It was dark. I was surrounded by softness. I slowly tried to move in bed and winced. I squeezed my eyes shut. I tried to move again and almost screamed.
I heard a rustle on sheets and then heard a voice, "Yuki? You alright?" I nodded then realized that whoever it was couldn't see me.
"Uh…yeah." I said quietly. Before I knew it, Mikio's face was right in front of mine.
He grinned that annoying smile of his and said, "You know? Your face gets all pinched up when you're asleep. It's kind of cute." I reached up and pushed his forehead away from me.
"Get lost," I said.
He moved his face up next to mine again and said, "You know that you're in no position to tell me to 'get lost' seeing that one wrong move and those ribs could get MUCH more painful." I glared at him. He reached up and brushed a piece of sweaty hair from my forehead. It was a bit of a struggle though, because it was practically glued to my head. I reached up to touch his cheek, and lightly slapped it.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" he quietly bellowed at me. I glared at him.
"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed at him, "I love you, but you can be so…so…" I looked at him with disparity. He met my gaze with sympathetic eyes.
"Sh… Its okay Yuki. I need you to know, its okay." He moved up and kissed me softly. I reached my arms around him and squeezed him as hard as I could without permanently damaging my ribs. Mikio laid back down and I snuggled into the sheets.
"Mikio, I was wondering…" I asked him, scared that I might hit a rough patch.
"Shoot," he mumbled sleepily.
"I was wondering…" I stopped again, nervous. 'What's wrong with me?' I thought.
"Go on…" he urged me.
"Okay… I was wondering… um… what-happened-to-your-parents?" I blurted in one breath. Mikio sat up abruptly, and looked at me with the why-did-you-have-to-ask-me-that look. He took a deep breath in.
"My mom used to take care of me until I was four. I never knew my father. I would be too… smart I guess for mom. She couldn't handle it. She was a student at a college and I, her three year old son would be correcting her on proper grammar. She got stressed out a lot and she'd take it out on me, can't blame her though. She left me on the steps of Café Mew Mew and Ryou found me. He's called me his nephew ever since. We only look alike; that's all." I took a deep breath.
"She just left you?" I asked him. How could someone put their child in such danger?
"Yeah. But it's for the best anyways. She couldn't handle it. She was young and had some issues going on. Ryou said she had depression. He said he knew her really close, that she had told him everything. She had dreams of hurting me. She couldn't do anything about it." Mikio said gloomily.
I took a harsh breath in. What could it be like, dreaming about hurting those you love most? Mint had Newnan at an early age and she hadn't done anything like that…
"What happened to her? Your mom, I mean." I asked sympathetically.
"She… committed suicide half a year after she left me with Ryou." He stated numbly.
"Mikio, I'm… so… so sorry." That was all I could say. He pulled himself over to the bed and looked at me. He looked different than the usually cheerful or occasionally furious Mikio that he always had been. His eyes were filled with long forgotten memories of his family and what he had left behind. Tears started filling in his eyes and I realized that mine were too. I reached over and hugged him softly and pulled him in next to me. I hugged him again and said soothing things to him. This was new to me. Usually I had the problems and Mikio helped me get through them. When I was needed for him tonight, I was frightened. He was the same four year old that had been left by his mother twelve long years ago. I set my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I could hear him breathing and how fast his pulse was.
"Shhh… It's late tonight. You're tired and so am I. Just breathe softly and close your eyes." I soothed. When he was feeling better and half asleep, I took another chance.
"Mikio?"
"Yeah?" he mumbled.
"What was your mom's name?" I winced as I said this, preparing for the possibility of a mental breakdown.
"Berry."
