to editing… ^^;; Anyways, sorry for not updating for so long, I've been very busy, what with school and track and holidays. Also, sumimasen for ending this chapter at such a strange moment, I just wanted to get something out, and I couldn't think quite how to end it. Plus, the chapter really was kind of pointless, nothing really happens in this one, and next time I will try and alleviate that problem ^^. Okay, thanks for reading. Please please please please review, you know I need reviews like I need food and water… And, as a side-note, the song used this chapter is "embryo" by Dir en grey, but not all of it. Plus, it's the single version, not the Kisou version, so I don't actually know what it sounds like… too bad. *goes off to download it*