"Hellooooo-oooo!" sang Shigure loudly as he entered Yuki's room.
Yuki smiled weakly at him. He had just woken from a sleep plagued with unwanted dreams, dreams that made him think about parts of his childhood he longed to forget, yet always wanted to remember.
"Hi." He answered in a hoarse, feminine voice.
"Yo," said Kyo from his chair beside Yuki's bed. He was thankful for Shigure's interruption. When Yuki had woken up from his disturbed sleep, he had caught Kyo holding his hand. They hadn't spoken since.
"Aaya says hello, and that he'll be visiting his dearest little brother as soon as possible."
Yuki rolled his eyes. He too wanted to be close to Ayame, if only for Tohru, but he was just so…
"Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuukiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Exactly.
"Hello Ayame." He said weakly, rubbing his temples, anticipating a headache in the near future.
"When I heard you were in the hospital I simply had to come and visit you! And Gure, I have simply faaabulous news!" he said, clapping his hands excitedly.
"Well then, don't leave us hanging on the edge of our seats, tell us!" said Shigure.
"Mine and I…" He paused dramatically. "ARE GETTING MARRIED!" he exploded, and Shigure rushed forward to hug him.
"Congratulations, Aaya! When did you propose?"
Ayame was positively glowing, whether from the attention he was getting, or the excitement of getting married, no one knew.
"Just now!" he exclaimed. "I proposed just as I was leaving to come see you, Yuki. And when she accepted, she knew how eager I was to let you all know, and she forbade me from postponing my visit with you! She said she wanted to call a few friends, anyway."
"Have you told Hatori yet?" asked Shigure eagerly.
"No, I was wondering if you could come with me," said Ayame hopefully.
"Well, of course, I'm quite sure that two sixteen-year-olds can keep themselves occupied for ten minutes?" said Shigure, winking mischievously.
Kyo blushed and pretended to be fascinated by the walls, and Yuki narrowed his eyes, but the threatening effect was somewhat lost thanks to the hospital bed he was occupying.
Ayame grabbed Shigure's wrist and dragged him out, laughing that loud, annoying laugh of his.
Once they had left, Kyo and Yuki sat in an uncomfortable silence for a while.
"Um, Kyo?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you…"
Kyo looked at him, confused.
"Do I what?"
"Kyo, do you still hate me?"
By the way he said 'still', Kyo knew what he was talking about.
"I-I dunno." he said softly. "It's not like anything has changed…"
"It has," said Yuki. "We met Tohru."
More uncomfortable silence.
"Sometimes I wish you were more like Haru, Kyo."
Kyo chuckled.
"How, schizophrenic and in love with you since you were like five?"
Yuki smiled faintly.
"No. Able to look past the ties of the legend."
Kyo looked almost embarrassed.
"That was ages ago, how do you know I haven't changed?"
Yuki still smiled, but his eyes were immensely sad.
"Because you still fight me almost every day."
Kyo turned to look at him.
"Yuki, I…"
"Hellooooooooo everyone! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ayame burst in, laughing loudly, still dragging Shigure, and cutting Kyo off. "Hatori says you can go home tomorrow morning! Isn't it maaaaaaarvellous!"
Yuki forced himself to smile. He would never see things from his brother's perspective.
'But we can always meet halfway,' he thought to himself, this time his smile genuine.
"Well, I'm terribly sorry Yuki, but it's quite late, and Kyo and I should be getting home. Hatori should be in his office next door(1) if you need anything," said Shigure.
"Sure, head home, I'll see you tomorrow, then," he said, smiling at them gratefully.
On the walk home, all Kyo could think of was Yuki. His smile, his eyes, his voice…
'Sometimes I wish you were more like Haru, Kyo…'
Why did he say that?
'…able to look past the ties of the legend…'
'I can look past! I can! If he'd just let me…'
'You still fight me almost every day.'
Those sad eyes… Why couldn't he think about anything else?
'Then how do you know you hate him? How do you know he hates you?'
Ten years ago…
'Who decided I hate you? They were wrong, Kyo. I don't hate you at all.'
He remembered everything so clearly…
'Why do you hate me Kyo?'
Why did he hate him? Did he hate him?
'You don't know me.'
That hurt expression…
'But I want to know you.'
Those sad eyes…
'I want to be your friend.'
Those words… Those words he thought he'd never hear…
And Kyo had ruined it.
He'd ruined everything he'd ever dreamed of.
Yuki woke with a start, sweating and confused.
That dream.
That dream that forced him to relive his childhood.
What had he done wrong?
What had he done to make so many people hate him?
He sighed, and decided to take a walk to clear his head.
He got dressed, and walked down the hall to the door, where he found his shoes and slipped into them.
He walked outside, through the Sohma gardens (2).
He walked until he came to a small cavern in the wall, behind a bush. He crawled inside, and looked around it.
'I can still fit, weird,' he thought to himself as he hugged his knees, thinking back to when he was little. He was almost asleep when he heard noises outside. The rustling of bushes? There was no wind outside…
Then he crawled inside.
(1) I've decided Yuki was actually moved to the main house, where Hatori actually has an office.
(2) Like I said, in the main house now.
Dear Reader(s),
Whoot! People read my trash!
Are you all dying to know who he is? Of course you are!
And if you aren't… shakes fist
Thank you for reading, sorry it's crap, please review, and pray to Natsuki Takaya that it gets better!
Thanks for caring,
Thinking of you,
Sammy!