Spiked punch chap 4:What now?
Shaking his head lightly to clear the recollections of the recent dream, he began to ponder upon what had just happened. Without realising the soliloquy, he muttered,
"Could it be?…How could I have not realised it…"
Silently, he chuckled bitterly to himself. He knew that he could not afford such emotions in his life only to have them wrenched away against his will. No, he would not stand for another loss like that again.
Mustering as much strength as his weakened body could, he swung his leaded legs over the side of the bed and grit his teeth as he got out of it. Immediately, the excessive movements caused a wave of nausea hit him full force, leaving him with little choice but to make a mad dash for the toilet to relieve himself. As he crouched there frail body bent over, little did he notice another's presence behind him
As she set there in the tub soaking up the warm water, she leaned her head back, placing herself in a full reclining position. The leftover foam from her quickly dissipating bubble bath just barely covered her naked form. She had just spent all afternoon scrubbing out the stubborn crimson stains firmly embedded on Tokiya's wall. Stains that had simply refused to come out. And before that, she had painstakingly nursed every single wound that scarred his perfect torso. She had done so with utmost care of course, herself still reeling from the guilt of being the one who had inflicted them. Yet, she felt that she had no right to rest not after the grave wrong she had committed against him. How could she even call herself his friend if she could not even trust his actions?
Just then, the door the door burst open, she had not locked it before because the lock was spoilt. In a flash of silver, she saw him crouched over, retching his guts out. Quickly, she gathered that he had yet to notice her presence so as quietly as possible she eased herself out of the tub and wrapped an available towel tightly around herself securing the end by tucking it in. She padded softly over to where he was, a little uncomfortable with the fact that all she had on was a short towel that hardly served as adequate clothing, and reassuringly patted his back. Trying her best to ease his discomfort, but knowing full well that there was nothing she could really do.
As he crouched there, a smooth palm gently rubbed his back. The slight pressure really did wonders to soothe his disorientated senses. There was no shock in it really but he just knew that it was that it was Fuuko. Of course, who else could it be, but at the same time it felt like her…immediately putting a halt to that train of thought, he tried to stand but collapsed back onto the floor. He realised that he did not have enough energy to rise. Colouring slightly from the realisation, he bent his head lower still to hide his face. This was when he felt her shift position to help him up. With a swift upward glance, he spied a gentle smile fixed on her lips. There was no mockery in her expression, he even dared himself to believe that she cared. But he knew better. With her help he rose to his feet unsteadily. Mentally he reproached himself as he leaned in heavily on her relying more on her strength than his own to get them back to the master bed. Quietly, he revelled in her comforting presence letting it soothe away his insecurities. Carefully she propped him up against the pillows and he heard her whisper softly,
"I'll go whip something up." Following which she gracefully glided out of the room clad in a fluffy white towel that revealed a little more than what he was comfortable looking at.
Once left to himself, he began to assess his injuries. The last he remembered, the bandages were soaked through and threatening to soil his clothes as well. Imagine his shock when he looked down to see his lean torso clad in white pristine dressings. Then, quite suddenly, slight tremors began to wreck his body. He finally admitted to himself then that the excessive loss of blood due to over taxed injuries and lack of food were finally getting to him. He had not eaten since the night before. He leaned back into the pillows, relishing their cool comfort against his aching body when a random disturbing thought popped right into his head.
"Does Fuuko know how to cook? What if she blows up my kitchen?!" panic began to rise up in him like foul-tasting bile. Just then, a mouth-watering aroma wafted through the air. "Now is this from the neighbour's house or is it a product of my hunger-crazed mind? Because Fuuko definitely couldn't create anything that smells this good even if her life depended on it…"…but she could if your life depended on it…his subconscious added on.
He quickly brushed away the odd thought, clearing his mind to focus on what was happening around him and not the products of his hormone crazed adolescent mind. It was a fact that not only did he not believe a word the small irritating voice was saying, but to acknowledge it would be like acknowledging a weakness…right? That was not something he could accept. Once more, he attempted to get out of bed, only to be stopped by a shrill admonishment coming from the now open doorway,
"Don't you dare get out of bed! I'll bring the food to you," then a little more calmly Fuuko, who was now dressed in her usual drab of shorts and a tank top, added," smells good doesn't it?"
"In your dreams monkey! That doesn't smell half edible." He shot back icily. Tokiya would have rather died a thousand deaths than acknowledge her cooking. However, things do not always go the way he plans and this was such an instance because, just then, with impeccable timing, his stomach chose to let out a huge growl, announcing to the world (or anyone who was listening) just how empty it really was. A triumphant smirk found it's way across her lips as Tokiya swore under his breath.
5 minutes later, she returned with a bowl of home-made stew. Its tantalising aroma filled the entire room and this only served to worsen his hunger pangs. She settled herself in a chair beside his bed and proceeded to feed him, but, feeling like he had had enough humiliation for the day, he skillfully evaded the oncoming utensil and promptly relieved her of the bowl of stew before retrieving the spoon to feed himself. He stared long and hard at the first mouthful hesitantly, hungry as he was, he was not dumb enough to trust anybody's cooking but his own, especially if said person is from team Hokage. He gave the spoon one last suspicious look before emptying its contents into his mouth. All the while he had prepared himself for a foul tasting shock, but he was pleasantly surprised; it tasted pretty darn good! Still, refusing to give her any credit for it, he muttered,
"It's barely edible, but coming from a monkey brain like you, I suppose it's a great achievement." The corners of her mouth lifted to form a bright smile. Although the statement may not have sounded like much, she knew from experience that that was Tokiya's brand of compliments. She continued to smile as she observed him consume his meal. It was then that she noticed something unusual. Out of all the times she had witnessed Tokiya eating (which was very rare in itself), he always ate with such poise and etiquette. This time however, he was near shovelling his food down! He must be famished to throw all sense of image to the wind, especially in front of her. When he had finished eating, she noticed that a spot of brown sauce had found its way to his cheek. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she reached forward to cup his pale face and gently wipe off the offensive speck before bringing it back to her own lips. She then ran her soft pink tongue over her thumb to taste the sauce. Closing her eyes for a bit, she concentrated on its texture, flavour, then said out loud,
"I'd say it tastes better than you give it credit for." But the only "answer" she got was an unintelligible murmur before catching a tinge of red as Tokiya turned his face away from her. That one sensuous move was enough to cause anybody to blush, needless to say, Tokiya was not spared as well. Fuuko being Fuuko was genuinely puzzled by the turn of events decided to change the subject and address the question that had been on her mind since the last ten minutes or so.
"Uh, by the way, when was he last time you ate?" It was a moment before she heard a cold indifferent voice reply,
"Not since the night before." There was a poignant pause during which neither felt comfortable followed by a simultaneous decision to break the silence,
"Er… so…" was her feeble attempt when he cut in none-too-gently,
"Can you leave?" his voice bordering on irritation. Already beginning to feel uncomfortable in his intimidating presence, she gratefully seized the opportunity to leave the room. With an exaggerated effort, she tiptoed out of the room, bowl and spoon tightly clasped in one hand, closing the door soundlessly behind her. Alone once more, he slid down into the sheets and pulled them all the way up to his chin before snuggling deeper into the covers. He felt strangely cold in his own air-conditioned room, but he had absolutely no desire to adjust the temperature, the freezing temperatures served as a reminder of himself or rather his former self. Silvery bangs falling over his countenance and obscuring his vision irritated him a great deal. Closing his eyes he brushed them back with one hand. In his mind he ran through the events of recent years, like flipping through a photo album of watching old re-runs of family films.
His first glimpse of Yanagi and the hope it brought back to his deadened heart, dashed immediately and replaced with disappointment coupled with pangs of jealousy when he found out that for all his efforts her heart only had place for one, Recca. His initial abhorrence of Team Hokage and his impression of them as nothing more than primates held fast, at first. A ghost of a smile graced his slender lips as he recalled the many instances thereafter during the tournament where bit by bit he learned to respect them, albeit quietly. For their resilience in the heat of battle as well as their determination to overcome the odds…together…and they never failed to include him whether in their annual gatherings or random outings; no matter how hard he tried to sever ties with them, they always remembered him. Until finally, he gave in and began to adapt to their constant appearances in his day to day life and take their outlandish greetings and mind-boggling antics in stride. From time to time he even participated in their activities but mostly for stress-relief. He had not realised it then, but he did now. His consorting with Team Hokage had taught him many things. Things he could not possibly have learned else where. Intangible qualities of respect, friendship, loyalty and now…did he dare admit it?…Love. he let the thought linger as the shifting images of Yanagi, Recca, Koganei, Ganko, Fuuko and even that dumb lummox Domon, play across his mind. At last he fell into a deep dreamless slumber. With a full belly of hot stew and pleasant memories caressing his mind, who could resist such bliss?
Author's ramblings:
1)I'm really sorry about taking so long before updating…the truth of the matter is I have been doing some serious studying for my upcoming exams namely my o levels, I'll try to up date more frequently come 22nd November.
2) I really want to thank all the people who have reviewed my fic and made it such a pleasure to write for you all. You have no idea how much this actually means to me. I have read many fics and I am more than sure that the fic that I have written does not at all deserve the amount of praise that you have given it. Thus I must repeat myself once again, thank you very much.
3) I regrettably have to inform all of you that I have mixed up my chapter sequencing and since I will not rest until I have done a decent revamp of the highly-embarrassing-and-below-standard first chapter, I have decided that once my exams are over I will remove the entire fic so far and re-do it. If you guys think it's good so far, you have no idea what I have in stored for you.
*) just a little teaser to Raiha fans out there…Kurei, Raiha and a few selected Uruha members will be making an appearance later on…and since I promised this will be a tokiya-fuuko fic…it's up to you to guess what will happen…^_^
4) Also to those who really like my writing style (not that I 'd dare to dream there are any of you out there) I'll be releasing an original fic in December. It's a joint project with a school mate of mine. Not at all related to Flame of Recca sadly but lots of magic and fantasy and dragons and the like involved do try to catch! ( heh heh heh I'd give you the title but I haven't thought of one yet! But rest assured I've though to the story more than adequately…^_^)
@Once more thanx you guyz for your support and praises and reviews and words of encouragement and everything else…I really appreciate it and I really love you all!!!@