Standard disclaimers apply…

Dedication: This is for Kyo-chan…

I Wanna Be Your Angel

By: nagi_silvermoon

Chapter 10

Day One:

"We're terribly sorry."

The doctor gave them the inevitable news: Hiro was dead.

After shouting denials and expressing utter disbelief, the truth finally sunk in. The whole family were crying in grief, but Kyori cried out in pain and anguish. With that,  Mitsui's heart broke.

To hear Kyori's heartbreaking sobs was more than he could bear. You could hear the grief, the pain of loss, in those sobs. But it was only the surface. Nobody can ever know how much Kyori was hurting inside. Nobody can ever know how much a mother can grieve for her dead son. It was beyond the understanding of a human being. And Mitsui realized, nobody can ever reach for Kyori in the abyss of sorrow. Not now. Maybe not ever.

~@~@~

Day Two:

Mitsui hadn't slept at all. But he wasn't the only one.

He was up all night comforting the Yatsura twins. It was a futile effort since the comforter also needed comforting. But these were Hiro's sisters here. They needed comfort far more than he needed it. He was only the coach, an extra in the picture. Who was he in their life, in Hiro's life, to ask for consolation?

He knew that Hiro's time was coming soon. He just wasn't prepared to accept the fact that it had come too soon. But come too soon it did. All that was left for him to do was to acknowledge the truth, grieve, and move on. But it was hard, and he wasn't sure if he could bear it. He looked at the older twin and sighed inaudibly. Maybe she won't be able to bear it at all. She needed support far more than he needed it.

Pushing these thoughts aside, he continued to comfort Kyori and Kashime, hoping he could get what he needed from the gesture, as the first batch of guests pored in to give their condolences.

~@~@~

Day Three:

"Is it true? Is he dead?" Miyagi asked suddenly as soon as he closed the door to the apartment.

Mitsui nodded. He removed his shoes, walked towards the couch, and plopped down in obvious exhaustion. "Two days ago," he said, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry if I just told you now. My hands got tied up back there."

"No need to be sorry, sempai," Rukawa said, turning the noisy television off.

"Thanks," Mitsui replied, referring to both the understanding and the gesture. He lied down and stretched. "Man, I'm so tired. I need some rest."

"You do that," Miyagi suggested as he trudged to the kitchen to fix a drink. "While we visit them."

"But I have to be there," Mitsui pointed out. He tried to sit up but all of his strength finally left him. He only manage to lift his head and wince in pain. "They need help."

"Don't overwork yourself, sempai," Rukawa scolded mildly in his silent tone. He placed a hand on his sempai's forehead. "You might get sick." He removed his hand and walked across the room towards the bathroom to get a thermometer. After coming back and placing the slim glass with mercury in it in his mouth, he offered, "We'll just take your place there."

Mitsui looked at the raven-haired boy and managed a small smile. "Thanks." He closed his eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep.

Rukawa stood up and left him all alone. "Don't mention it."

~@~@~

Day Four:

It had been three days since Hiro died. Almost everybody who have a connection with him came to visit. The air was somber and too quiet that Mitsui felt like he was being suffocated so he spent most of the time outside the house with Toshi, greeting the incoming visitors and thanking the outgoing ones. It was already past noon when Toshi decided that they take a break. He led Mitsui to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

They were in the middle of their second sandwich when Toshi started to talk. Mitsui gave the older man his full attention.

"If I haven't told you this before, then I'll tell you now." He placed his sandwich down and looked at Mitsui. "I'm very grateful to have had you with us during this time."

Mitsui placed his sandwich and raised his eyebrows. "I was just there when it happened." He shrugged and pretended to examine the table. In truth, he was a bit embarrassed for no particular reason. "Hiro's a close friend. I can't deny him anything. I owe him this."

Toshi stared at him while sizing him up. "You knew, didn't you?" Mitsui looked up. "You knew about him."

He nodded. "And I promised I won't tell Kyori," he admitted. He picked his sandwich up and continued to eat. "And I didn't. Hiro told me of the reason as to why I shouldn't." He swallowed on a bite before he continued. "Besides," he took a bite and swallowed it again, "I promised Hiro another thing."

Toshi cocked a brow. "And what is that?" The brother inquired.

"I promised him that I'll look after Kyori," he replied easily, almost indifferently. Almost. Toshi could see a glint in Mitsui's eyes that told him many things. "And as a friend and a man, I don't intend to back down on that promise."

Toshi watched Mitsui eat while his thoughts pondered on him.

He had been right when he first met him. He was a great man. Now he didn't have any reason to doubt Hiro's judgement. He was a reliable man who sticks to his word and will strive to do everything he could just to fulfill his promises. Mitsui won his respect. He was very glad to have met him.

"Thank you, Mitsui," Toshi said. He picked up his sandwich and started to finish it. "For everything."

Mitsui nodded. "No problem, Yatsura."

~@~@~

Day Five:

Kashime entered Kyori's room silently. After carefully placing the tray of food she had brought with her on the study table, she crossed the room towards the bed and sat down. Smoothing Kyori's long hair, she began to cajole her into eating.

"Kyori," she said softly, almost a whisper. "I brought you some food. Please eat it."

Silence.

"Come on, you can't just cry all day long," Kashime reasoned, shaking her sister's arm gingerly. "You have to eat. You haven't eaten that much for four days."

She stared at Kyori's pallid face, from her red and swollen eyes, to her pink nose and cheeks, to her almost parched lips. She had been doing nothing but crying, eating little amounts of food, crying, sleeping, and crying. It was more than enough, and Kashime thought that it had to stop.

"Kyori," she shook her harder this time. "Please, Kyori, eat."

Silence.

"Kyori, that's enough!" She shook her harder again. "Please!"

Silence.

This time, Kashime snapped. "Stop wallowing in grief and let him go!"

Kyori turned and faced the other way. "Leave me alone, Kashime." She burried herself under her blankets in an attempt to prove her point.

"I won't leave you until you stop crying and eat the food before you starve to death!" Kashime almost shouted as she threw the covers back.

"What I do," Kyori enunciated every word in a strong voice, "is none of your business. Now, go!"

"Stop crying over him, for crying out loud!" Exasperated, Kashime grabbed Kyori by the shoulders and began to shake her to make her realize the things she was saying. "Let him go, Kyori! It's over. There's nothing you could do."

"You don't know how I feel, Kashime!" Kyori screamed, pushing her sister's hands away. "You don't know what it's like to raise a kid and just find out he's dead." She got out of bed and shoved her sister. "You don't know how much Hiro means to me." Another shove. "You don't know anything, Kashime!"

"I know how you feel because he's my brother, too!" Kashime countered. "Don't judge me just because I wasn't around all those years." A shove. "Don't blame me for leading a better life while you stayed here stuck with a kid." Another shove. "And don't tell me I know nothing, Kyori, cause I know many things about Hiro, too! "

Kyori fell silent. Admiting defeat, she turned around. "Get out," she said silently in a deadly tone. "Leave me alone."

"Move on, will you!" Kashime spat. "You have a life. Don't kill yourself just because he's dead and you're alive!"

"Just leave me alone!" She repeated, throwing a pillow at her sister.

"Fine! Be that way!" Kashime threw the pillow back and closed the door with a loud bang that echoed throughout the whole house.

Kyori thew herself back on her bed and wept openly. Her sister's words hit a sore spot and all she could do was cry – because it was completely true.

To be continued

Author's Notes: I am so sorry for this really late chapter… March has been a very busy time for us at school because the school year was ending and we had numerous requirements that needed to be passed and I was up to neck with them… and since school ended, I've been relaxing and I was so absorbed in reading books that I hardly had time for my fics (I know I'm heartless…). I also had a friend who came back here from Australia for a vacation so we had to show him around and take him out always so… But just for the record, I already had this chapter ready during April… but I didn't have a net connection, so I waited… until one day our hard drive crashed… and all of our files were erased (for the third time in the history of our pc…) and I'm just so tired of lamenting for my lost files that I had to shrug it off and just move on… But I'm just glad that I was able to finish this chapter (even though the previous chapter 10 had an almost different scenario) and I just hope that it turns out well… again… I'm so sorry… But. As they say, it's better late than never… : )