Warning: Swearing. Lot's of them. What do you expect when you have two gangsters together (though one of them is an ex-gangster)? Just thought I'd warn you guys! Thanks to all the readers – MWAH! I love you guys!
THE SPIRIT 7Youhei dashed for the bathroom as fast as his two legs could carry him. Reaching the white door of the bathroom he banged his fists upon it. "Mitsui! Mitsui!" He called out, and when he got no reply, he felt his heart race. It was drumming so loudly in his ears that he thought that he would go deaf from fear. He frantically twisted the knob and when it did not budge and he did the only thing he could do.
He kicked the door down.
Said door sung open wide with the sheer force he applied to it. He stepped in and his feet made loud sloshing noises. Blinking, he looked at the floor, which was beginning to flood with water. If possible, his heart went faster. He turned to look at the bathtub and took a step back, hands flying up to the back of his head. He began to fret.
"Oh geez! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" He covered his mouth with his hand and felt his chest ache. When Sakuragi told him to keep a eye on the senior, he did not say that he would be a hazard to himself! He did say though, that he saw things. This – this sight before him – was not in the job description.
Coming back to his senses, he forgot his fear and dropped down on his knees by the bathtub, He turned the tap off – that was turned on to its fullest – and hauled Mitsui from out of the water. His front got drenched, but he did not seem to notice. He just wanted to get the senior out of the tub and when he did, he panicked even more. Mitsui's shirt was ripped in half and his neck was slashed or scratched rather. Youhei studied the cuts, not that deep, but deep enough to draw blood that could dye the tub red. There were lots of it and no doubt some were deeper than others. He was lying there on the tiled bathroom floor unconscious.
"Mitsui?" He called out, tapping his face. "For crying out loud! Wake up!" He ran shaky fingers through his now messy hair. His bangs were all over his face now. "Oh rats!" He pumped his chest and when nothing happened, he administered CPR. At his second try, Mitsui jolted awake and turned to his side, coughing out stained water – his blood. He lay like that for a few seconds, before he sat up abruptly and moved away from the bathtub.
"Oh geez!" He said, fear evident in his face. Youhei steadied him when he began to fall in to a fit of shivers. His hands flew around his neck and when he studied his fingers, which were stained red, the tough exterior that he had all the time melted away in a blink of an eye and he began to panic. "Oh my god! That thing!" He was shaking harder now, and he turned so pale that Youhei thought he was a mere corpse. It was scaring the living day lights out of him and yet he wanted to help him. "That thing is real! It's real! It's fucking real!" He yelled out loud and wrapped his arms around his head, shielding himself from whatever that had assaulted him.
Youhei bit his lower lip. He had no clue what he was talking about, but he knew what he should do. He got to his feet and pulled the massive plush towel from the rack and wrapped it around his shoulders. "Come on, Mitsui. Let's get you dry."
Mitsui held on to his arm as Youhei led him to his room and took out dry clothes for him. He waited until Mitsui finished dressing up before taking the wet clothes and taking them to the bathroom. He brought the first aid kit with him and attended to the cuts on his neck before giving him two aspirins.
"You should get some sleep." Youhei suggested.
"No!" Mitsui yelled, startling the poor freshman out of his wits. Mitsui was on his feet and pacing the room. "I am not going to sleep! If I even close my eyes for just one minute, that – that –" He gave an angry cry and faced the vacant wall. He began to punch it over and over again. "I don't deserve this! Is this punishment? What on earth – why? Why? Why me?" He gave it a violent punch that the concrete cracked.
"Whoa!" Youhei grabbed his hands before he could throw another punch. "Easy! You don't want to break your hands. You're ready to give up basketball or something?"
That stopped Mitsui. Youhei released his hands and took a step back. Mitsui leaned forward against the wall, touching his forehead to it. He shut his eyes, feeling tears prick at them. He felt like such a total looser.
"Hey! I know." Youhei plastered a grin on his face, hoping to lighten Mitsui's mood. "Why don't you stay with me at my place? I mean, my mom is out of town and my dad is on a business trip to China. My elder siblings are in University, hostel and stuff. We can hog the Playstation." Mitsui turned to look at him. "That is if you want to. Umm – there's also a basketball court a block away from where I live."
Mitsui felt his fears leave him. He returned the grin.
*
Mitsui stared at the ring, the ball in his hands. Inhaling deeply, he threw in a three pointer and it entered the net less ring without touching the rim.
"Well, nice to see that you haven't lost your touch." Youhei said, sitting Indian-style on the concrete floor, as he watched Mitsui toss the ball from all around the three-pointer line. "The team has been eagerly waiting for your recovery. And Sakuragi's of course." The boy sighed, tilting his head up to its fullest, exposing smooth skin of his neck.
"Are they?" Mitsui asked, more of sarcasm. He was not in a good mood. And unless the crazy things that has been happening to him would stop, his bad mood would probably stay. Perhaps even permanently.
"Hey come on." Youhei said, turning his attention to the senior. He took note of the sarcasm. "Everybody does miss you, you know?" Mitsui turned to look at him, those dark blue orbs piercing holes in to him. The stare had been so intense the Youhei turned to look away, his face tinting a light shade of pink. "Why are you so worked up anyway? Aren't you glad that you're awake?"
Mitsui dribbled the ball before angrily tossing it in to the ring. It made a loud DANG before entering the hoop silently. "No." He answered, walking over to the ball that was rolling away towards the street. "If you know what I've been going through, you'd wish you remained in a coma." Youhei looked up at him in a startled manner, watching as he picked up the ball and began to dribble it again.
"You don't mean that."
"I." Bounce. "Mean." Bounce. "Every." Bounce. "Fucking." Bounce. "Word." Bounce. He threw it at the board angrily, which retaliated by hitting the rim before slowly rolling around it. It then fell off, not entering the net and rolled away. He felt his nerves clench and blood boil. He was angry and his eyes bore holes at the night sky. Youhei watched Mitsui fight the inner anger burning within himself. Mitsui's fist kept curling and uncurling, probably ready to punch the nearest thing.
"You know, I'm kinda' hungry." Youhei said, patting his stomach. Though they just had a pizza, his stomach was demanding for some attention. Maybe it was the turn of events that night. Maybe due to his panic, his stomach contracted faster than its normal digestion speed. It was a stupid thought, but it was the only reason he could come up with.
Mitsui forgot his anger for a while at the slightly off topic words that came out of Youhei's mouth – and that was what Youhei was aiming for. "What?" Mitsui asked, amusement lacing his voice.
"I said I'm hungry. I don't know why. I just want to eat." He rubbed his growling stomach.
Mitsui sighed about to spit out something witty when his stomach gave out a rather disgraceful growl. He grinned sheepishly at Youhei, who laughed good naturedly and got to his feet. "Well, that's two of us then." Mitsui continued grinning.
"Come on. I'll fix us something to eat." Youhei said, gesturing for him to follow his steps back home.
Once at home, Youhei went to the kitchen and took out everything he could find. Mitsui excused himself and went to the living room, turning on the TV. When Youhei came out bearing two trays filled with food good enough to feed six soldiers, he found Mitsui leaning against the armrest of the couch, staring lazily at the cheesy soap opera.
"You watch that crap?" Youhei asked, setting the trays down on the coffee table in front of the green couch that his mother chose. Really, the whole house was the definition of green. It was like being in a garden or something and that probably was the concept, considering his mother enjoyed nature.
"There's nothing on TV." He sighed, and sniffed. One look at the tray was enough to make his mouth water. Spring rolls, French fries, hamburgers, nuggets, cake, and two cans of coke – heck, what more could one want? "Whoa!" He said, staring at the trays. "You made those? All of those?"
Youhei shrugged. "Yeah, except the cake. Mom made that and there was some left in the fridge. Eat up." He picked his burger and bit in to it.
"Hmm!" Mitsui chewed on his burger, before picking a French fry and popping it into his mouth. "Just how much do I have to pay for you to make me lunch everyday for school?"
Youhei laughed. "Why, sempai! You enjoy my cooking?"
"Can I live here?" He asked, not looking at Youhei, but grabbing a nugget instead. "I could really get used to this."
"Why I am flattered, sempai!" Youhei said, grinning, taking some of the fries. "Why, I won't be surprised if you asked me to marry you."
"Marry me." He said, looking up, staring in to Youhei's eyes seriously. Youhei choked on his burger, staring at Mitsui's serious eyes.
"W-What? Come on, man. I didn't mean it. I – I was joking." Youhei blanched even more when Mitsui set his food down and got on his knees.
"Mito Youhei." Mitsui said, face definitely serious. Youhei felt his breath catch in his throat. "Would you do me the honor of being my soul mate for the rest of our lifetimes?"
Youhei flushed – and a very, very heavy flush it was. He trembled and nearly dropped his burger on the floor. Suddenly, Mitsui cracked out laughing, getting back to his normal sitting position on the couch. "What the fuck was that for?" Youhei snapped, but still trembling from the shock.
"Man, you should have seen the look on your face. It was priceless." Mitsui continued laughing, clutching his sides. "I don't swing that way. But Sakuragi did play a prank like this before." Youhei quirked a dark brow. "He said that when he first saw me, long hair and stuff, he said that if he were a girl he would be head over heals for me."
"I can see why." Youhei said, eyeing Mitsui up and down.
"Stop looking at me that way." Mitsui growled, not enjoying one bit the way the junior was eyeing him, and his eyes lingering on his – shit! He mentally cursed. "Hey!" He snapped.
"What?" Youhei asked, tilting his head to one side. "Can't I appreciate beauty from here?" Mitsui blushed, and that made Youhei double up in laughter. "Hah! You fell for that!"
Mitsui rolled his eyes, tossing a throw pillow at Youhei's face. "Idiot."
"Humph! You're the one going on your knees and proposing." Youhei picked up his burger from his plate and continued eating.
"But seriously Youhei." He said, grinning at the boy. "How much do I have to pay you to get this everyday?"
TBC
There! No scary stuff! See? I'm nice! So what do you guys think? Think about this as a development between Youhei and Mitsui. Believe me, they both need each other now. Really! Ha! Ha!