A/N: I'd like everybody to know I'm turning into an angst whore. And it is
of no importance I just now invented the designation for myself. Thanks for
the reviews, anyway! I love all my fans! *blows kisses*
Yuki woke slowly, reluctantly, in his own bed, with a half-melted bag of ice on his forehead. His mouth tasted, unsurprisingly, like too much medicine and old beer. He was pretty sure he should be dead, but it would be nice irony if he'd managed to fuck up even suicide.
He could see where the cosmos might get a kick out of thwarting him, but that left the question of how he'd gotten into bed from collapsed against the bathtub, which bruised ribs testified he hadn't imagined. He started to sit up, felt short of breath and dizzy, and dropped straight back onto the pillow.
Had he managed to crawl back on his own, somehow? That wouldn't explain being tucked in like a kid who had nightmares. That was something Shuichi would do.
Blearily, Yuki opened his eyes again and they fell on a picture of Shuichi on his bedside table. The 8x10 had been living in his desk drawer as long as he'd had it, one of many places Shuichi was too cowed to look. Why, exactly, that Yuki didn't want Shuichi to know he had it, wasn't clear to him. He'd moved it into the bedroom the second he got home.
Yuki managed to sit up. He stared blearily at the glossy, feeling his throat catch and eyes start to burn again as those intoxicating eyes smiled out at him, brimming with life. Almost unconsciously, he pressed the picture to his heart and allowed a few tears to fall.
After a few minutes, He set the picture down and got out of bed. He still felt dazed, but only mildly. With no idea what he might find, he eased the door open.
Ryuichi was lying on the couch. Or, rather, in a strange position even the author had no word for. He was on his back, facing the wall, with both (bare) feet up on the top of the sofa, his head hanging off the front. He was chanting "no da" over and over to the tune of "Shining Collection" and making a chain of multicolored paperclips Shuichi had bought Yuki in an attempt to brighten up his desk. A stuffed rabbit that looked exactly like Kumagoro except for being blue balanced on his upturned toes.
Yuki probably should have been more surprised than he was. "Uh... How did you get in here?"
Ryuichi appeared to teleport, suddenly straight in front of Yuki. "Gooooooood morning!" As an afterthought, he shoved the bunny under Yuki's nose. "Say hiiiiiiii to Kohana!"
"Hi...iiii." Wait, had he just voluntarily greeted a blue scrap of stuffed plush?
"She's Kuma-chan's little sister," Ryuichi said by way of introduction, suddenly producing a cup of coffee from the strange dimension that followed him around, where the laws of physics didn't exist. "Kuma-chan said someone should keep an eye on you. But he has to watch Shu-kun and Koh-chan needs to make sure I remember to look both ways and eat a good breakfast—" He stopped talking for about three minutes to hug the bunny "—so Ki-chan's gonna take care of you!" Yuki found himself holding a yellow version of Kuma- and Koh-chan which had apparently materialized from the reorganization of the oxygen and cigarette-smoke atoms floating around,. "She's their little cousin. I gotta go meet Pico-Pico Noriko-chan for breakfast. Byyyyyyyyeeeeeeee, Yuuuuuukiiiiiiii!" He scampered out the door, back to chanting.
Yuki stared after him blankly, and decided not to make any attempt to think over whatever the hell had just happened. He deposited the rabbit on the table and drained the coffee. It was very strong, slightly sweetened with the only real sugar in the house, just slightly tempered by milk—not cream, and sprinkled with cinnamon. Shuichi was the only one who knew precisely how Yuki liked his coffee, but in the course of the last five minutes, enough had happened so Yuki didn't really notice.
He'd been brooding over the coffee for an indeterminate amount of time, half considering trying the pills again or maybe trying something less risky (seppuku was always a possibility), when there was a frenzied knock. "Uh... Yeah?"
Mika threw the door open. "Wait, you look fine! ...For you."
Yuki took a calm sip of coffee. Whatever might be going on, with the exception of that initial fluke, he could always annoy his sister. "Uh, do you have to sound so disappointed?"
"Noriko just called and told me Ryuichi found you unconscious, with most of bottle of pills down your throat."
"Hey, that time you didn't sound disappointed."
"Shut up, Eiri. Now, Did Sakuma-san tie his bandanna too tight, or should I get you back to the shrink?"
"If you'll excuse me, I have to feed the cat."
"You don't have a cat."
"Well, I'm going to get one."
She smacked him, provoking the hangover that had been driven under by the pills. "Eiri, did you or did you not try to kill yourself?"
"You just drove me to it. See you on the pavement." He opened the window and slung a leg over the sill.
"I AM NOT THAT EASILY MANIPULABLE!"
"Gee, I can see the headlines now. 'Promising young author driven to suicide by his interfering sibling.' "
"Eiri..."
"Want me to do it?" He scooched further out the window. Of course, it was only a two-story drop, but Mika didn't think too well under stress.
"EIRI!"
He seriously considered it, just to spite her. That he had nothing real to spite her about didn't bother him. He needed a scapegoat. "If you don't want me to do it, go away."
"Eiri..." Her voice was soft and pleading. "You're scaring me. Come on back with me. You can stay at our house. Tohma's been worried about you since we heard what happened to Shuichi."
Yuki closed his eyes and started muttering. "Yutaka sighed heavily. Having Michi around might well be the straw that broke the camel's back. What the hell does she think she can do? he wondered vaguely. He glanced at the clock, wanting nothing more than to get away from his little sister and see Shunichi. Hospital visiting hours would be over soon. And Shunichi's parents had been saying they didn't want him to suffer. If life support was to be cut, it was probably all for the better, but he couldn't let Shun- chan go without saying an unheard goodbye."
"Eiri?"
"What? I'm working." He swung back into the room and headed into his study without a glance in her direction, grabbing Ki-chan on the way and locking the door with a decisive click.
A/N: If anyone's wondering, it's not clear to me either whether Ryuichi really had any idea what was going on. In fact, he's acting like me (especially the paperclip thing... not like my room is full of paperclip chains or anything). Aside from that, how does everyone like the Kumagoro family? Green next, or pruple?
Yuki woke slowly, reluctantly, in his own bed, with a half-melted bag of ice on his forehead. His mouth tasted, unsurprisingly, like too much medicine and old beer. He was pretty sure he should be dead, but it would be nice irony if he'd managed to fuck up even suicide.
He could see where the cosmos might get a kick out of thwarting him, but that left the question of how he'd gotten into bed from collapsed against the bathtub, which bruised ribs testified he hadn't imagined. He started to sit up, felt short of breath and dizzy, and dropped straight back onto the pillow.
Had he managed to crawl back on his own, somehow? That wouldn't explain being tucked in like a kid who had nightmares. That was something Shuichi would do.
Blearily, Yuki opened his eyes again and they fell on a picture of Shuichi on his bedside table. The 8x10 had been living in his desk drawer as long as he'd had it, one of many places Shuichi was too cowed to look. Why, exactly, that Yuki didn't want Shuichi to know he had it, wasn't clear to him. He'd moved it into the bedroom the second he got home.
Yuki managed to sit up. He stared blearily at the glossy, feeling his throat catch and eyes start to burn again as those intoxicating eyes smiled out at him, brimming with life. Almost unconsciously, he pressed the picture to his heart and allowed a few tears to fall.
After a few minutes, He set the picture down and got out of bed. He still felt dazed, but only mildly. With no idea what he might find, he eased the door open.
Ryuichi was lying on the couch. Or, rather, in a strange position even the author had no word for. He was on his back, facing the wall, with both (bare) feet up on the top of the sofa, his head hanging off the front. He was chanting "no da" over and over to the tune of "Shining Collection" and making a chain of multicolored paperclips Shuichi had bought Yuki in an attempt to brighten up his desk. A stuffed rabbit that looked exactly like Kumagoro except for being blue balanced on his upturned toes.
Yuki probably should have been more surprised than he was. "Uh... How did you get in here?"
Ryuichi appeared to teleport, suddenly straight in front of Yuki. "Gooooooood morning!" As an afterthought, he shoved the bunny under Yuki's nose. "Say hiiiiiiii to Kohana!"
"Hi...iiii." Wait, had he just voluntarily greeted a blue scrap of stuffed plush?
"She's Kuma-chan's little sister," Ryuichi said by way of introduction, suddenly producing a cup of coffee from the strange dimension that followed him around, where the laws of physics didn't exist. "Kuma-chan said someone should keep an eye on you. But he has to watch Shu-kun and Koh-chan needs to make sure I remember to look both ways and eat a good breakfast—" He stopped talking for about three minutes to hug the bunny "—so Ki-chan's gonna take care of you!" Yuki found himself holding a yellow version of Kuma- and Koh-chan which had apparently materialized from the reorganization of the oxygen and cigarette-smoke atoms floating around,. "She's their little cousin. I gotta go meet Pico-Pico Noriko-chan for breakfast. Byyyyyyyyeeeeeeee, Yuuuuuukiiiiiiii!" He scampered out the door, back to chanting.
Yuki stared after him blankly, and decided not to make any attempt to think over whatever the hell had just happened. He deposited the rabbit on the table and drained the coffee. It was very strong, slightly sweetened with the only real sugar in the house, just slightly tempered by milk—not cream, and sprinkled with cinnamon. Shuichi was the only one who knew precisely how Yuki liked his coffee, but in the course of the last five minutes, enough had happened so Yuki didn't really notice.
He'd been brooding over the coffee for an indeterminate amount of time, half considering trying the pills again or maybe trying something less risky (seppuku was always a possibility), when there was a frenzied knock. "Uh... Yeah?"
Mika threw the door open. "Wait, you look fine! ...For you."
Yuki took a calm sip of coffee. Whatever might be going on, with the exception of that initial fluke, he could always annoy his sister. "Uh, do you have to sound so disappointed?"
"Noriko just called and told me Ryuichi found you unconscious, with most of bottle of pills down your throat."
"Hey, that time you didn't sound disappointed."
"Shut up, Eiri. Now, Did Sakuma-san tie his bandanna too tight, or should I get you back to the shrink?"
"If you'll excuse me, I have to feed the cat."
"You don't have a cat."
"Well, I'm going to get one."
She smacked him, provoking the hangover that had been driven under by the pills. "Eiri, did you or did you not try to kill yourself?"
"You just drove me to it. See you on the pavement." He opened the window and slung a leg over the sill.
"I AM NOT THAT EASILY MANIPULABLE!"
"Gee, I can see the headlines now. 'Promising young author driven to suicide by his interfering sibling.' "
"Eiri..."
"Want me to do it?" He scooched further out the window. Of course, it was only a two-story drop, but Mika didn't think too well under stress.
"EIRI!"
He seriously considered it, just to spite her. That he had nothing real to spite her about didn't bother him. He needed a scapegoat. "If you don't want me to do it, go away."
"Eiri..." Her voice was soft and pleading. "You're scaring me. Come on back with me. You can stay at our house. Tohma's been worried about you since we heard what happened to Shuichi."
Yuki closed his eyes and started muttering. "Yutaka sighed heavily. Having Michi around might well be the straw that broke the camel's back. What the hell does she think she can do? he wondered vaguely. He glanced at the clock, wanting nothing more than to get away from his little sister and see Shunichi. Hospital visiting hours would be over soon. And Shunichi's parents had been saying they didn't want him to suffer. If life support was to be cut, it was probably all for the better, but he couldn't let Shun- chan go without saying an unheard goodbye."
"Eiri?"
"What? I'm working." He swung back into the room and headed into his study without a glance in her direction, grabbing Ki-chan on the way and locking the door with a decisive click.
A/N: If anyone's wondering, it's not clear to me either whether Ryuichi really had any idea what was going on. In fact, he's acting like me (especially the paperclip thing... not like my room is full of paperclip chains or anything). Aside from that, how does everyone like the Kumagoro family? Green next, or pruple?
