Author's Note: Heehee, sorry for not updating this story in forever. ^^;; I finally got the X anime and I've been distracted by making amv's. (And yes, some of them are up on youtube under the same name I use for stories. :P) At any rate, here is finally a new chapter! :D I apologize in advance to all those who were only reading this because they wanted something all fluff…
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Subaru had nothing to do.
He wasn't exactly sure how that had happened. Well no, that wasn't entirely true. It was Kamui's last week of classes, so he was still at school and Seishirou was at work. Normally Subaru would be working now too but he had generously offered to switch schedules with a coworker at the clinic and so for the first time in quite a while, he not only had a day off but had the apartment to himself as well. He supposed that he should enjoy it so relocated a book he had once been reading and put aside ages ago, and settled down on the sofa, intending to just lose himself in the story for once.
It worked for a little while, but eventually he grew restless and set the book aside with a sigh. What had he done before when he had time to himself? When was the last time he did really, he wondered. Then it struck him that the last time Subaru had had the apartment to himself for an extended period of time was before Kamui had arrived. And with him, all the memories…
Subaru shook his head. He couldn't sit here and wallow. He wouldn't go back down that road again; he'd already decided that what was past was past. He had a new life, a fresh start, and he had no intention of wasting it. This still, however, left him with the question of what to do in the meantime. Finally an idea struck him and he smiled softly to himself as he rose to go to the kitchen.
It was just past noon when he arrived at the hospital with the bentos. A waiting room attendant recognized him and gave a friendly smile, explaining that Seishirou was still in the middle of an operation that was taking a little longer than originally expected. She must have caught the edge of disappointment on Subaru's face though and quickly added that they were nearly finished and he would probably be out soon.
Subaru nodded and took a seat on one of the cold plastic chairs lining the walls, feeling like something was not quite right but several long silent moments ticked by before it dawned on him. The waiting room was empty. When had a waiting room at a hospital ever once been empty like this? There were always a few people here and there with the flu, or a badly scraped knee if nothing else. In the middle of a big city like Tokyo, there was always, always someone to attend to. Where were they all? Everything couldn't really just be okay could it?
Or was Subaru over-thinking things? Maybe the hospital staff was just particularly on top of things today. Maybe there just weren't that many emergencies today. Maybe everything was alright and Subaru just couldn't process the peacefulness of it all. He wondered if it had really been so long since everything had been okay that he had forgot how to relax when it was. He sighed, mentally chiding himself for being so on edge today.
"Seriously? Did you tell him to back off then?" Subaru's head swept around and genuine relief washed over him as he realized that he wasn't completely alone. Two staff members disappeared down the hallway, too caught up in their discussion to notice him there.
He sank back against the plastic, resting his head against the wall. It wasn't so bad really, just waiting. The patience he had been known for as a child had only deepened with each passing year and now Subaru was quite a pro at waiting. He let his mind wander to Kamui and his lack of patience. For all their similarities, it was one marked difference between the two of them that Kamui had a more restless, feisty nature; he was quicker to anger, and more easily frustrated. He was more like Hokuto really in that regard. It was difficult for Subaru to imagine being like that himself but when he was younger, he remembered that sometimes, very deep down, he would fear that it meant he didn't care as much as Hokuto did about things, that he didn't love as much. He smiled faintly at his own silliness.
His thoughts were interrupted just then by the waiting room door swinging open and a figure slumping against it as they stumbled into the room silhouetted by the blinding summer sun outside. Subaru jerked away from the wall, glancing down the hallway, wondering where the staff members had disappeared to. He knew better than to interfere with a professional's job but there was no one else around. Where were they?
He jumped up and ran to the door, realizing that it was a young woman who seemed to be simultaneously trying to curl into herself and pull herself up by the molding halfway up the waiting room wall. Subaru noticed with a sickening lurch that her hands and arms were covered with blooded scratches and scrapes as if she had been trying to fend someone off. He felt a twinge of pain as he noticed the ripped skirt, the bruises on her legs…
"Are you okay?" He asked reflexively and immediately regretted such a stupid question. "Here." He knelt down, intending to help her up but the girl recoiled.
"Get away from me!" She screamed.
Subaru wavered but did not back away. "You're hurt." He told her in the voice he used to coax injured pets out of the backs of the cages when they got spooked. "Let me help you."
"No!"
"Ple-"
"I hate you!" the girl shrieked. "I hate all of you! You're all just lying assholes!"
Subaru's eyes widened and he froze with his hands still outstretched toward her. "What?"
"I wish all men would just disappear!"
He saw the flash of metal and instinct made him jerk back but not quite quickly enough. He winced slightly as he felt a slashing sting across his cheek.
"You should all just die!"
Subaru moved to throw himself backward but the girl's reflexes were just as fast and he instead found himself backed against the wall as the knife went up one more time, gleaming eerily in the fluorescent hospital lights.
He froze, staring at it like a frog entranced by a snake and then blinked and closed his eyes.
A sickening squelch met his ears and Subaru waited for the tide of adrenaline to withdraw long enough for him to feel the pain. He opened his eyes and was confused that he couldn't see the girl anymore. Something was in the way, something was blocking most of the light.
Then he recognized the curve of neck where it disappeared into the hospital coat and the length of shoulder at the perfect height where Subaru could rest his chin.
"Sei… shirou?"
"Stay put." He commanded, tilting his head slightly over his shoulder and Subaru caught sight of the blood on his cheek.
He knew Seishirou was talking to the girl. He could see staff members running in out of the corner of his eye and the hospital security hot on their heels but it wasn't real. None of it was. Everything was fuzzy and muted like being underwater and the colors somehow seemed all wrong. For one thing, he was wearing a t-shirt, he reasoned. This couldn't be real because he wasn't wearing a red jacket. So it was okay. Everything was fine. Because this wasn't actually happening.
A staff member was tugging at Seishirou's arm and he made a move to follow her and swayed slightly as he did. Reality slammed back into Subaru, leaving him breathless.
He didn't know what he was doing exactly, he merely numbly followed the group crowded around Seishirou, unseen it seemed, as though he were a ghost and none of them were aware of his presence.
Seishirou used to be able to see ghosts. He thought irrationally. He would be able to see me now. But a crueler voice in the back of his mind taunted him. Well Seishirou probably can't see much of anything now can he?
The doors to the operating room slammed shut in his face. The clang of the doorframe echoed through an empty, carefully blank hallway and with the sound of finality, he lost everything.
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Kakyou was the one who took the call, as Hokuto was in the middle of a heated discussion with one of her lead designers about whether or not it was the right time to start a line of dresses for men. She knew something was wrong when he interrupted her without hesitation. Kakyou always hesitated and whispered when he tried to talk to her. Some people conveyed urgency by screaming or shaking or panicking. Kakyou strangely expressed it by simply speaking up and looking her in the eye.
Blowing off the baffled designer entirely, Hokuto snatched the phone out of Kakyou's hand. "Sumeragi speaking." She announced shortly then felt her heart skip a beat. "What? I'll be right there." Before she could even give the order, Kakyou was paging her driver.
The twenty minute drive seemed to take a million years. Why did people still insist upon stopping at red lights these days? Didn't they know that some things were more important than traffic laws? She let out a shriek of frustration as they hit yet another line of cars patiently waiting their turns and considered jumping out and running the rest of the way. At least she would be in motion then. She couldn't stand just sitting here waiting to arrive some place. Hokuto's innate impatience was taking over as it had done ever since she was born. Most people believed that she and Subaru had been born early because that was the norm for twins. Her grandmother had always joked that it was because Hokuto simply couldn't wait a whole nine months.
When they finally reached the hospital, she flew out of the car, not caring whether Kakyou kept up with her or not. A quick and forceful chat with a receptionist rewarded her with Seishirou's room number and she sprinted down the hallway, nearly bowling over several elderly patients on a daily walk on her way. When she arrived at his door though, a staff member called out to her, informing her that the patient was still out from the operation.
"I'm not here for him actually."
The staff member gave her a confused look.
"I'm here for the guy sitting by the bed in tears probably." Hokuto explained.
"What guy?"
Hokuto's hand froze as she was about to turn the doorknob.
"No one is allowed in there right now." The nurse informed her curtly. "And keep your voice down will you? The hospital is no place for yelling, especially not the ICU."
Hokuto waited for the nurse to continue on her way around the corner before opening the door anyway and peeking inside. Sure enough, she could see Seishirou, fast asleep in a cold white bed but there was no sign of Subaru.
She quietly pulled the door shut again and swallowed hard. Okay. He wasn't here. But she knew he was at the hospital somewhere.
She wandered the corridors for a while, feeling her nerve endings tingling, like she could sense Subaru somewhere nearby but couldn't quite place his presence. At last she came to a dark concrete stairwell that after a second's confusion, she realized led to the rooftop. She knew the instant she put her foot down on the first gray step that he would be there.
Sure enough, Subaru was leaning against the concrete wall with his arms propped up on his bent knees, his hands hanging limply and his head down so that his hair was hiding his face.
"Oh Subaru…" she sank to her knees in front of him.
He didn't say anything but as she reached a hand out toward his, he raised it enough to lightly touch her fingertips.
"Whatever happened Subaru, this isn't your fault. And Seishirou's going to be fine you know. I just saw him down there, he was just snoozing away, the big lazy lump."
Subaru didn't look up but she felt his fingers flex slightly and hesitantly entwine with hers as though he were afraid he had only imagined her hand pressed to his.
"You know him. He'll probably even just want donuts or something when he wakes up." Subaru's fingers twitched nervously. "Do you want to go down there and wait for him to wake up?"
Subaru shook his head morosely and Hokuto felt a strange sinking sensation. Something wasn't right. Obviously her brother was in distress, but why was he up here on the roof? She remembered once, a couple of years ago, when Seishirou caught the flu after an outbreak at work. Seishirou seemed just fine. Well not fine per se, but he wasn't terribly concerned, mostly just unusually tired but Subaru fretted the entire time and wouldn't leave his side except when he was making soup or getting juice. In fact, the only reason Hokuto knew about it was that Seishirou had called her up to come drag Subaru away for a bit so that he could sleep.
She nearly laughed actually as she recalled that they both ended up with the flu themselves afterward then remembered the situation.
"Okay, you wanna stay up here, I get it. Maybe you need the sunlight, you're looking a little pale anyway. How about if I go get us some coffee while we wait?" Hokuto turned around and froze when she felt a tug at the bottom of her shirt. Surprised, she glanced over her shoulder to see Subaru's hand clinging desperately to the material.
"Subaru?"
"Don't go…" He whispered hoarsely in a voice she almost didn't recognize.
"I'm not leaving silly. It's not like I would just abandon you, right?" she teased and revved up to remind him of the time he thought she had left him alone at summer camp, when he raised his head to look at her.
Hokuto was not easily spooked, she never had been. Ghost stories had never frightened her, in fact they fascinated her. Roller coasters were a thrill, not a terror. Spiders, she thought were kind of gross, but kind of interesting too. She had duly earned her reputation as being the most fearless person that most people knew.
The look in Subaru's eyes scared her.