A/N: This chapter has given me serious hell! Please read my author's note
at the end so see what I mean after reading the chapter! Oh, I love
"Freckles", the Rurouni Kenshin theme song but I can't stand the series.
Strange.
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is not mine. No really! Like I didn't know that.
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~~Ray of Hope~~
Yuki got up to answer the phone. "Moshi-moshi?"
"Ah. Yuki-kun? Is that you?"
"Yeah. Shigure-san, what's going on?"
"She's okay. They stopped the blood and her fever's starting to go down."
"That's great."
"Tell the others. Tell them everything's going to be fine."
Shigure hung up.
Yuki walked into the sitting room where he saw a group of worried eyes watching him.
"She's going to be fine."
A sigh of relief came from everyone. Momiji started to cry again, Tohru's eyes started to tear as well. Ayame placed his hand on his brother's shoulder and Yuki didn't flinch away. Kagura closed her eyes and started mumbling a Shinto prayer. Mikki, still unsure of her current situation, smiled.
About two hours later, Kyou came through the doors of the house. His face was emotionless, yet tear stricken. He didn't even have the strength take off his jacket before collapsing onto the floor. Kagura rushed over to his side, as did Tohru. In between tears, he started to speak.
"It's gotten worse in the past hour. She's stopped breathing. They put her on life-support, but we don't even know if that will save her." Kyou's tears kept on flowing. "She's only three, dammit! Why her?! If they wanted a cat so damn badly, they should have taken me! I would have gladly given up my life for her!" He punched in a nearby wall.
"Kyou-kun," murmured Kagura before wrapping her arms around him. He cried into her shoulders. Tohru still sat beside Kyou, unable to embrace him, placing her hand gently on his knee. Yuki bit his lower lip and lowered his eyes in respect. No one else dared say a word. Not too long ago, they were all celebrating the fact that Mari was doing better.
"A-Are Shigure-san and Hatori-san still with her?" Momiji asked.
"Hai," Kyou answered. "Shigure wanted to stay by her side and Hatori is making sure no male tries to handle her. They told me to come home. Get some sleep. Pray for the best." Kyou's fists clenched tight. "I just wanted to stay there by her side." He stood up walked off, undoubting heading for the roof. The others just sat and watched him in silence.
So once again they all sat in silence, waiting for an answer that may never come.
Then, later, the phone rang again.
Ayame picked up the phone this time and Kyou came down from the roof sand stood behind the doorway.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Aya? It's Hatori."
"Ah. Ha-chan."
"The life-support's working. She's stronger than she looks. If everything goes fine, we'll be able to take her off of it soon."
"Thank goodness."
"Tell Kyou before you tell the others. He needs to know it first."
"Hai."
Ayame looked up to see everyone looking right at him. "Well. I've been given specific instructions from Ha-chan to tell Kyou the news first." Yuki looked at his brother with suspicious eyes. Ayame shifted his weight back and forth nervously.
"I guess you wouldn't lie about something like this," Yuki finally stated as he motioned towards the doorway Kyou was standing in. Ayame walked over to the doorway, looked at Kyou then headed outside. Kyou followed.
"Well? What happened?"
"The life-support's working."
"You better not be lying."
"Why would I lie about something like this?! You heard Yuki!"
"Still."
"Fine. If you want to believe that Mari's dying, so be it. I believe what Ha-chan told me and I'm telling the others. For once in your life Kyou, trust."
Ayame turned around and walked back into the house. Kyou watched as Ayame told the others and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Mikki stood up, thanked Tohru for dinner, said apologies for deciding that she would drop by that night, and stared to head towards the door. She stopped, turned around, and walked out to where Kyou was still standing. Kyou was surprised to see Mikki come up to talk to him; she had always been so timid towards him every other time they talked.
"Um, Kyou?"
"Yea?"
"I was wondering if you would be so kind as to drop by Mari's classroom whenever you get the chance. I would really like to know how she's doing. " Mikki's voice started to trail off and quiver. Kyou looked at the young woman in front of him and realized that she truly has never meant any harm towards anyone. "I see that she has enough support from her family that it might not make a difference if someone from the outside hopes for her well- being, but-" She stopped, not sure of what she was trying to exactly say.
"I understand." Kyou muttered. And he really did. "I'll tell Mari. She'll be glad. And, I'll try to stop by."
"Arigato. So very much." Mikki lowered her eyes in respect and walked out of the house.
~~The Next Day~~
During class, Kyou's mind kept on drifting off. Shigure had called in the morning and said that Mari's condition was getting any better, but it wasn't getting any worse. This had given him new hope and he knew that he would try to stop by the hospital afterward. If they didn't let cousins in, he could always play the brother.
SLAM
Uo-chan had dropped her books on Kyou's desk.
"Daydreaming again Carrothead?"
"What do you want Yankee?"
Up-chan looked to the floor, as if she was trying out how she would answer him. "Tohru-kun's told me about the girl, Mari."
Kyou looked up at the girl and tried to read her body language. What did she want? More information on what happened? The most current news? "Yea. What do you want to know?"
"She's such a sweet little thing. How come all of this happened?"
"They think it's linked to her mother's death. But it could a hundred different causes."
"Are you going to go see her this afternoon?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Would you mind if I come along?"
Kyou looked up Arisa. He never really trusted her, and at times her was just dead-on annoyed with her. But she seemed so sincere, so wanting, that Kyou couldn't turn her down.
"Nah. But I gotta stop by Mari's classroom before we go."
"That's fine." Before the conversation could go on, Tohru came up to them.
"Kyou-kun, I know that I said that I would go see Mari with you, but I just remembered that I have work! And when I asked Sohma-sama if he would go with you, he said he had Student Committee today! Oh, Kyou-kun! I'm so sorry!!!"
"Tohru-kun. Don't worry about it." Kyou tried to keep Tohru from going totally global on him. (A/N: Totally global! Who uses that nowadays? It's so funny! Hehehe.)
"Tohru-kun. Don't worry. I'm goin' with him." Tohru looked up at Uo- chan, at first unbelievingly, but then burst out into smiles.
"That's wonderful! I was so worried about Kyou-kun all alone. Please tell Mari I send my regards, if you could."
"Sure thing." Kyou smiled at Tohru.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of meaningless work to Kyou, school ended. He waited for Arisa to get ready and then the two of them headed towards the preschool. Kyou was walking towards the door when Mikki walked right out of it.
"Oh, Kyou."
"Hey. Shigure called this morning. He said she's not doing worse, but she's not improving. Get what I'm sayin'?"
"Hai. That's for informing me."
"It's no problem. Ja!"
Kyou turned back around to face Arisa.
"Who's the chick?"
"Mari's teacher. She just wants to know how Mari's doin'."
"So you've got nothin' for her then?"
"Of course not! You damn Yankee."
"Just askin'." But Arisa's face said more than just askin'. Kyou gritted his teeth and told himself he only had to bear her company just a little bit longer.
The two walked on in silence, each thinking about their own problems. Eventually, Arisa got bored with the silence and decided she would much rather bother Kyou. But when she turned towards him, she saw his face. In those moments of silence, it had transformed from the typical smirk he usually carried on his face to a sad, solemn face, where the fear was clearly evident. She had never seen Kyou look like this. It touched her that he was so worried about Mari. And all this time, he thought the most emotion he had was when he was losing at cards.
"Hey Carrothead," Arisa softly started. "Lighten up a bit. She's gonna be fine. I know it. She's strong. You've seen what she can do to the other kids. She's gonna make it. I promise." She looked over towards Kyou and saw that he was still staring straight ahead, but his lips formed a silent whisper that she knew was directed toward her.
"Arigato."
When they reached the hospital, the middle-aged lady at the front desk recognized Kyou right away. "Hey there kid. Back again huh?"
"Hai."
"I can't let you in right at the moment. With the girl's current position I'm not suppose to let anyone except her immediate family in for the first 48 hours. But I think you could pass for the brother." She handed him a pass. "That girl might pose some problems." She looked hard at Arisa. "You wanna be, um, the step-sister? After today though, you don't need to worry about this. You can just come in during visitor's hours, which started about five minutes ago. I'm Yoko Ohki. If anyone gives you trouble, tell em I sent ya." The lady nodded and winked at the two. Kyou and Arisa walked towards the doors that lead towards Mari's room.
At Mari's room, Shigure was sitting beside her bedside with his hand gently moving her bangs away from her face. Mari looked so much smaller than she actually was (she was already small for her age) and attached to her face was the life-support tube. On the other side of the bed was the actual life-support pump. In the corner of the room, Hatori sat, dosing off, possibly sleeping for the first time in over 24 hours. Dark circles were under Shigure's eyes and he was mumbling a song that he would always sing for Mari when she couldn't sleep.
"Jari michi ni saku hana ga; Asatsu yu ni hika ateru wa; Dare ni mo kizukarezu ni; Demo sukoshi hokorashige ni; Sekai ga o-okisugite; Jibun ga chi-isasugite; Mirai ga to-osugiru to; Yu-ube naita kedo; Mune wo hate miyo- o ka; Ima ikiteru koto ni; Me no mae no hataru wo; Ito tsutoru no to- ni; Mune wo hato- wo yo-"
(Translation: The flowers blooming on the gravel road; sparkle with the morning dew; No one else may notice, but; you're glowing with just a bit of pride; The world is so very big; and you are so very small; The future is so very far away; that all you can do at night is cry; So, why don't you throw out your chest?; The way you have to live your life now; is face every hurdle that's in front of you; and with your chest thrown out; clear them, one by one.) (Yes, this is "Mune wo Harou" (Be Proud!) End theme of Battle Athletes. I don't own it, but I think the lyrics fit perfectly here)
"Shigure?" Kyou placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"Ah, Kyou-kun. How'd you get in?"
"The lady in front let us in."
"Us?" Shigure looked to see Arisa looking over towards Mari, biting her lower lip. "Uo-chan, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Yes sir."
"Shigure. Why don't you rest? You really need some sleep."
"I can't, Kyou-kun. Mari's slipping in and out of comatose state. I can't leave her now."
"She's what? Why didn't you tell me this before?" Kyou looked over towards Mari, whose breathing was starting going quick for a moment before going back to normal.
"We didn't realize this for awhile. Ha-chan has been working straight, trying to help her. All I can do is sit here by her side."
While Kyou continued to try to convince Shigure to sleep a bit since he was there, Arisa sat by the other side of Mari and started talking to her.
"Hey there squirt. I haven't seen you in awhile huh? You know you've been a great help with helping Kyou staying in line. I don't gotta harass him as much as I use to. You're bringing out this side to him that I've never seen before. Hell, I don't think anyone's seen it before. But it's all good. Don't you worry. All I want you to do is get better okay? I don't know what would happen if you didn't. I think we'd all lose it. You've got so many people caring for you and supporting you that it's impossible for you to do anything but get better." Arisa dug through her bag. "Look what I got ya. I was out shopping and this just seemed to scream to me to buy for you. It's a navy blue dog. Kinda different huh? I know you love playing with these dolls." She placed it beside Mari. "Just promise me that we'll play with it together when you get better okay? I'll be waiting." She got up and kissed Mari on the forehead.
Kyou and Shigure had stopped arguing to look at the toy dog Arisa had placed down. It looked exactly like Shigure did when he transformed. "Thank you Uo-chan. I'll give it to her first thing when she wakes up." Shigure took the dog and placed it on the side table.
"Thank you Shigure-san, Kyou-kun, for letting me come. I'll be going now. You probably want to tell some things to Mari that isn't meant for me to hear." Arisa got up, waved good-bye, and walked through the door.
"I'll never get that girl," Kyou mumbled under his breath as he helped Shigure get up and seated on the couch in the room.
"She's got heart. I think that's all you need to know," Shigure answered as Kyou gave him a pillow to lean against. "I told you Kyou-kun. I don't want to sleep."
Kyou handed him a tea and snack bag that he had just bought from the machine outside. "If Hatori can sleep right now, so can you. Just have these, sleep a few hours, you'll feel a million times better. I'm not planning to go anywhere, so you don't have to worry." Kyou motioned to the seat that Shigure had just been sitting in.
"Fine Kyou-kun. You win this time. I'll sleep, for now." Shigure looked over one last time at Mari before turning over and started dozing off.
Kyou take his seat by Mari's bedside and just watched the girl breathe. He couldn't believe that just yesterday she was running around him in the morning showing him the orange cat she got. Kyou thought and thought, but he couldn't remember seeing any signs that she was getting sick. He looked back over towards her and gently kissed her forehead.
"So Mari. What have you been thinking about all this time? Are you lost in whirlpool of thoughts? Or are you just dancing along happily in a dream? Just promise me one thing girl. Don't die. Please just don't die." Kyou took Mari's small, fragile hand into his own and held it gently. "I don't think you understand what you mean to me. I'd die. Shigure would die. Neither of us are living for anyone else." Mari seemed to struggle for air for a moment. When her breathing finally went back to normal, Kyou let a tear slip down his face.
"I'm gonna keep living for you if you keep on living for me."
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A/N: I should call this D-Yai's incoherent babbling. I know, too much Kodocha. Hehehe. "Gloria" is the best song ever! Megumi Hayashibara is my hero! If you ever need inspiration, just listen to the song! So this is the story with this chapter. First I set my butt down and wrote this chapter. When I finished, I finally went to sleep, thinking I'd post the chapter the next afternoon. But that night I had a dream. See, the first draft of this chapter was about Kyou going to see Mari all on his own and this whole personal reflection thing. I was pretty proud of it. But then I dreamed of add Arisa in it. Really strange, but I liked it a bazillion times better cuz I added a bit of joy into the story since it's been so dramatic lately. So I deleted the first version and wasted a good amount of my life rewriting the story. I thought that you all wouldn't mind waiting just one more day for an update, so I put it off again. Then, as I was rereading it, I realized that there was no way that Mari could be up and talking after being in life support for just a day or two. I couldn't believe I was so stupid to over look this huge detail. I basically strangled myself with my mouse cord and starting banging my head against the wall. After that little incident, I had to sit down again, alone in my room with random Japanese songs playing in the background to rewrite the chapter, alas, once again, making it a bit more accurate. Never mind the fact that I had places to go, people to see, a life to live, a Harry Potter book to finish (yes, I am a Harry Potter nerd and proud of it!), phone calls to answer, and stupid movies to watch and write about for AP Euro History and AP Art History. So I finally finished this chapter and posted it for all eyes to enjoy. Thank you for putting up with this story and me. Oh, and if you listen to "Tank!" while you write and take a bazillion dance classes (raises hand), it's impossible to fight the urge to get up and dance and do the splits and kicks and stuff. Believe me. I've tried to resist and failed. Until the next time I drone on, D-Yai.
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is not mine. No really! Like I didn't know that.
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~~Ray of Hope~~
Yuki got up to answer the phone. "Moshi-moshi?"
"Ah. Yuki-kun? Is that you?"
"Yeah. Shigure-san, what's going on?"
"She's okay. They stopped the blood and her fever's starting to go down."
"That's great."
"Tell the others. Tell them everything's going to be fine."
Shigure hung up.
Yuki walked into the sitting room where he saw a group of worried eyes watching him.
"She's going to be fine."
A sigh of relief came from everyone. Momiji started to cry again, Tohru's eyes started to tear as well. Ayame placed his hand on his brother's shoulder and Yuki didn't flinch away. Kagura closed her eyes and started mumbling a Shinto prayer. Mikki, still unsure of her current situation, smiled.
About two hours later, Kyou came through the doors of the house. His face was emotionless, yet tear stricken. He didn't even have the strength take off his jacket before collapsing onto the floor. Kagura rushed over to his side, as did Tohru. In between tears, he started to speak.
"It's gotten worse in the past hour. She's stopped breathing. They put her on life-support, but we don't even know if that will save her." Kyou's tears kept on flowing. "She's only three, dammit! Why her?! If they wanted a cat so damn badly, they should have taken me! I would have gladly given up my life for her!" He punched in a nearby wall.
"Kyou-kun," murmured Kagura before wrapping her arms around him. He cried into her shoulders. Tohru still sat beside Kyou, unable to embrace him, placing her hand gently on his knee. Yuki bit his lower lip and lowered his eyes in respect. No one else dared say a word. Not too long ago, they were all celebrating the fact that Mari was doing better.
"A-Are Shigure-san and Hatori-san still with her?" Momiji asked.
"Hai," Kyou answered. "Shigure wanted to stay by her side and Hatori is making sure no male tries to handle her. They told me to come home. Get some sleep. Pray for the best." Kyou's fists clenched tight. "I just wanted to stay there by her side." He stood up walked off, undoubting heading for the roof. The others just sat and watched him in silence.
So once again they all sat in silence, waiting for an answer that may never come.
Then, later, the phone rang again.
Ayame picked up the phone this time and Kyou came down from the roof sand stood behind the doorway.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Aya? It's Hatori."
"Ah. Ha-chan."
"The life-support's working. She's stronger than she looks. If everything goes fine, we'll be able to take her off of it soon."
"Thank goodness."
"Tell Kyou before you tell the others. He needs to know it first."
"Hai."
Ayame looked up to see everyone looking right at him. "Well. I've been given specific instructions from Ha-chan to tell Kyou the news first." Yuki looked at his brother with suspicious eyes. Ayame shifted his weight back and forth nervously.
"I guess you wouldn't lie about something like this," Yuki finally stated as he motioned towards the doorway Kyou was standing in. Ayame walked over to the doorway, looked at Kyou then headed outside. Kyou followed.
"Well? What happened?"
"The life-support's working."
"You better not be lying."
"Why would I lie about something like this?! You heard Yuki!"
"Still."
"Fine. If you want to believe that Mari's dying, so be it. I believe what Ha-chan told me and I'm telling the others. For once in your life Kyou, trust."
Ayame turned around and walked back into the house. Kyou watched as Ayame told the others and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Mikki stood up, thanked Tohru for dinner, said apologies for deciding that she would drop by that night, and stared to head towards the door. She stopped, turned around, and walked out to where Kyou was still standing. Kyou was surprised to see Mikki come up to talk to him; she had always been so timid towards him every other time they talked.
"Um, Kyou?"
"Yea?"
"I was wondering if you would be so kind as to drop by Mari's classroom whenever you get the chance. I would really like to know how she's doing. " Mikki's voice started to trail off and quiver. Kyou looked at the young woman in front of him and realized that she truly has never meant any harm towards anyone. "I see that she has enough support from her family that it might not make a difference if someone from the outside hopes for her well- being, but-" She stopped, not sure of what she was trying to exactly say.
"I understand." Kyou muttered. And he really did. "I'll tell Mari. She'll be glad. And, I'll try to stop by."
"Arigato. So very much." Mikki lowered her eyes in respect and walked out of the house.
~~The Next Day~~
During class, Kyou's mind kept on drifting off. Shigure had called in the morning and said that Mari's condition was getting any better, but it wasn't getting any worse. This had given him new hope and he knew that he would try to stop by the hospital afterward. If they didn't let cousins in, he could always play the brother.
SLAM
Uo-chan had dropped her books on Kyou's desk.
"Daydreaming again Carrothead?"
"What do you want Yankee?"
Up-chan looked to the floor, as if she was trying out how she would answer him. "Tohru-kun's told me about the girl, Mari."
Kyou looked up at the girl and tried to read her body language. What did she want? More information on what happened? The most current news? "Yea. What do you want to know?"
"She's such a sweet little thing. How come all of this happened?"
"They think it's linked to her mother's death. But it could a hundred different causes."
"Are you going to go see her this afternoon?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Would you mind if I come along?"
Kyou looked up Arisa. He never really trusted her, and at times her was just dead-on annoyed with her. But she seemed so sincere, so wanting, that Kyou couldn't turn her down.
"Nah. But I gotta stop by Mari's classroom before we go."
"That's fine." Before the conversation could go on, Tohru came up to them.
"Kyou-kun, I know that I said that I would go see Mari with you, but I just remembered that I have work! And when I asked Sohma-sama if he would go with you, he said he had Student Committee today! Oh, Kyou-kun! I'm so sorry!!!"
"Tohru-kun. Don't worry about it." Kyou tried to keep Tohru from going totally global on him. (A/N: Totally global! Who uses that nowadays? It's so funny! Hehehe.)
"Tohru-kun. Don't worry. I'm goin' with him." Tohru looked up at Uo- chan, at first unbelievingly, but then burst out into smiles.
"That's wonderful! I was so worried about Kyou-kun all alone. Please tell Mari I send my regards, if you could."
"Sure thing." Kyou smiled at Tohru.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of meaningless work to Kyou, school ended. He waited for Arisa to get ready and then the two of them headed towards the preschool. Kyou was walking towards the door when Mikki walked right out of it.
"Oh, Kyou."
"Hey. Shigure called this morning. He said she's not doing worse, but she's not improving. Get what I'm sayin'?"
"Hai. That's for informing me."
"It's no problem. Ja!"
Kyou turned back around to face Arisa.
"Who's the chick?"
"Mari's teacher. She just wants to know how Mari's doin'."
"So you've got nothin' for her then?"
"Of course not! You damn Yankee."
"Just askin'." But Arisa's face said more than just askin'. Kyou gritted his teeth and told himself he only had to bear her company just a little bit longer.
The two walked on in silence, each thinking about their own problems. Eventually, Arisa got bored with the silence and decided she would much rather bother Kyou. But when she turned towards him, she saw his face. In those moments of silence, it had transformed from the typical smirk he usually carried on his face to a sad, solemn face, where the fear was clearly evident. She had never seen Kyou look like this. It touched her that he was so worried about Mari. And all this time, he thought the most emotion he had was when he was losing at cards.
"Hey Carrothead," Arisa softly started. "Lighten up a bit. She's gonna be fine. I know it. She's strong. You've seen what she can do to the other kids. She's gonna make it. I promise." She looked over towards Kyou and saw that he was still staring straight ahead, but his lips formed a silent whisper that she knew was directed toward her.
"Arigato."
When they reached the hospital, the middle-aged lady at the front desk recognized Kyou right away. "Hey there kid. Back again huh?"
"Hai."
"I can't let you in right at the moment. With the girl's current position I'm not suppose to let anyone except her immediate family in for the first 48 hours. But I think you could pass for the brother." She handed him a pass. "That girl might pose some problems." She looked hard at Arisa. "You wanna be, um, the step-sister? After today though, you don't need to worry about this. You can just come in during visitor's hours, which started about five minutes ago. I'm Yoko Ohki. If anyone gives you trouble, tell em I sent ya." The lady nodded and winked at the two. Kyou and Arisa walked towards the doors that lead towards Mari's room.
At Mari's room, Shigure was sitting beside her bedside with his hand gently moving her bangs away from her face. Mari looked so much smaller than she actually was (she was already small for her age) and attached to her face was the life-support tube. On the other side of the bed was the actual life-support pump. In the corner of the room, Hatori sat, dosing off, possibly sleeping for the first time in over 24 hours. Dark circles were under Shigure's eyes and he was mumbling a song that he would always sing for Mari when she couldn't sleep.
"Jari michi ni saku hana ga; Asatsu yu ni hika ateru wa; Dare ni mo kizukarezu ni; Demo sukoshi hokorashige ni; Sekai ga o-okisugite; Jibun ga chi-isasugite; Mirai ga to-osugiru to; Yu-ube naita kedo; Mune wo hate miyo- o ka; Ima ikiteru koto ni; Me no mae no hataru wo; Ito tsutoru no to- ni; Mune wo hato- wo yo-"
(Translation: The flowers blooming on the gravel road; sparkle with the morning dew; No one else may notice, but; you're glowing with just a bit of pride; The world is so very big; and you are so very small; The future is so very far away; that all you can do at night is cry; So, why don't you throw out your chest?; The way you have to live your life now; is face every hurdle that's in front of you; and with your chest thrown out; clear them, one by one.) (Yes, this is "Mune wo Harou" (Be Proud!) End theme of Battle Athletes. I don't own it, but I think the lyrics fit perfectly here)
"Shigure?" Kyou placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"Ah, Kyou-kun. How'd you get in?"
"The lady in front let us in."
"Us?" Shigure looked to see Arisa looking over towards Mari, biting her lower lip. "Uo-chan, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Yes sir."
"Shigure. Why don't you rest? You really need some sleep."
"I can't, Kyou-kun. Mari's slipping in and out of comatose state. I can't leave her now."
"She's what? Why didn't you tell me this before?" Kyou looked over towards Mari, whose breathing was starting going quick for a moment before going back to normal.
"We didn't realize this for awhile. Ha-chan has been working straight, trying to help her. All I can do is sit here by her side."
While Kyou continued to try to convince Shigure to sleep a bit since he was there, Arisa sat by the other side of Mari and started talking to her.
"Hey there squirt. I haven't seen you in awhile huh? You know you've been a great help with helping Kyou staying in line. I don't gotta harass him as much as I use to. You're bringing out this side to him that I've never seen before. Hell, I don't think anyone's seen it before. But it's all good. Don't you worry. All I want you to do is get better okay? I don't know what would happen if you didn't. I think we'd all lose it. You've got so many people caring for you and supporting you that it's impossible for you to do anything but get better." Arisa dug through her bag. "Look what I got ya. I was out shopping and this just seemed to scream to me to buy for you. It's a navy blue dog. Kinda different huh? I know you love playing with these dolls." She placed it beside Mari. "Just promise me that we'll play with it together when you get better okay? I'll be waiting." She got up and kissed Mari on the forehead.
Kyou and Shigure had stopped arguing to look at the toy dog Arisa had placed down. It looked exactly like Shigure did when he transformed. "Thank you Uo-chan. I'll give it to her first thing when she wakes up." Shigure took the dog and placed it on the side table.
"Thank you Shigure-san, Kyou-kun, for letting me come. I'll be going now. You probably want to tell some things to Mari that isn't meant for me to hear." Arisa got up, waved good-bye, and walked through the door.
"I'll never get that girl," Kyou mumbled under his breath as he helped Shigure get up and seated on the couch in the room.
"She's got heart. I think that's all you need to know," Shigure answered as Kyou gave him a pillow to lean against. "I told you Kyou-kun. I don't want to sleep."
Kyou handed him a tea and snack bag that he had just bought from the machine outside. "If Hatori can sleep right now, so can you. Just have these, sleep a few hours, you'll feel a million times better. I'm not planning to go anywhere, so you don't have to worry." Kyou motioned to the seat that Shigure had just been sitting in.
"Fine Kyou-kun. You win this time. I'll sleep, for now." Shigure looked over one last time at Mari before turning over and started dozing off.
Kyou take his seat by Mari's bedside and just watched the girl breathe. He couldn't believe that just yesterday she was running around him in the morning showing him the orange cat she got. Kyou thought and thought, but he couldn't remember seeing any signs that she was getting sick. He looked back over towards her and gently kissed her forehead.
"So Mari. What have you been thinking about all this time? Are you lost in whirlpool of thoughts? Or are you just dancing along happily in a dream? Just promise me one thing girl. Don't die. Please just don't die." Kyou took Mari's small, fragile hand into his own and held it gently. "I don't think you understand what you mean to me. I'd die. Shigure would die. Neither of us are living for anyone else." Mari seemed to struggle for air for a moment. When her breathing finally went back to normal, Kyou let a tear slip down his face.
"I'm gonna keep living for you if you keep on living for me."
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A/N: I should call this D-Yai's incoherent babbling. I know, too much Kodocha. Hehehe. "Gloria" is the best song ever! Megumi Hayashibara is my hero! If you ever need inspiration, just listen to the song! So this is the story with this chapter. First I set my butt down and wrote this chapter. When I finished, I finally went to sleep, thinking I'd post the chapter the next afternoon. But that night I had a dream. See, the first draft of this chapter was about Kyou going to see Mari all on his own and this whole personal reflection thing. I was pretty proud of it. But then I dreamed of add Arisa in it. Really strange, but I liked it a bazillion times better cuz I added a bit of joy into the story since it's been so dramatic lately. So I deleted the first version and wasted a good amount of my life rewriting the story. I thought that you all wouldn't mind waiting just one more day for an update, so I put it off again. Then, as I was rereading it, I realized that there was no way that Mari could be up and talking after being in life support for just a day or two. I couldn't believe I was so stupid to over look this huge detail. I basically strangled myself with my mouse cord and starting banging my head against the wall. After that little incident, I had to sit down again, alone in my room with random Japanese songs playing in the background to rewrite the chapter, alas, once again, making it a bit more accurate. Never mind the fact that I had places to go, people to see, a life to live, a Harry Potter book to finish (yes, I am a Harry Potter nerd and proud of it!), phone calls to answer, and stupid movies to watch and write about for AP Euro History and AP Art History. So I finally finished this chapter and posted it for all eyes to enjoy. Thank you for putting up with this story and me. Oh, and if you listen to "Tank!" while you write and take a bazillion dance classes (raises hand), it's impossible to fight the urge to get up and dance and do the splits and kicks and stuff. Believe me. I've tried to resist and failed. Until the next time I drone on, D-Yai.