AN: Oh my gosh! First, I would like to apologize to my readers who had been very, very, very patient with myincoherence.I finally updated this fic...again. I worked on this during my break from school. It was difficult to update because I have many other things to write, like my original story for my creative writing course and my Art History papers. Anyways, let's celebrate that a new chapter has arrived! Soon, Summer's End will end in a few chapters, maybe two. Enjoy!
Chapter 17
"Remember Me"
It is dark in here...am I... alone?
All Yuki could see was black, a familiar color of his past life. He floated into the indefinite space as an invisible force supported him though the strange frontier.
I can't feel anything. It's not hot anymore, but I don't feel any cooler. The darkness confuses me. I can't tell if I am seeing a dark space or if my eyes are still closed...
"Anyone there? Could anyone hear me?" he tried calling out, but his voice sounded muffled, even within his own hearing.
What's wrong with my hearing? Pressure?
He tried lifting a finger to his ear, but his hands and arms remained in their place. The same thing happened with every other part of his body. He gasped once he noticed no bone or muscle would obey him.
I...can't move! Can't...move!
Nothing...
Can't feel anything!
I can't see!
Am I ...
"Say that word...and I won't forgive you... damn rat," another voice echoed from the dark space.
That voice...
...I know it...
"It looks like I found you...but...I suppose you don't see me?" the voice, in its light, but stern tone continued its echo without a sighted source, "However, you do know who I am..."
"You are..."
"You don't have to tell me!" the voice yelled, then, calmed, "Just as long as you know."
Yuki searched the dark for the voice, although he couldn't tell if his eyes were moving.
I know you could hear me...
"Where am I? Why I couldn't feel anything? Why am I hearing you?" he asked as clear and slowly as he could. He knew that he was afraid...even without a sense of a racing heart and cold sweat to indicate his nervousness.
"You are nowhere or anywhere. You are nothing and feel nothing. I am no one or anyone...but you know everything about me."
"What are you saying?" Yuki knew his anger and frustration was rising from a twisted answer. Yet, it could not be felt.
"I am just answering you questions directly, Yun-chan."
"Wait a second," Yuki came into realization, "you said you are no one or anyone and I know everything about you? That was a witless statement...because I know exactly who you are!"
"Do you really?" the voice darken its tone, "Then, you wouldn't be here, Yuki."
"What is here?"
"You said you know who I am...so, you should also know where you are..."
I am not awake...but I am not sleeping.
Is this my consciousness?
"You are my consciousness, which is also this dark place. In the depths of my consciousness, I am nothing...as in no form or body...just space."
"Very good, Yun- Yun!" the voice cheered, uncharacteristically. "Does it make sense now?"
Yuki thought of himself wincing at the sound of the voice.
It is so strange to hear my own voice cheering for me...
"Yuki-kun, you know what you must do," the voice returned to its serious tone.
"I have to get out of here...but I don't know how. What could I do if I couldn't move? I probably don't have a body...I am probably just a voice...like you."
"You know what you must do," the voice repeated.
"Must I search for myself? My body...perhaps?" Yuki asked. He only received silence as a response. "Hello? Are you still there?"
Gone.
What could I possibly do in my own consciousness?
How do I search for myself?
In the empty, cooly dimmed waiting room of the emergency ward at Nigoshi Hospital, sat three teens. One was sleeping on another's lap, while the other two stared into the space of absent worry. The rows of empty chairs indicated that they were the only occupants of the late hour. Machi glanced at the sleeping Asume as she sat still, lost in her thoughts of all the possibilities that would come out of those giant double door at the far right end of the hall. Kakeru fingered his silent phone and recalled the conversation he had on it earlier.
"Hellooo? Whose the perpetrator who dares to enter a man's dream hour?...Uh, hellooo?"
"Commander, it's me, Manabe Kakeru, Yuki's..."
"Ohhh! Vice Captain! I heard you took my little brother to a journey of manhood! Has he achieved his summer romance? Tell all! Don't leave out the details!"
"Um, I could safely say he has...unfortunately, but..."
" Ahhh! The summer dream that brings forth waterfall tears to my face! I shed them on my flawless features in the honor of the lost of innocence! And to think you called to announce it to me! I shall commemorate this day, 'The Shedding the Innocence of Yuki!' Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Uh, Commander, Yuki's in the emergency room."
"Wha– ... say that again. My ears are deceiving me."
"Yuki's in the emergency room."
Silence came after those words and a hang up without a goodbye. I don't know what Commander is going to do next...but, I don't know what else I could do.
The giant doors at the right end of the hall swung open and a middle-aged man in a white labcoat came out with a clipboard. He walked towards the young group with a smile.
"Sensei," Kakeru lifted Asume by the shoulders, from his lap, as he stood up. Once she removed the sleep from her eye, Asume did the same once she noticed the man. Machi was the first to greet him properly.
"Sensei," she said as she bowed.
"Was his family contacted?" the man asked.
"Yes," Kakeru said, rubbing his head. "I called his brother awhile ago. He might be coming."
"Okay, I suppose you all want to hear of his condition," the man, Dr. Chiro, flipped though the pages on his clipboard. "He's out cold, but slowly regaining consciousness. I will have to discuss the details to his parents or guardian."
"He will be alright?" Machi wanted to be certain from the doctor's words.
"Yes, he'll open his eyes soon," the doctor reassured.
"Thank you," Machi bowed again and returned to her seat. Her hand fisted against her chest as she steadied her impatience.
Please return...
In an empty space, Yuki felt no sense of time passing or if time was only standing still. With the inability to do anything else, he begun to process a series of random thoughts about his life and the people that were in it.
We all came together
...with a shared connection...
...with a story of our own...
...with a imperfect life.
All had to do with the struggles...
... of our hearts...
...of our mistakes...
...of the choices we make...
Where do we go with all this in mind?
I like it when we are...together.
Yuki's thought process came to a halt when he heard a familiar voice. A voice of a girl whom he once wished he could love, but those words were told to someone else. He could feel thesurged tears of pain in his heart that this girl had when an unrealizable wish entered her heart. He saw her image in the vast space of darkness. She was wearing a Kaibara seifuku (uniform) and she was alone, staring off into an unknown tomorrow. Several tears fell from her eyes, but were executed by the wipe of her sleeve. She replaced them with a masked smile, walking away into the fade.
I want to make it come true for you.
Because I did too...
Once then I did...
Love you.
Please don't cry.
That idiot doesn't any of your tears.
In the end, I couldn't make you smile.
I thought you don't like the feeling of helplessness.
Another voice made the beats of his heart become more noticeable in his absent body. He felt the heat of blood rushing through his invincibleveins as if that voice had spoken life to him. There was no source or image of the voice. He longed to find her in the vast space, feeling the warmth of tears embracing his unseen face.
Where are you?
You had made it come true for me.
It was you who came true.
Everything I had dreamed...
...was you.
I love you.
I love you.
"I am so happy. I love you too...Yuki."
A flash of light revealed a pair of two unique individuals, especially the owner of "I love you". Yuki almost fell back into the vast space of his unconsciousness when he heard those three words...in a deep voice.
"I would never thought you would say those words to me. I am so happy," a young man with an individualized style of black-and-white hair said with his usual monotone voice. Yuki stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Hatsuharu, do not revert him back into his former state," another spoke. Yuki reverted his glance to a man in a black business suit and a blue tie.
"Ha...tori," He tried to speak, but the words cracked in his desert throat. The young man seated by his bedside poured a glass of water from a clear plastic container. Yuki turned his throat into an oasis once the liquid rushed through the drought.
"Thanks, Haru," Yuki acknowledged the young man for his support.
"I love you, Yuki," Haru replied, instinctively.
"You never think about the time and the place...or even the words?" Yuki questioned. He was not angry with Haru's words, he was embarrassed that Hatori was witnessing them.
"I only think about the person."
"As expected," Yuki sighed in defeat. It was no use arguing over what was already said.
"Yuki," Hatori walked over from where he stood and sat, opposite of Haru, "I was told that you had another attack. It's been awhile since your last one."
"I didn't expect it to come during the summer." Yuki glanced at the IV that was embedded into his vein. "Isn't it strange to have a winter condition in the summer?"
"Depending on the atmosphere you were in. Your friend explained to me about what happened two days ago..."
"Wh-what? T-two days ago?" Yuki grabbed the bars of his hospital bed. Haru could see his hands were shaking.
"You were gone for two days," Haru said, with a slight sign of anxiousness on his face. "Ayame-nii was here on the night you first came here. I didn't know how he was when he was here, but I know that he was not himself."
"Nii-san..."Yuki slumped once he heard of the only immediate family member who come at the time of troubles. Of course, he knew his mom had sent Hatori over here to check on him and pay for whatever needs to be paid for. It was against her persona to come and visit him herself.
Mom.
Thanks for sending Hatori over.
"According to what I heard, it was heat exhaustion that set off your attacks," Hatori finished what he wanted to say. "Besides your asthma, you had a fever too. The fever had made it difficult for you regain consciousness."
Yuki could only sighed at the weakness he didn't realize he was still fighting. He thought of the fear he caused those who are close to him.
"Where is everyone?" he asked. "I want them to know I am okay."
Hatori and Haru exchanged stern looks from across Yuki's bedside.
"Hatori-ni believed that you should be one-hundred and ten percent before we let the party in."
"Par-ty?" Yuki sense an oncoming force that might send him back to comatose. "Uh...Ano..." He could hear the commotion from the cracks of his door.
"Hey!"
"Stop them!"
The door flew open with a crash.
SURPRISE! LITTLE BROTHER!
Yuki gaped at the sequined fabric banner that reads " WELCOME HOME AND CONGRATULATIONS!". A man in a blue Chinese-styled formal wear and a big pink rabbit was holding it up.
Nii-san and...a pink rabbit? Why a pink rabbit?
"Yuukkii! My baby brother has become the defender of death and a man at the same time!"
"I was not dying!" Yuki snapped in astonishment, " What do you mean..." He caught the words to his question before the escaped from his mouth. He knew a useless answer would come out of it.
"What do you want to know from your number one?" the silvery-white haired man asked as he started to pin the banner on the wall in front of Yuki, with his pink furry assistant.
"Oh, forget I asked..."He mumbled and stared at the huge pink rabbit with light blue overalls. "Hey wait...a minute...that pink rabbit..."
"Me?" The pink rabbit pointed at himself. He pulled his huge head to reveal none other than Kakeru Manabe.
"You..."Yuki couldn't put his surprise to more words.
"He's speechless!" Kakeru cheered. "Hey Commander, should we bring the 'main attraction' in?"
"T-There's more?" Yuki sweated at the possibilities these two extremists of flamboyancy could come up with.
"Not if I had to put a stop to it," Hatori said. " Ayame, he still have to recover. Anything could set it off again. I bet whatever you had planned would cost him a week in comatose."
"Aww...Tori-san, if you see, you'd agree with us that this is the cure to all of Yuki's frustrations!"
"What frustrations?" Yuki started to feel the heat mixed with the sense of embarrassment and confusion.
"A man's romance in a nutshell," Haru answered as if he knew what was coming. Yuki froze in cold sweat of what could come next.
Haa?
"Sume-chan, you could bring her in!" Kakeru called out from the doorway of Yuki's room.
Her?
Asume came into the room, struggling to bring someone inside. "As soon as you come in, it will be over,"she assured the nerved girl. A girl with a black French-Lolita style maid outfit entered with a face as red as Yuki's when he saw her. He couldn't express his reaction in words or any kind of sound.
"Introducing, a piece from my new line of the frivolous maid collection! Made especially for my dearest brother!" Ayame said, in his brash, loud voice. Kakeru, who stood beside him, nodded in response. Hatsuharu and Hatori shared a unexpressive response to Ayame's little extravaganza.
The noise called the nurses and Dr. Chiro to the room. They were stunned at the show in front of them.
"I...don't want to blow the whistle..."Dr. Chiro said, calmly and maintaining his temperament, "But I need to talk more with Sohma-sensei." He walked in towards Yuki's bedside. "Sohma-kun, I am sorry to say that visiting hours are over."
"I understand, Chiro-sensei," Yuki said in relief. He was nervous for the French-Gothic maid. "Could I say 'good-night' for a bit?"
"Sure, take your time, but keep the noise low," he started to head for the exit with his nurse.
"Rest well, Yuki. I'll return in the morning to check on you," Hatori got up from his seat and walked towards Ayame. "Say good-night, Ayame," he commanded.
"Oya-sumi, little brother!" Ayame said with his brightest smiles. "Please come by my shop once you return home!"
"Oya-sumi..." Yuki glanced between his brother and the maid. "Uh, what about that outfit?"
"I made it for you! To fit the object of your desires, of course," Ayame gleamed. Yuki, again, doesn't know how to react to his brother's extreme persona.
"..."
"Ja ne!" Ayame left the room, following Hatori from behind.
Hatsuharu gave Yuki a thumb up and smiled."I'm glad you are okay," he said, getting up. "I'll be sure that everyone knows too."
"Thanks," Yuki smiled in return.
Kakeru and Asume gave a wave and a farewell at the door as they departed with Haru. In the silence, Yuki was left with his brother's gift of romance.
"I'll go too," the maid said as she headed for the door.
"Machi," Yuki called her before she disappeared from his sight. She stood at the doorway. "I am sorry about what my brother and Kakeru had put you through. It must of been a pain, ne? Gomen."
Machi remained unresponsive.
"Um, if you don't mind...um," Yuki flushed at the thought of his question. "Come by my side...I want to see you."
Machi faced the young man sitting in the hospital bed. Her eyes watered when stared deeply into his tired, grey eyes. Yuki's smiling face fell, noticing that she was afraid for him. She rushed over to his side as Yuki held his arms out to her. Without asking, she went on his bed and buried her face in the crevice of his neck, letting out all that she could no longer hold in.
"Gomen, Machi. Gomen," he whispered and stroking her hair.
Surprisingly, Machi and Yuki didn't say else that night. Machi wanted to feel the proof that her only one was alive and here in this place.
Together.
AN: This chapter went in a different direction then I expected. I want to be more through with Yuki's consciousness, but this story came to my mind first. Plus, it's already long enough. It was funny when I wrote Haru's "I love you" because I was thinking about another anime character named Soubi from Loveless. In the beginning he always say, "Daisuki da yo, Ritsuka." Daisuki da yo, Yuki. I was also thinking about the recent chapter with Yuki and Kyo. That was an awesome chapter!Go Yuki!I want to focus back on Yuki and Machi before the story ends, even though it was heartwarming to let Haru,Ayame and Hatori have their air time. This story is suppose to be about the them anyways, lol. I wonder if Tayaka would give her version of "Summer's End" in one of her chapters? In reguards to Yuki andMachi, of course.I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll do my best towork hard on the next one withgrace and God, please give me speed.