Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) do NOT own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. I only am responsible for the (albeit poorly written and devised) plot.
Guys.
Okay, let me start with I'm sorry. Also, again, I won't be doing specific responses to reviews. Just because it slows me down, and lord knows I take long enough as it is.
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Okay, so someone brought up a good point recently that I haven't done basically any Sting and Yukino storyline in a while, so I'm just letting you all know that that's the majority of this chapter. I know I've been a bit too NaLu recently, and I know that StingYu needs a little attention.
I hope you like it!
She'd been weak, so incredibly weak, when her knees had buckled and she'd just begun to disappear, and fade away. She'd gone paper white, going limp like a dead fish in his arms one moment, and suddenly Loke had whisked her away the next. But no way was he letting her out of his sight any time soon.
And Natsu had probably never been so scared in his life, excluding of course the time she had actually died.
"What do we do?" He asked, turning to Loke
But the minute she had been exposed to the atmosphere in the Spirit World, she had almost immediately begun to regain some color. Her skin took on a healthier glow, the rosy glow to her cheeks returned.
All over the course of less than a minute.
One minute turned into two. Two turned into five. Five turned into ten.
And then, eleven minutes later, Natsu was still sitting next to her, holding her hand, his leg bouncing up and down, with hands jittery. But then her eyelids fluttered, he'd swear he'd seen her long eyelashes just barely beat against her cheekbones, like the flap of a butterfly's wings.
And suddenly she gasped, shooting upright.
Gulping in mouthfuls of air, Lucy felt like a fish that had been marooned on land, only to suddenly have been thrust into the water just hanging by a thread.
Yukino was pretty sure Rogue was eyeing her warily, if the brief sideways glance she'd given him was anything to go by. He kept glancing out of the corner of his eye, though not nearly as inconspicuously as he thought he was. And he looked almost afraid, or rather, wary of her. Like she was one of those glass doors, fragile and pale and helpless.
Frankly, it was annoying. Really, really amazingly irritatingly annoying.
He gave her the look that everyone had become accustomed to giving Natsu up until very recently.
It made her very suspicious.
"Way to be subtle, Rogue," she said lowly out of the corner of her mouth.
He startles, dropping his glass and just spilling milk all over his front.
Sure, he can sneak up on someone in the dead of night, disarm and disable them along with a dozen other enemies without making a sound within a matter of minutes when a mission calls for it, but subtle hovering? Forget about it. He's useless. She scoffs at the very though, nearly smirking at her own thought.
Boys.
She realizes she's spoken aloud when she looks at him and is greeted by what could only be described as a disgruntled affronted look. She giggles in spite of the face he is making at her (some odd mix exasperated fake smile, a grimace, and 'are you kidding me' all bundled up into one expression), and shakes her head.
"Aww Rogue, don't make that face at me," she says, returning his pout. He's kind of cute like that, all sulky and disgruntled. And for a moment, they are pouting at each other like petulant children.
It was hard to say who laughed first. But now, they were bent over, Yukino giggling with reckless abandon (if there even is such a thing: 'reckless giggling') and Rogue guffawing, banging his fist into the table. Everyone in the restaurant was gaping at the strange pair, but neither could bring themselves to care.
Yukino wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye, sobering up enough to grab the napkin from her lap and start dabbing at his shirt. She was all over him, fussing over him like he did when she got hurt on missions.
"Only you, a practically grown man with enough power to level this city, would dump warm milk all over yourself. Only you Rogue," she said, shaking her head. He sniffed at her, playfully of course.
"Hey! Well someone startled me!" Rogue protested, as he rose from his chair. They'd already paid the bill, and as they left, Yukino couldn't help but feel a little... sad. Reminiscent really. This would be the time where Sting would sling his arm around his brother and ruffle his hair, and Rogue would grumble about it, swatting him away, even though Yukino knew he didn't really mind it.
But Sting... well, he wasn't exactly around anymore.
"Yes, only as you were greatly unsuccessful at your attempt in watching me," Yukino retorted smoothly, not letting her train of thought interrupt their argument. Rogue... well, he had nothing to say to that. They rounded the street corner, sitting on a beautiful marble fountain. They'd heard the news from Loke, that Lucy was going to be okay. Now that there was nothing to do but wait, they'd decided to just go and eat and try and calm down.
"Well I-"
"Speaking of which, is there any particular reason you've been eyeing me like I'm a china doll?" Yukino said, quirking a single dainty eyebrow at him. "You're watching me like you're afraid I'll fall apart, and your stupid brother won't even look at me, much less engage in a conversation-" Yukino's voice cracked at the very mention of the blonde who was avoiding her like the plague. And suddenly her throat was uncomfortably tight and her eyes were going glassy.
Rogue probably would have pushed it a little... if Yukino didn't look like she was actually about to crumple in on herself like he'd feared.
Rogue was beginning to panic. Crying girls? So not his territory.
But he'd always had a soft spot for this girl, petite and powder blue and he supposed if the situation called for it... he'd live with it. And be useful. Well, as useful as a boy could be when there was a crying girl involved in the equation.
But Yukino wasn't crying now. She wasn't sobbing and choking on her tears, with sadness burning in her eyes. She wasn't throwing her head back in despair, just bordering the edge of hysteria. Like she had been that night Rogue had seen her from his balcony. Or that time Sting had stumbled upon her.
Perhaps that would have been easier.
Because now, she just stood there, pale and sad and just... quiet. It felt like the calm before the storm, and the anticipation made Rogue uneasy. If she'd been crying without a single ounce of resistance in her, he would have known what to do. (To an extent.) He'd hold her and hug her like a big brother would his little sister. This, however, was unpredictable. It was a wild card, a prediction that he could not make, and even if he could, there was no way to prepare for that.
But now, with her eyes suddenly looking much darker and devoid of anything other than sadness, and her hands clasped tightly in her lap, he had no idea what to do. She just looked frail, and so very alone and dear god what should he do?
He decided to go with the hug. Turns out, it wasn't such a bad idea.
He crushed her to his chest, and suddenly her small frame was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
She quivered in his arms, and for a moment she just let it all rise to the surface, burying her face into his shirt. It was comforting, the scent that she'd become so accustomed to over the years. So she let her wall down, and cried.
And cried.
And cried.
She bunched the material of his shirt in her hands, just by his collarbone. She just needed something, anything, to anchor herself. To keep herself from drifting away and drowning in the despair.
"Why?" Was all she said. Over and over.
"I can't-" a sob ripped through her, and she clutched at the tear-stained fabric of his shirt, curing in on herself. "It hurts so much Rogue," she sobbed. "I wish I could hate him. I want to so bad but I-" she hiccuped. "Your. Stupid. Brother." She spat out each word with venom he'd never seen before; with hostility he hadn't thought she was capable of.
She was writhing, as if she were in real, physical pain.
"God I'm such-" she hiccuped. She wiped angrily at her tears, as she now straddled a thoroughly befuddled (and slightly pink) Rogue. "I'm such an idiot. I'm such an idiot for ever- for ever even thinking-" She cut herself off with a bitter laugh. She leaned back, one leg dangling over the edge over the open air, and the other half in the freezing cold water. Sitting squarely in Rogue's lap, cold and wet and tears making her face stiff, Yukino had never felt more like a fool.
A stupid, useless fool.
"I'm sorry," she finally deadpanned. She began lifting herself off of of him, whose jumbled brain was just beginning to catch up.
"Hey! You can't just cry and get up and decide to-" he began to protest, grabbing her wrist and holding it tight to his chest. But she was caught off balance, and then they both went tumbling off to the side. Yukino first, then Rogue closely following. The first thing they felt was a shocking jolt of pain.
Oh, you thought they would fall into the water?
Mhm, yeah, no.
Yukino gasped, face scrunching up in pain. And for once, she really, really understood how muscular Rogue was. He'd landed squarely on her left hand, and she'd heard a sickening crunch. And by the looks of it, he'd heard it too. Jerking on instinct, she snapped her right elbow up.
Hitting him right in the face.
And if the blood now gushing out of his nose was any indication, she'd broken it.
Crap.
Yet, through the pain, she still laughed. They were howling next to each other on the ground, Yukino cradling her hand, with her slim fingers twisted at odd angles, and Rogue, trying not to choke on blood trickling into his mouth.
"You think you could keep this on the down low? Any way your brother never has to hear about this?" Yukino asked hopeful. Rogue laughed.
"Please, I don't think we could keep this from him if we tried. And besides, you smell like tears, I smell like your tears, and your scent is all over my chest and uh-" he coughed, silently going through his entire vocabulary, searching for a more eloquent way to phrase it.
"Your crotch," she supplied helpfully. He gave her a look.
"Yeah, that. And You've got what looks like a broken hand, my nose is broken, and both of us are covered in my blood."
She sighed.
"So, that's a no then."
Their luck was absolutely abysmal.
Her heels broke.
Or at least, one of them did. She'd been wobbling towards their hotel, when her heel got caught on the cobblestones, she twisted her ankle, and her right shoe was history. Strangely enough, they were still both in a relatively good mood. They were preoccupied laughing at themselves and their rotten luck.
He'd simply shook his head at her, and with the pain in his nose had subsided only a little, he'd picked her up with a smile. They were quite the sight, he assumed.
They waltzed into the hotel lobby, full of Sabertooth and Fairy Tail members alike, like they owned the damn place.
They were ignored, after Rogue sent them a glare telling them not now.
And several flights of stairs later, and one grueling encounter with Master Makarov, they were at Rogue's room's door. He rummaged around his pockets, fumbling for the keys.
"You okay?" She asked. "and thank you, by the way. Again. You really did't have to do this. Carrying me all the way here from the park." He snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Yukino, I broke your hand, you've probably got a sprained ankle, and there's no way you can take care of this yourself right now. I have my first aid kit here, it's not problem. Besides, Virgo's probably busy right now, making sure Lucy's alright." She hated when he was right.
"...ugh. I hate it when you're right," she grumbled, crossing her arms. He smirked, winking at her.
"Guess you hate me all the time then huh?"
"...I think your brother is a bad influence on you."
They both sobered at that. Finally unlocking the door without dropping Yukino, Rogue kicked the door open.
"Rogue? Dude, you back already?" They heard a voice call from the bathroom.
Crap crap crap crap
"Uh-"
"Dude where the hell have you been? God, I've been losing my mind. I'm so lonely and I think that Yukino's really mad at me and man-" he opened the door, his boxers hanging low on his hips.
Before continuing, perhaps we should do a headcount of all the articles of clothing, among other things, that were on Sting's body at the moment.
One: his earring.
Two: his boxers.
End of list.
Rogue felt that he should have a) considered the possibility that Sting would be here when they got back and b) at least tried to straighten up the appearance a little bit. He was still all bloody, and so was she. All down their fronts. She was cradling her hand against her chest, and her heels were dangling from her good hand. Her ankle was swollen, his nose bet at a strange angle. Half her skirt was dripping wet, getting water all over their floor.
Yukino just blinked at him, her mouth open, but no words coming out. Sting's left eye twitched, taking in nothing but Yukino's bloody front. The murderous look he gave his brother said it all, and their silent conversation made Yukino nervous.
"It's not my blood," Yukino said, though she was sure his nose had told him that already.
Rogue thrust his arms out, offering Sting the girl.
Sting took her into his arms, and Yukino shot Rogue a dirty look. You filthy traitor. But then she turned, and her head was tucked perfectly between his chin and his neck and he smelled like home and every coherent thought flew out the window. Relaxing into him, Yukino sighed contently.
"She has a sprained ankle," Rogue supplied rather unhelpfully. "And I think I broke her hand."
"You what, wait you-"
"Sting?" Yukino asked, peering up at him through thick lashes. "Can I wash up? Take a shower?" Well there was no way he could ever deny her something, especially with her looking up at him like that. He was struggling to keep up; and it didn't really help that this was the first time he'd spoken to her since her little episode, and all he could focus on were her lips, which were suddenly much pinker and fuller than he remembered.
"Of course. Do you want me to look a that had though? And your ankle, how are you going to take a shower?" Sting asked, his voice instantly softer. Yukino shrugged noncommittally, hoping she didn't look as flustered as she felt.
"I'll take a bath. Besides, take a look at Rogue's nose, alright? I'm pretty sure I broke it."
And with that, she daintily hoped down form his arms, as best she could on one leg anyway, and used the wall to support her into their bathroom. When she shut the door behind her, Sting turned on his brother accusingly.
"Talk."
Sting wasn't sure whether to laugh or be seriously concerned.
"You- she- You broke her hand by falling on it?"
"Hey, well you're the one who asked, and you know, she broke my nose. And hey, I think it might have just been two fingers."
"Rogue, I am seriously struggling to fight the urge to kill you."
"I know protective instincts are ranging as high as your testosterone levels, but Sting, calm down. Don't think she'd appreciate it. Also-" Sting was pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly thinking of something at least mildly unpleasant.
"You are aware that I can smell her all over you right? She's all over your chest and your crotch and man, I promise I'm really trying hard here but I'm struggling just a little bit."
"Sting," Rogue said with a deep sigh. He sat down on his bed, his nose taped and set in place. (Thank god they'd had the experience with this, and had done it enough times on their own to not need help.)
"She cried. A lot. It was... really hard to watch, actually," Rogue admitted, picking at his fingernail. "I didn't get most of it- well I actually didn't get any of it but I know when she mentioned 'my stupid brother' it got about ten times worse," Rogue said, leaning back, gauging his brother's reaction.
"Me? What the hell did I do?" Sting asked, rubbing his temples with a weary look on his face. "I know... I know that we treated her badly back then. But we were happy Rogue. All of Sabertooth was when the Games were over and Minerva left. And I upset her before the Games started but I've thought of everything, anything that would make her so upset with me. And now I've really upset her again, but the problem is: I haven't spoken to her enough recently for me to have upset her."
He sat next to his brother, harshly exhaling.
"Girls are so difficult?" Sting whined after a moment, slouching into his pillow. Burying his face in his blanket, he groaned.
"Hey, you're the one hopelessly in love with one," Rogue pointed out. Sting groaned, rolling over.
"Ugh. 'Love.' You say it like that's all I feel," Sting scoffed. Rogue groaned internally.
Ah shit. Here comes the speech again.
Rogue had heard this lecture. Several times. From several people. Several meaning Natsu, Gajeel, even Laxus had given him some variation of this speech. Some shtick about 'love doesn't even compare to what I feel' or 'You just don't understand because it hasn't happened to you yet.' You would have thought he'd learned his lesson by now, right?
But surprising enough, Sting continued with something that Rogue had yet to hear.
"I mean... I don't understand love, but it's a word that some people throw around so carelessly nowadays and... I'm not really sure what to call what I feel," Sting admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "I've never been in love so, I wouldn't know what to compare this to. Maybe it is love, but how would I know? I just... I think Yukino deserves a better word than that, you know?"
Rogue stared at him, unblinking, as his eyebrows scrunched together slowly.
"Who the fuck are you and where's Sting?" Rogue deadpanned.
"Hey dude, what the hell?"
Yukino didn't really know what she'd been thinking when she stepped out of their bathroom, a cloud of steam escaping once she'd opened the door. But what was a girl to do? She didn't have any clothes besides the ones she'd come in with, which were bloody and damp.
So naturally, she'd just taken the shirt that had been hanging off of the shower rod and gone with that. It was big on her, thank god for that, so her underwear didn't really show if she didn't raise her arms too high.
Now, she was biting the inside of her cheek and cursing her judgement error. With her room key firmly in her hand, she was seriously contemplating if she could hobble all the way to her room without being seen.
Crap.
When Yukino stepped out of their bathroom in Sting's favorite shirt and not a whole lot else, Rogue froze, panicked and nearly spontaneously combusted all at once.
He coughed, suddenly bent over at the waist, turning a rather flattering shade of dark pink.
I did not need to see that much of Yukino. EVER.
But that didn't mean he drew his eyes away from her slim hips, or her really, really long legs that he somehow hadn't noticed until just this second. Or the way her cheeks were flushed and her chest was rising and falling rapidly-
And then they locked eyes and he'd never felt more awkward in his life.
His eyes bugged, as he made a series of complicated hand gestures clearly read as 'Do NOT let Sting see you GET OUT.' Rogue was near desperate, eyes wide and his hands flapping about frantically. Yukino nodded, understanding perfectly. (Well, not why she needed to get out, but she understood the gestures well enough.)
"-and she's just so... Ah, I don't even know what she is but I think I fall for her a little more every time I'm around her and if that's love, then so be it. You know?" Sting was still rambling at the ceiling, hands knit and golden in his lap. With his legs stretched out, leaving him in the classic undergoing therapy pose, Rogue might have laughed if the situation hadn't been so dire.
Yukino, upon hearing just the smallest fraction of his long speech, gasped, and was determined to make it to her room before the tears fell. So she took the first bound towards the door, futilely hoping to run to the door before Sting saw her or before she really let the tears fall.
And then her busted ankle came into play and she ended up sprawled over their carpet.
"Ah!" She cried out, her one good hand flying down to clutch her injured ankle.
"Shit," Sting swore, leaping over his brother, practically catapulting into the air and landing at her side.
"Rogue," she said, suddenly feeling about ten years younger; ten years more helpless. "Can you fix my hand?" Rogue's hear clenched.
"No." he deadpanned after a moment.
"I don't know what happened. Honest to god, I have literally no idea how he fucked up so badly or why you look like you seriously consider hurling yourself off a bridge every time you see him. But I love you both, really, I do." When Sting growled at his brother's use of the word love in regards to the blue haired Celestial Mage, Rogue kicked him the side. Hard.
"Sting, for fuck's sake not now," Rogue snarled.
"Yukino, he's an idiot. He's a real idiot, believe me I know." Rogue pointedly ignored his brother's scowl. "And we've treated you badly in the past, I know. I know that there are things, words, that we brought up and threw in your face back then, and I know you will never, ever forget some of the things we did to you and-" He cut himself off, taking deep breaths to try and get his heart rate under control. And somehow, Yukino had gone from slightly miffed to crying not buckets, not a river, but a freaking typhoon in a couple of seconds.
"Just, just tell him what he did wrong. Kino," he said, voice growing softer as he used her old child nickname. She shook her head stubbornly through the tears. "Please. You hate him, I get it. But he's a good guy, you know he is. And yeah, he's a fuckup, but you've been avoiding him since before Lucy died. And just... he's trying, Kino. He really is. But before you sentence him to death, just tell him what he-"
"Mates," Yukino spit, tears spilling over her eyes and down her face. His eyes went wide; disbelieving.
"You found your mate and god I hate you," she shrieked. Her hands were squeezing her head, hard. Like the more pressure she put on her brain the less her heart would hurt. She squeezed her eyes shut, the tears coming much faster now.
Nononono don't cry Yukino! Please, just- Sting's thoughts were a jumbled mess, juggling the possibilities of what he could have done to hurt her so badly, and the fact that Yukino was crying, and that she knew and-
FUCK.
SHE KNEW.
"You- you know?" Sting stuttered, his voice wavering.
"Yeah," Yukino said, finally wincing when her voice cracked. Hanging her head low, she tried to fight off the images of some leggy blonde hanging off of Sting's arm, with him laughing and smiling and looking completely smitten.
"I uh- I heard you talking to Rogue about it," Yukino offered, her lips suddenly unbearably dry. She felt a ramble coming on, and prayed that she'd just keep her mouth shut and- "And uh- well I don't- I just couldn't be around you and I swear I'm trying, I am but it's so hard to be around you and I don't know what to do!" Yukino sobbed.
Falling into Sting's arms, Yukino only felt worse, now that she just... she knew what it felt like in his arms; she knew what she didn't and wouldn't ever have.
Sting felt like he'd been run over. Rammed into a wall a thousand times just to find himself falling and having his heart ripped out and lit on fire in front of him.
"I can't to this," Sting finally said, pushing her away.
She... she knew and she couldn't even stand being around him anymore. She was... disgusted. She must have been. He was... creeping on her, like some sort of sicko.
"I- I'm sorry," Yukino blurted out and apology, still crying. "I'm... I'm gonna go now," she said, deflated, as she picked herself up and went to the door. Rogue, too blown away by the revelation that his brother had just gotten his heart broken for the rest of his life, didn't move to argue that her fingers were still broken.
"She- she must be wonderful," Yukino said, pausing at the front door. Turning back, she flashed them an uncertain smile. Her teeth, pearly white,
"She must be the most perfect girl in the entire universe if she's got you wrapped around her finger like that," Yukino said flatly, biting the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. "Take care of her for me."
And with that, she slammed the door behind her, leaving nothing in her wake but Sting, whose tears slipped down his pale skin, as he stared off dazedly. Brokenly. Rogue, speechless, stared along with his brother at the closed door. But then her words, which had been ringing in their ears, repeating over and over again, finally made it up to their (microscopic) brains and-
"What, what?!"
Hope you guys liked it! Leave a review and tell me how you liked it! I know I haven't been doing much Sting and Yukino but I promise I'll change that from now on! Thank you all for still keeping up with this story!
-Pyro