Generations:
Chapter Twenty-five:
Tears falling down his cheeks, Ryuu leaned against the wall in the hospital stairwell, holding himself as he wished he had Kumagoro—but Taki had gotten rid of the plushie months ago.
"Taki….why did I have to meet him?" He swallowed back a sob and lowered himself to sit on a step. "…why did I have fall for his trick? Kess hates me now…."
The warm tears gushed faster from his cobalt eyes hearing the idea said; the sound of his son's words ringing in his ears.
"'Leave me alone and go die.'"
"Kessuke, I'm so sorry….I'm sorry…." A sob escaped his throat and echoed through the stairwell. "I don't deserve to be a father…."
"Aw, don't cry. It doesn't suit someone like you to cry."
Ryuu quickly averted his eyes to the voice's direction, his sobs stopping though the tears continued to fall. Expecting to see someone he knew, he leaned away when he saw long, unfamiliar hair and gleaming eyes staring down from above him.
"Who are you?" His voice asked quietly, taking in the stranger's brown hair with blond highlights, and vibrant eyes a shocking unreal green.
"Aw, you're cheeks are all wet, here." The stranger took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears off the ex-singer's cheeks, and then sat down next to him. "All better now."
"…who are you?"
"Ah, name's Yoshiki. Nice to meet you. D'you want to tell me what's wrong? Why were you crying? Someone like you shouldn't be sad."
"I…it's…." Ryuu bit his lip as he felt tears refill his eyes. "My son hates me and I don't know how to get him to love me again….I need to apologize but he won't let me…."
"Aw, I'm sure he doesn't really hate you…and all you have to do to apologize is say 'I'm sorry' to him, don't worry about making him pay attention—I'm sure he'll listen anyway." Yoshiki smiled reassuringly, placing her hand on the older man's arm.
"But…but he told me to 'go die'….I…." He sobbed and inhaled a shuddering breath. "And I deserve it too…."
"Don't say that….your son's just angry, I'm sure he didn't mean it….it's not like you hurt him on purpose or anything, right?"
Ryuu's face grimaced stronger with sadness, barely able to speak through his trembling lips.
"No….but I let….I let that man….I didn't realize what was going on….and I let that man hurt him…."
"…I…." Yoshiki wrapped her right arm around the sobbing man and held him close while her other hand wiped the tears away. "It's all right, it's okay…."
She waited for the older man to calm down before speaking again.
"That man who hurt your son's gone now, right? All you have to do is apologize to your son now…you can do that easily, just say it to him the moment you see him. And…." Yoshiki paused and wiped the last of Ryuu's tears away. "He might not be willing to listen at first, but give him time to heal emotionally, I'm sure he'll come around once he's through hurting. Just don't give up, don't run away from trying to patch things up between you—if you do give up nothing will change, he'll go on hating. You need to show him you care for him, be persistent—and don't get upset if he refuses to listen at first."
"I…Do you really think that will work? You really think Kess will forgive me for being stupid? For not realizing Ta-chi was hurting him?" Ryuu looked into Yoshiki's vibrant eyes hopefully, though the doubt swam through his thoughts. "I…don't think he'll even let me in the same room….how am I supposed to say 'I sorry' if he won't let me near him?"
"Just say it when you see him. If he's really stubborn he might not listen, but keep trying…I'm sure it'll get through, but make sure it's you who tells him—that's the only way to make it work."
"I'll try." Ryuu sighed and felt Yoshiki's arms leave him.
"All better now?"
"Better."
"Then what are you waiting for? Go see your son."
Ryuu took a deep breath and nodded, taking Yoshiki's hand to help him stand up. After whispering a soft 'thank you' he walked through the doorway leading from the stairwell into the floor hall.
Walking back toward his son's room, he saw Tohma in the hall looking around until he saw the brown-haired man. Then he walked toward him, eyes tired but relieved.
"I was just looking for you, Ryuu. Are you all right? You look like you've been crying…."
"I was….I'm better now, I want to try talking to Kessuke again."
"I don't think he'll let you, he just kicked me out of the room."
"I don't care. I'm going to try again." Ryuu walked straight to Kessuke's door, his confidence lessening as he tentatively knocked on the door and called his son's name.
Not getting a response, he opened the door partly and stared in, his heart racing each second with anxiety and anticipation.
"Kessuke? It's me. I…I've….I've come to apologize…." He stepped into the room eyeing Kessuke sitting on the bed facing away from him toward the window. "Kess?" He felt a chill pass through him when his son didn't answer not even to tell him to go away.
That's when he heard a quiet sob escape Kessuke's lips and then the soft clicking sound of a thin piece of metal hitting the floor.
Feeling another chill run through him, he hurried to Kessuke's side, his words of apology on his lips—words that stuck in his throat when he saw the blood on Kessuke's arm.
"Ke…." He trembled and quickly grabbed his son's arm, swallowing hard when he saw how much blood gushed out of the wound on Kessuke's wrist. It pooled on the floor. "Kessuke? Kessuke!" Ryuu blanched when Kessuke fell against him, eyes drooping shut. "God, Kessuke!" He quickly turned to the door. "Tohma!"
"Ryuu, what…." Tohma stepped into the room the moment he heard Ryuu's worried voice, and saw Kessuke slump more into the ex-singer's arms, the machines hooked up to the teen starting to beep crazily. "Oh god!" Turning pale he shouted for a nurse and then hurried to Ryuu, gulping when he saw Kessuke's bleeding wrist.
'No…no…not again…Kessuke….' Breathing rapidly he barely registered when the door burst open and people dressed as nurses and doctors rushed in; ushering Ryuu and him out. 'Kessuke, no, no, why…god…Kessuke….'
A/N: End chapter, another chapter with basically one scene, and the same scene from the previous one. Damn, I almost made myself cry writing this scene—I had tears in the corners of my eyes, and I bet if it was easy for me to cry I would've. I had to keep getting up and walking away from the computer while writing this to calm myself. God, I'm so cruel to these characters and to myself….damn….I'm imagining what's going to happen and there are two possibilities, one of which is much, much sadder. Ah, I might actually cry just thinking about it……
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review.
Oh yeah, I don't know what hair and eye color Yoshiki should have, so I'm making her have dyed hair and colored-contacts until I figure out her real eye and hair color. (Another thing, I've been thinking of making a fic with Yoshiki in it where she and Ryuuichi are a couple…I thought about them as a couple just on a whim and now the thought won't leave me alone. But it'll be a while before I write that fic—of course if any of you readers want to use that idea go right ahead, just make sure you tell me if you write a fic with that couple in it—I'll want to read it.)