DISCLAIMER: I do not own FoR or any of its characters. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
BABY YOU'RE MINEBy bishounen lovah
Chapter 12
"Arigatou," Kaoru smiled his best smile as he received the bouquet of beautiful flowers from Domon's mother. He'd been a regular customer at their flower shop. He never failed to bring Ganko some flowers weekly even if the ones he brought previously were still fresh. His daily visits often started with tending to those flowers, changing their water and rearranging them.
She loved flowers. Pretty pink ones. But Kaoru's favorites were the blue petaled. They reminded him of her eyes. Bright and sparkling blue.
But that was before he came. Now her eyes spoke of nothing. Not of gaiety, irritation or sadness...not even pain. Dull and expressionless. Her sapphire-like eyes no longer had the light and life they used to have. The obsessed and demented ghost had ruined their lives. Even in his after-after-death, Tsukiho was still haunting them. Their once rowdy group was reluctantly tamed by the unpleasant circumstances he brought on.
But none was quieter than Ganko.
Kaoru restrained himself from crushing the flowers as he thought about her for the millionth time this past month. A month of anger, sorrow, disappointment and regret. A month of loneliness for despite the Spirit Ball sparing Ganko's life, it took her soul leaving behind an empty shell.
What are you saying, Koganei? You should be thankful that she's still alive, his optimistic side pointed out. He was thankful but he was past gratitude by now. He craved to be with the real Ganko, the ones whose eyes showed life and laughter. They had her but without her soul she was just like one of her dolls, staring out in space with dull, emotionless eyes.
But he never gave up hoping that she'd be cured one day. None of them did. That fateful morning they were so overcome with grief and disbelief that they didn't notice that she was still alive. The rhythm of her heart had slowed down and was barely noticeable, so was her shallow breathing. Her body's metabolism had decreased tenfold as though its major source of energy had been dried of all power and was running on a back-up generator.
That was what was troubling the Hokage gang...that whatever was sustaining her existence would one day fail to do its job and completely take their little Ganko away.
The thought made Kaoru more desperate. He leapt over a fence and found himself standing in Recca and Kurei's backyard. He walked in the house through the backdoor. He'd been doing so ever since he moved in to look after Ganko.
"Tadaima!" he yelled but no one answered. The kitchen was in a state of chaos. There were ancient scrolls and tablets littering the kitchen table and floor while atop the counter were ingredients that were not quite dinner yet. He spotted a note on the refrigerator door and went to investigate.
Kaoru-kun,
Sorry I can't be there to greet you home. Just went out to buy some more food for dinner. Recca and the others went back to the cave to check out a lead. Ganko's taking a nap. Be back in twenty minutes.
Yanagi ^_^
Everybody was pulling their weight. Yanagi-neechan made sure there was a steady supply of food for the constantly hungry group. The others, including the Uruha, searched for the Spirit Ball's twin device. There was always a twin device! Perhaps it would be the cure they were looking for. Whereas he was assigned to find a way to open and control the Spirit Ball.
But his more important duty was to keep Ganko company.
He crumpled the piece of paper then proceeded towards the second floor. He went directly to Ganko's room and knocked on the door. There really was no need to do that but it made him feel better, hoping one of these days she'd call back to let him in. The door softly creaked when he pushed it open. He glanced automatically at the bed and saw that she was awake, laying immobile and staring unblinkingly at the ceiling.
"Hey, baby. Sorry I'm late," he smiled at her. A smile that briefly dimmed when he received no response yet again. "So you're mad at me eh? Look. I've brought you a piece offering…tulips. They would look good beside the roses, don't you think?"
He looked back at the girl who, as expected, was not paying attention to him or anything else for that matter. He gave a patient sigh and dropped the flowers on the table by the said roses.
"Come on, princess, you look like you need some sun." He removed the blanket off her then carried her to the balcony and sat her down on the high-backed, cushioned chair facing the backyard. He arranged her body to what looked like a comfortable position and even brushed her golden hair with his fingers. "There. That's better. Stay here while I put the flowers in a vase."
He looked back at her, still half expecting her to respond. He missed everything…everything he took for granted: her voice, her laughs, her yells, even her slaps and kicks. He'd do anything to have those back. After doing his chores he grabbed Kondo the stuffed toy. Kurei-niichan had the twin puppet devices hidden for safe keeping, waiting for its true wielder to wake up from her trance state.
Kaoru placed the toy in Ganko's arm and for a moment there he thought her fingers curled a bit on one paw. Then again it could just be the shifting afternoon sun preparing to set. He was used to seeing her like this. The orange light giving color to her pale face, her hair dancing to the tune of the gentle wind, her eyes looking at the garden beyond. Looking but not quite seeing.
To a casual observer, they would have made a tranquil picture. But Kaoru was anything but tranquil. He did not know how long he could hang on. Did not know how long he could stay strong…or sane.
He dug deep in his pocket and retrieved the small metal box that encased the soul-sucking madougu. He had tried everything to open it. He had observed every angle, every inch, and every microscopic part of it at least a thousand times but there was neither latch nor lid. He had used every tool imaginable: a two by four, a blow torch, a chain saw, the Anki. None of them even made a scratch or dent. In desperation he had used words, pleaded with it to give Ganko's soul back and take his instead. But all it accomplished was make him look stupid. He even stooped low and used childish magic words from 'abracadabra' to 'open sesame' to 'please' and 'pretty please' to 'open up, you little piece of shit!"
Sadly, his efforts were wasted.
"How did you do it, Ganko? How did you open it?" His only answer was the whispering wind.
There were other things bothering him, like what happened to Tsukiho. If his soul was sucked in the ball as was hers, did that mean Ganko would be trapped in there with him forever? That would be punishment worse than death and hell combined.
Then there was the fact that he woke up with his fatal wounds healed. It wasn't Yanagi who healed him so who did? Had Ganko sacrificed her soul to heal him? He hoped not! As if he wasn't feeling guilty enough because he failed to protect her yet again. He dreaded opening the damn thing probably as much as he wanted to.
He didn't know what he would do if he found out that the madougu did not hold her soul.
"Well isn't this nice," Kurei's voice floated from the sliding doors. "I come home from work, spending the entire day slaving behind a mountain of paperwork only to find my house in shambles and the only two people in it are scowling at each other."
Scowling? he thought. Maybe he was considering his unpleasant line of thoughts but where would Kurei get the idea that Ganko was scowling too? Kaoru glanced at the girl and noticed that her head had changed its position and her stare was directed at him. Eh? Who moved her? Nah, it couldn't be. Must be the wind or maybe even gravity. Either that or my imagination's going haywire.
He was about to refute the flame caster's claim when he saw his knowing smirk. He must be joking but then when has Kurei ever joked about anything? Get a grip, will you, Koganei!
"I thought you guys went back to the cave," Kaoru changed the subject.
"I passed. After all, someone's got to bring in some money. Hell will freeze over before anyone accuses me of being a free loader."
Kaoru ignored the comment. It wasn't as if the guy needed to work. His office was just a front since he already had his billions. No. If Kurei went to his office it was probably to pull some strings and tie loose ends.
"What did the tests show?"
"Nothing enlightening. Frankly, the doctors are all baffled at her condition. Some even say she's some kind of medical freak."
"They did?!" Kaoru cried out in indignation. He calmed down considerably when he saw Kurei inspect his newly manicured nails. "They're still alive, aren't they?"
"But of course! I'm not the animal that I was years ago."
"So what did you do to them?"
"I fired them," Kurei shrugged.
"You fired them?! Man, you're getting soft."
"Am I really?"
Kaoru realized from the guy's dry tone that he'd crossed the line. One look at his steaming hand he knew that he was in big trouble. "Ehehehe. Joking. It's a compliment actually. Really!"
Kurei snorted and made himself comfortable in one of the other seats. "Perhaps I am getting soft. Just don't tell anyone. I'd hate to see Ganko wake up to realize that her boyfriend's nothing but a pile of ash. How is she?"
He just shrugged back. There really wasn't any change except that things were looking down based on their progress, which was no progress at all. His face must have shown his emotions. What the flame caster said next surprised him.
"Uruha and Hokage had gone through a lot. We used to try to kill each other but now…all right, I admit it, we still try to kill each other but not for the old reasons. But you know what? Our families have one thing in common. We don't easily give up. We're fighters.
You and Ganko had the privilege of being part of both Uruha and Hokage at one time or another. That makes you doubly strong. You'll pull through this…and so will she."
It took a moment for Kaoru to digest this It was a nice thing to say. But what surprised him most was that it made sense. He and Ganko were meant to be together. Fate's weird sense of humor had thrown them together. This was just another one of Fate's jokes. Kaoru was sure that the punch line wasn't delivered yet.
He looked up to thank Kurei but he should have known that the flame caster would pull that disappearing act again. The guy was still not used to doing good things. Kaoru moved to kneel in front of Ganko and took her hands in his.
"Did you notice it? Even Kurei-niichan wants you to come back. Fuuko and Yanagi are already planning a party for you. Domon and Tokiya are in charge of the decorations, believe it or not, and Recca prepared his best fireworks. You'll love it."
He was staring back into her eyes, trying to catch any reaction. There was none but somehow it didn't bother him as it usually did.
"Don't worry, baby, we'll wait. We'll wait until you find your way back to us."
To be continued…
MUST READ BISHLOV NOTES:
[1] This took me three weeks to write. This is probably one of the two hardest fics I've ever written (the other's a CCS). If ever you think I take too long to UPDATE this, it's because I want you to read a good chapter with nice TWISTS. I owe you guys that much.
[2] Hehe. So you thought she died eh? Before you flame my arse to a crisp here are some EXCERPTS FROM THE LAST CHAPTER that hinted she did not die:
...Slowly she felt her energy drain. She laid half atop the boy, clinging to him with her remaining strength. Her last conscious breath was heard even if it was muffled against Kaoru's chest. The last of her energy was sucked dry... --- Her soul and energy was drained but there's still something that kept her alive. And what's the opposite of 'conscious'...that's right, unconscious! Ganko just fainted due to her dwindling energy supply.
...The boy woke up and took in the unnatural silence but rejected the possibility. He was wrong though. He examined his love's almost lifeless body, tried to shake her awake... --- Self-explanatory. Bet you didn't notice that 'almost'.
Too late. It was all too late. --- This doesn't mean, "It's too late. She's dead." What it meant was, "Too late, the soul-sucker device has her soul."
[3] No don't kill me just yet. I got one or two chapters more up my sleeve. I loved all of the reviews that I got for last chapter. I was successful in making you look one way while I'm going the opposite. LOVE YOU ALL!!!