Chapter Seventy Four: Death On Two Legs
Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.
Song Playing: Don't Mess With Me
Theme 83: Prison
Hiruma did not allow himself the luxury of sleeping in often. What he normally did was stay up late then wake up early with very little resting time in between. However on the rare few days he does grant himself a lazy day he slept like the dead.
Until the shrill ringing of his phone jolted him so violently awake he almost launched himself right off the edge of his bed.
There was quite the commotion as he twisted himself around in his sheets. When he finally managed to right himself enough to answer his phone he was in the foulest of moods: which he did not bother to hide when he connected to the person on the other end of the line. "What! What the hell is so goddamn important?!"
The longer the person on the other end spoke the more he didn't like what he was hearing.
He isn't sure how he got there but the next thing he knows he's standing in a hospital hallway just outside of her room. At his sides his hands clenched and unclenched as he took in her still form. She didn't look like herself: who was normally so lively and well put together. Now she was unresponsive and battered looking. He could hardly recognize her under the bruises and bandages and the scratchy gown she was wearing.
When the hospital had called and told him that she had been admitted under critical circumstances his mind had gone into overdrive. In the vague recollection of throwing on shoes he remembers being informed that she had suffered a severe and brutal beating.
Even the memory of that conversation caused his stomach to churn and roll in a nauseating fashion. But actually seeing the results: the swelling of her eye, the split in her lip, the bruises that painted the skin he could see was much much worse than he could have ever imagined. The more he stood in that doorway the more he blood began to boil. Already his mind was racing, putting together all the pieces that he already knew and making a list of what he had to do to fill in the blanks. When he was thru with those responsible there would be nothing left.
But that would come later.
For now he took his first steps into her room, pulled up a chair, and waited.
XxX
Mamori awoke slowly to an unfamiliar room but a familiar face. She opened her eyes as much as she could under her heavy lids and gave him a small warm smile. "Hey."
For the first time in days Hiruma managed a weak grin. "Hey."
"Are you okay?" She stared into his eyes. Or rather the approximate area of where his eyes should be, she was finding it very hard to focus. But even though everything was kind of hazy and she felt like she was floating on a big fluffy cloud she knew something was wrong. "You look terrible."
"Fuck." A raspy chuckle escaped him as his hand covered his eyes. "And people say you're the nice one. Besides you're the one whose laid up in hospital. I'm supposed to be asking you how you're feeling."
"I am the nice one." This time she smiled a big dopey smile. "And I'm fine. Don't feel a thing."
He peeked at her through his long fingers. "Not a thing, huh?"
"Nope!" She hadn't felt this care and worry free since- ever actually. Just because she could she nestled a little deeper under her covers. "Must be the good drugs."
In an uncharacteristically caring manner he reached out and carefully covered her hand. He gave it a light gentle squeeze and answered back in his most serious voice, "Only the best."
"Hmmm." Her eyes started to flutter. "I'm going to sleep now."
"Good." He still didn't let go of her hand. That was weird. Nice, but weird. If she remembered this the next time she woke up she was going to have to ask him about it. She hoped she remembered to ask. "I'll be right here."
She closed her eyes. "That'll be nice."
Then she promptly fell asleep. He felt her hand go lax in his grip. The fact that her hand was warm and he could see her chest rise and fall as she breathed kept him from panicking. He waited several minutes until he was sure she was out cold. Shifting carefully, he leaned over and gave her a warm lingering kiss on forehead.
He leaned back in his chair, gave her hand another squeeze, and closed his eyes.
Everything was going to be okay. He shifted into a more comfortable position. She was going to be okay.
XxX
As a yakuza leader he was used to being respected. He was used to being feared. He was not used to men waltzing into his office like they owned it. However certain considerations had to be made when the man doing the waltzing was Hiruma Youichi. Hiruma Youichi: who was dressed to the nines in an immaculate three piece suit. All of which was carefully tailored to impress and intimidate.
"Hiruma-san," The older man gestured gallantly to the empty seat across from him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
He took a seat in the offered chair. "I have a problem."
"I'm sorry to hear that." He tapped his cigarette against his ashtray. "As you know we are happy to help in any way we can."
"That's what I was hoping to hear." He leaned back in a deceptively nonchalant manner but his eyes. Oh his eyes, they burned. "You see it seems that there was an incident involving one of your men and some middle school girls. This incident was interrupted when a young woman hit your man from behind with a piece of piping she found."
The yakuza leader took a drag from his cigarette. As he pulled it away to exhale his hand trembled. It was slight but it was there and Hiruma knew he knew exactly what was coming.
Now he focused his attention on the window, using all his concentration to keep his tone light. Conversational. As if they were discussing the weather. "At this point the girls ran away but the young woman stayed. Because she is brave and strong and foolish enough to make sure they had enough time to get away. And for being brave and strong and foolish enough to do the right thing your man beat her so bad that it's a wonder she didn't die in the street."
The tremble in the other man's hand was much more noticeable now, threatening to drop ash all over his finely tailored slacks.
"Now normally I don't care what you do. Your business is your business. If can't control your own men then that's your problem. My problem is this young woman that your man put in the hospital." Here he made a point to look the other man dead in the eye; just to there wouldn't be any confusion about the severity of what he was going to say next. "She's mine."
He was probably a terrible person for enjoying watching the other man's face turn ashen as much as he did.
Good thing he had never claimed to good person.
The yakuza leader swallowed. "I'll take care of it."
"I know you will." In a fluid motion Hiruma stood from his seat and slipped his hands into his slacks. "Because if I have to come down here again our meeting won't be so polite."
The sound of his footsteps leaving the room was absolutely deafening in the silence.
XxX
When he had been told that he had a visitor he was expecting his lawyer. Instead he got some punk rock reject. What this freak wanted with him he didn't know but at least it was a momentary distraction from his cell. So, with his curiosity officially stirred, he took a seat across from the blond spiky haired stranger.
Up until this point the man had been staring intently at the wall. However the moment his butt hit the chair he found himself pinned by the sheer weight and intensity of his scrutiny.
But the real creepy part? The guy didn't say a word. Not one. He just sat there and stared.
He didn't know what this weirdo's deal was but he was not going to be inspected like he was some sort of stupid bug underneath a microscope. So he pulled his face into the meanest foulest sneer that he could and snarled. "What the fuck is your problem?"
Bastard didn't so much as blink.
But when he spoke it set off all the alarms in his head. "You."
He definitely would have remembered crossing somebody as unnerving as this asshole. But maybe he had kicked his dog or gotten into a fist fight with his friend. Whatever he did seemed to have royally pissed this guy off. "Yeah? How'd I manage that?"
"You put my friend in a hospital when she stopped you from being the creep you are." He leaned forward against the table. "Unlike my friend I don't forgive and I never forget."
He remembered the girl he was talking about. Apparently she was a glutton for punishment cause not only did she id him but she sent her little boyfriend to try to scare him. Cute. He was going to have to remember to pay her a visit when he got out. "Listen, I don't know what this bitch think she saw-"
This punk kid got a look in his eye like he was about to go nuclear. "Big fucking mistake calling her that.."
"Oh yah?" His fists clenched with the urge to punch this freak's lights out. "And what the hell do you think you're going to do?"
"Absolutely nothing." His eyes darkened to something absolutely predatory. "I came down to see if you were worth guilty verdict: for her sake. But you're not worth it and you're not my problem anymore."
Without waiting for any sort of response he left.
It wasn't until he was being escorted back to his cell he felt his bravado begin to leave his body and a deep sense of unease settle into his very bones. He felt dozens of eyes boring into him. As the guard locked him in his cell he understood what the crazy fucker had meant and he knew.
He wasn't making it to trial.
XxX
After spending so much time resting in bed it felt good to stand and stretch. She winced at the pull on her bruises and stitches; even if she wasn't at a hundred percent yet. Still it was wonderful to be able to go back home. At the sound of the door opening she turned around to the sight of Hiruma standing in the threshold.
It was a sight she had become accustomed to over her hospital stay.
Striding in he grabbed her duffle bag before she had a chance to reach for it. An independent person at heart, she didn't want to saddle him with her belongings. Especially since she was perfectly capable of carrying it herself. "I could have gotten that."
"You also could have saved some of those creampuffs for later." He hefted her bag over his shoulder and strode out the door. "Looks like just because you could have done something doesn't mean you do it."
Under her healing bruises there was a definite embarrassed flush.
In return he flashed her a smile full of teeth. This, he thought to himself, was what he had missed. The back and forth, the familiarity he had craved while she had been recovering and either too doped up or too hurt, physically and emotionally, to respond back the way she normally would. And it was in that moment he came to a startling realization.
He would give anything, pay any price if he could guarantee that the two of them could be like this forever. Not really that much different than they were before but being forced to look at a world where they weren't together made their time seem all that much more important now.
Hiruma had been called a lot of things in his life. Not all of them good. In fact some were down right awful and shouldn't be repeated in even the most foul of company. However the one thing he had never been called, even by those who despised him the most, was stupid.
And so, because he knew something worth fighting for when it was staring at him with bright blue eyes, he resolved to stop wasting time and start making the most of it.