By Monmon
Disclaimers: Read Chapter 1.
"Wake up."
Sendoh turned his back on the voice and threw one of his spare pillows in the voice's general direction. "Go away." He muttered sleepily.
His pillow must have hit his target because he heard a low growl and the next thing he knew, he was tumbled out of bed onto the floor, landing on his butt painfully. His eyes flew open and he spotted Kit, a few feet from him, grinning and holding the blanket that was under him just a moment ago, between his teeth.
"You!"
The fox just grinned widely enough to split his face around the blanket in his mouth and nimbly stayed out of Sendoh's reach as the emerald-eyed fox trotted back to Rukawa's side.
Sendoh rubbed his behind soothingly and glared up at the perpetrator. "What did you do that for? I'm still hurt remember? Do you treat all of your patients that way or is it just me?"
Rukawa glared unrepentantly back at him and said in a cold, monotonous tone, "You need to bathe."
"Are you saying I smell?!"
Rukawa nodded slightly. Sendoh swore that he saw an amused glint in the man's eyes.
"Kit will guide you to the hot springs." The fox-eyed healer told him impassively.
Having said that, Rukawa walked out of the room. Kit eyed Sendoh carefully while slowly padding closer to him. Seeing that he was no longer in danger from the man, Kit curled up in the blanket on the floor that he stole, and promptly went to sleep. Sendoh slowly crawled up from the floor and onto the bed. He slowly flexed his arms and legs and winced slightly at their soreness and stiffness. Sendoh looked up as Rukawa came back into the room with a crutch.
"Here." Rukawa handed him the crutch and Sendoh tried to use it to stand up but fell back onto the bed with a cry as pain shot up his legs. Rukawa stood there watching him silently as Sendoh massaged his calves and thighs soothingly. Suddenly, Rukawa sat down on the bed beside him, pulled his arm over white-robe covered shoulders and wrapped an arm around his waist. He hoisted Sendoh up in one smooth motion.
"I don't have another crutch."
Finally understanding what the other man intended, Sendoh leaned heavily on the other man and held the crutch in his free arm. It was less painful to stand up this time since Rukawa was supporting most of his weight. Kit opened one emerald eye and seeing that he wasn't needed as a guide anymore, decided to stay where he was and get some more shuteye.
The journey to the hot springs was quite tedious and uncomfortable. Sendoh's legs felt deadened and refused to support his weight. The warm, slender body pressed to his side was as distracting as the soreness in his limbs. The trek was marked by a preoccupied silence, which was quite unusual for a man who lived his life with a cheerful smile on his face and worries further than the sun.
Sendoh let out a sigh of relief when he caught sight of the hot springs. He tried to increase his pace but ended up stumbling over his own two feet. Strong arms caught him and hoisted him up like a baby. Deep blue eyes peered into his own and his breath got caught in his throat. Sapphire jewels tinged with concern winked mysteriously at him and he felt himself falling into gorgeous twin pools of dark blue velvet. What concerned him the most was that he didn't seem to care how far he fell. He was brought out of his reverie by a cold, monotone voice.
"Are you alright?"
He quickly averted his eyes and nodded quickly. A few moments later, he found himself leaning against a large slab of rock right next to a hot spring. Steam curled up languidly from the spring into the air before slowly dissipating.
"Do you need anything else?"
Sendoh looked up and noted that Rukawa hung up a plain white cotton robe and a large, fluffy towel on a low tree branch, which he could easily reach. The healer had also gathered some sweet-smelling herbs and soap root and placed it near the edge of the hot spring. Sendoh glanced at Rukawa and then looked away. He suddenly felt very nervous and confused.
A small gust of wind was his only warning as Rukawa walked over to him and started to unbutton his shirt with deft hands. A tinge of red rushed to his cheeks but it was gone in a flash as he fell back into his usual persona.
"Well, well, well. If you want to undress me that much, all you had to do was ask." Sendoh said with a laugh and a smirk on his lips.
Slender hands fell away from his clothing and wide, dark blue eyes looked up at him with surprise and confusion. 'He really is just too adorable.' Sendoh admired almost absently. 'He's like a child in his innocence.' Comprehension flashed across the beautiful face and the expression smoothed itself back into its usual blankness. Sendoh was slightly disappointed to see the expression covered up. 'I wonder why he won't open up. Why does he live alone in a cottage? Doesn't he have any relatives?' The questions swirled wildly in his head as he stared thoughtfully into the sapphire pools before him, trying to discern their secrets.
Rukawa shifted a bit uncomfortably as clear blue eyes locked onto his own. It was only through sheer stubbornness that he did not look away. He took the moment to examine the man before him in the clear sunlight. The man was slightly pale but that was normal considering that the dark-haired man was injured and sick. Aside from the fact that the man still looked exhausted, and kept wincing every time he moved, he was well on the road to recovery. The most astounding thing was the man's hair. Even after several days of being bedridden, the hair still defiantly refused to droop. 'I wonder if it is natural.' Finally realizing that if he didn't break the staring match soon, it would continue far into the day, he stepped back and spoke up in response to Sendoh's earlier comment.
"Then do it yourself."
He then turned his back on the spiky-haired man and walked to a cluster of trees that was located not that far from where he left Sendoh. He sat down in his favorite spot, which was at the base of a massive, beautiful oak tree. He gazed up at the strong limbs of the tree as the branches swayed back and forth gently with the wind. He relaxed, leaning against the thick trunk of the tree. He let a small sigh escape from his lips. Ever since he was little, he found refuge in trees. Trees filled him with a sense of peace and it calmed his soul. 'It's so peaceful here. If only I could stay here forever.' The branches above rustled soothingly as he closed his eyes and let his conscious travel with the winds.
Something stirred in his mind, and a ball of unease and urgency formed in the pit of his stomach. Rukawa's eyes snapped open and he scanned the immediate area for clues to what alerted his senses. Seeing none, he quickly got to his feet and stalked in the direction that he was compelled to go. He felt a certain amount of relief that he was walking away from Sendoh's location. Soon he became aware of the sound of someone running through the forest. Changing his direction slightly so that he would meet the person with the pounding footsteps head on, he continued to walk.
A brown-haired young boy burst out of the trees, panting heavily. His blue-gray eyes brightened up feverishly with hope as they landed on him. "Heeler! Heeler!…" He fell to his knees in front of Rukawa, trying to speak. "…may… 'r… hurt's… help…"
Rukawa immediately crouched down in front of the boy. "Please catch your breath and then tell me." He said calmly as his hands reached out and soothingly rubbed young boy's back.
The boy closed his eyes and sank trustingly into the healer's arms. Rukawa cradled the boy against him and carefully monitored the boy's breathing. Akio was an orphan that the mayor of the village had taken in. The little boy's parents were killed in a fire when raiders stormed a village that was a few miles away. Rukawa, upon feeling something terribly wrong that night, arrived after the raiders had left to find the village totally razed to the ground and that fire was burning everywhere. Rukawa quickly set about to look for survivors. It was pure luck that he stumbled across Akio. The boy was barely visible in all the rubble and smoke, and Rukawa would have never found him in time if the boy did not call out for help. Upon locating the boy, Rukawa quickly moved him a certain distance away from the burning village and administered most of the wounds before bringing him back to his cottage. The boy was severely burned and breathed in a lot of smoke. The villagers that heard about the rescue felt that the boy would not survive a fortnight, but Rukawa was adamant in nursing him back to health. After three long, stressing weeks, he successfully nursed the boy back to consciousness. It was a great relief to Rukawa for although he didn't show it, he was afraid that the boy would not make it. He felt a certain affinity to Akio, and showed the boy more kindness than he ever had to any of the other youngsters in the village during the weeks after the boy regained consciousness. As a result, Akio followed him everywhere and practically worshipped him. He felt more than a bit uncomfortable at the adoration he saw in the boy's eyes and he knew that he did not want the boy to grow up friendless and alone like he did. So he pleaded for the mayor to adopt the boy. The mayor agreed and everything returned to some semblance of normalcy.
When he felt that the boy could speak properly, he shifted the boy carefully so that he could see the boy's face and asked, "What's wrong, Akio?"
The boy opened his eyes and looked up at him. "The mayor fell from his roof. His head is bleeding a lot." The boy spoke slowly and enunciated the words carefully and clearly.
Rukawa offered the boy a tiny smile and ruffled the sweat-damped brown strands approvingly. The boy smiled back at him, momentarily forgetting about the previous run, and basking in the praise that the other man gave him. Rukawa carefully rummaged through his robes and finally came up with an apple.
"Here." He handed the apple to the boy. "Walk back to the village. I will be there shortly." Akio immediately nodded, got up and walked off to the village while munching on his apple.
Rukawa quickly turned on his heel and walked in the direction where he left Sendoh. He listened carefully for the sounds of water splashing as he walked. He would not make the same mistake as before in intruding on the other man's privacy. When he was pretty sure that the man would be able to hear him, he called out, "Sendoh. Something came up. I will come back for you later." He paused a moment waiting for an answer. Upon hearing a muffled 'okay', Rukawa nearly ran towards the village with unease rolling in his stomach.
As Sendoh finished tying the knot on his robe, he looked up at the sun. He noticed that nearly an hour had passed and Rukawa still didn't come back yet. 'Guess something really big came up.' The hot water of the springs had eased his sore muscles tremendously and made him feel more refreshed and relaxed than he had since the war started.
Balancing himself carefully with the crutch, he moved around looking around for a certain elusive flower. It was a pale green flower and normally people would not see it unless they knew what they were looking for. Finally spotting some, he squeezed some of the nectar out of the flowers and applied it to his hair. His hair that was drooping around his face after the bath was suddenly standing straight up from his scalp. He discovered this flower when he and his childhood friend, Koshino, decided to skip training one day to attend a summer fair at a nearby city. Actually, he had dragged Koshino to come along with him. They were riding their horses through a forest while Koshino was complaining that Sendoh was always getting him in trouble, when suddenly Sendoh's horse stumbled, sending Sendoh into a patch of pale green flowers. Some of the nectar of the flowers rubbed off on Sendoh as Koshino helped him up. As he ran his fingers through his hair, he found it standing straight up. Sendoh liked the new look and it persisted to the present.
'Oh yeah. Koshino. He should be pretty worried by now.'
Sendoh looked around and slowly hobbled to the middle of a nearby small clearing. Sendoh looked up in the sky and spotted the thing that he was looking for. He took out a small silver whistle that hung around his neck and blew in it. No sound came out of the whistle but a small brown nondescript bird flew to him and landed on his shoulder. He gently petted the bird and then picked up a small piece of wood off the ground, taking care not to jostle the bird. He nicked little designs into the wood with a small dagger that was hidden in a small compartment in his shirt. 'Safe. Healing. Will be back soon.' He held out the piece of wood to the bird and the bird clamped the wood with its beak and flew away. Sendoh sent a silent thank you and a prayer of safe journey after the bird.
Suddenly feeling a wave of dizziness, he decided that the clearing was a good place as any to wait for the healer. He carefully sat down on the grass, setting the crutch to his side. The sun was shining warmly down on him and he lied down and closed his eyes. He yawned once and thought, 'Guess I'm more tired than I thought. I wonder what Rukawa-kun is doing right now.' With that thought, he slipped away in the warm sunshine dreaming of beautiful, blue eyes.