Chapter 36
One month.
He's been asleep for a full month with no sign of waking up.
Suiryu has become a mess and a shell of his former self in a sense. He has done nothing but watch Yuuji sleep, waiting for the moment his eyes open once more. Yet, no matter how long he waited for him, there was no sign of Yuuji waking. "I must have messed up…" he muttered. "It has to be my fault… I didn't take care of him properly did I?"
He would go days without eating, even when he was offered food he reluctantly took it. No one has been able to bring him out of the room, not Satoru, Fushiguro or Nobara.
D'angelo has tried to call him, but he left his phone go unanswered. If he is fired, so be it, he isn't leaving Yuuji in such a state.
The brothers have come by to visit, only one at a time during the month. Choso would be the first one there and the last to visit. After all, the brotherly connection he has is strong. He has been able to peg different things at different moments. Yet with Yuuji, he can't seem to make sense of it. "I can sense him in there, but at the same time, he's not."
Suiryu merely nodded to him, he asked. "Can you sense if he is close to waking up?"
Choso shook his head on the matter.
"I have tried to myself, but I haven't been able to. I hoped the great lady would return soon, but she hasn't appeared before us since his last feeding."
"He must be starving by now…" Suiryu said offhandedly.
"If he were, I am certain he would wake. For the moment, keep looking over our brother… it could just be a phase too…"
"A month phase where he's asleep? Not likely" Suiryu muttered.
Choso nodded as he took his leave.
When he was gone, Suiryu carefully scooped Yuuji into his arms. He held him over his shoulder, rubbed his back and tried to speak with him. "Yuuji, please, please wake up" he pleaded.
Day in and out he would do the same routine in hopes that his eyes would open. But not once did they show any indication that they would.
By the month's end, Suiryu felt as if he were going mad.
Nothing made sense to him anymore, nothing worked to wake up Yuuji, the damn fox woman doesn't even show her face around him. He was all alone on the matter.
"For the love of God, Yuuji, wake up!" Suiryu protested that day. "You HAVE to wake up! I… I can't do anything to help you… I… I never felt so powerless before… Please, you have to wake up. I… I don't know what I would do if something happened to you… You were the only one who saw me, who cared for me, that lone grain of kindness in a deplorable bastard. How could you see something like that in Ryomen Sukuna!" he demanded.
But there was no answer, no indication his eyes would open.
It was then, Suiryu felt something in him snap.
So much so, he felt a strange sensation occur down the sides of his face. "Suiryu?"
He turned to the doorway and saw Junpei stare at him, stunned to say the least. "Hey…" he muttered.
"Are… are you crying?" he asked with utter amazement.
"What?"
Junpei took a closer look. "You are, you're crying!" he said, but it wasn't insulting, it sounded like he was amazed he could do such a thing.
Suiryu rubbed his palms against the sides of his face and saw the moisture that came from them. "Is… is that what that is?" he asked. "Because this hurt… it doesn't hurt physically, but it hurt somehow… What the fuck is this!?" he demanded.
Junpei gave a half smile to it all. "Emotion," he simply said. "It's human emotion… you're not use to something like that,"
Suiryu shook his head on the matter. "Why… why does it hurt?" he asked innocently enough. "I never felt… it's pain that…"
Junpei came into the room and took a seat next to Suiryu. "It's painful, since you care for Yuuji, I know how you feel. Despite everything we can do, we're powerless to help him. You don't like that feeling, neither do I. I have always wanted to repay Yuuji for all he has done for me, to be at his side when he needs help the most. At the moment, he needs help, but there isn't a damn thing we can do about it."
Suiryu nodded as he cleared away more tears. "I can see why Sukuna became an emotionless bastard…" he muttered. "Still… to experience something like this…" his hand came up over his heart. "It just makes me drift farther away from him, I don't like the sensation I feel, but at the same time… it's not something HE would have felt."
Junpei nodded. Suiryu jumped as Junpei's hand came behind him and he rubbed his back. "Sorry, my mom did that for me when I got upset… it's to help calm you down." He was quick to stop the moment he started him.
"Do it again,"
He was stunned, and yet, Junpei obliged and did so again. It was strange; it was oddly comforting for him.
"I think we need to keep waiting, something is going on in Yuuji, perhaps, when he wakes up, he might be himself again?"
"I could give a shit at this point. I would be happy if he woke up and was still a baby,"
"Yeah, same with the brothers and I." Junpei said with a sigh. "We're here for you if you need us, you do know that right?"
Suiryu nodded is head, but said nothing more. With that, Junpei stood up once more. "I'm going to head out, Choso asked me to check on you… he worried about you too, you know."
Suiryu forced a smirk. "I'm not the one he has to worry about,"
"Well, he is the older brother, and you know how they can be…" Junpei said and snickered. "I'll check up on you later okay?"
He nodded once more. The door closed off to the room as Suiryu peered down at Yuuji. He sighed aloud as he went to his usual routine. Every day he would still change him, he is given a bottle of water to drink but nothing more. When he is all cleaned up, Suiryu slipped into the makeshift nest that was made, his arm gently wraps around his brother and he hold him close. "Please, wake up soon…" he whispered.
