CHAPTER SIX
Tohru left her room silently and crept down the stairs to the kitchen silently, her eyes grazing lightly over the glaring green digital numbers that read the early night hour and she sighed heavily, wondering what Arisa was doing at that precise moment. Wondering what Hatori was doing now, her eyes slipped closed and she jumped at a sound entering the house and leaned slowly out into the hall to see what it was.
"Ah... someone is still up I see." Shigure greeted, a rather soft air about him as he did so and he crossed the wooden floor to her side in a matter of seconds.
"How was she?" Tohru asked softly, her eyes not meeting his.
"She was... broken." Shigure answered, thrusting a hand through his short cut hair he sighed heavily and sat silently in the doorway to the living room to stare thoughtfully out into the darkness with a deviously thoughtful expression.
"I bet..." Tohru agreed to herself, she turned away and went back to the empty kitchen to allow Shigure to ponder thoughts.
At the doorway she paused and stared back at the man with soft eyes and she slid the door shut to leave him in the darkness. A howl sounded off in the distance and Tohru stopped, embracing the sorrowful echo and she hugged herself to suppress the shiver that dared raced down her spine.
Arisa slipped slowly from Saki's reassuring grasp and kissed Kureno's icy fingers gently, her lips resting upon them for several seconds while Saki watched with eyes that seemed to penetrate her very being.
"You said for so long that you hated him." Saki posed softly, her voice even and firm despite the struggle her friend was being forced into.
"I lied." Arisa replied bitterly as she lifted her head from his hand and she looked at her friend with tear stained cheeks and eyes narrowed as if trying to brave her fear for him. As if to deny her sorrow for the man beside her, and to cast away the blatant love that was lit in her cobalt eyes.
Saki nodded in acknowledgement but said no more, opting to watch her friend sit next to the read haired man, her back bent slightly at she leaned over to watch him. Her head was bent so that blond locks hid what the tiny drops that splashed against Kureno's face did not. The gothic girl rearranged the skirt of her dress and remained even more silent now that Arisa had descended to tears again, knowing that she could break her friend should she attempt to solace her.
"Who did this to you?" Arisa murmured suddenly and Saki narrowed her eyes, the blond woman's aura was glowing a violent red and she stood beside him with fists clenched in a moment's time, "I'll kill them."
Arisa turned and her eyes were almost aglow with the violent rage that threatened to consume her, having already cried out for him she was in desperate need to find the person who had done it and to hurt them badly. Saki closed her eyes and rose slowly from the chair, she wrapped dark clad arms firmly around Arisa's shoulders and held the taller girl close.
"Stay with him." Saki whispered, her eyes closing, "Revenge will not end his coma."
"I guess… that's true." Arisa said numbly, her eyes glassy, "But it would make me feel better."
"Stay with him until he wakes." Saki insisted and she drew away and went to the door, she looked back with a slight smile on her face, "That's the most you can do for him."
Arisa nodded but did not sit back down, she waited until Saki had left the room to even move. She went to the window and drew aside the blinds to stare out into the darkness and she leaned her forehead against the cool glass and drew a ragged breath. No matter how much she wanted to hurt the man for abandoning her after she first met him, the sight of him had diminished her anger and brought forth only her love. She longed to stare into his brown eyes and hear his tenor voice again, but alas it was a false hope. On the way up she had overheard a nurse saying that, although the wound had been a small one, his chance of survival was slim at best.
Remembering this brought forth another choked sob and she slumped down to the floor, realizing that this was so unlike her she fought internally to stem the tears and regain composure. She stared at the metal bed frame and the locks that held the wheels in place, she replayed his clumsiness in her mind and smiled fondly at the mess he had made at the store. Maybe she would go back to work there, she mused and she rested her head back on the pale blue wall as his carefree smile eased its way to the front of her mind.
"Excuse me." A voice called out and Arisa lifted her head to see a nurse standing a few feet away hands on her hips, "Visiting hours are over."
"I want to stay." Arisa protested as the burly nurse lifted her to her feet and she withdrew so that she was beside the bed.
"I'm sorry miss… but I have to ask you to leave."
"No!" Arisa cried, her hand finding his as she searched the bed for it, and she looked pleadingly at the woman.
"If you don't leave I'll have to call security." The woman insisted, her eyes resting for a moment on the tender grip Arisa had on Kureno's hand.
"I can't leave him!" Arisa hissed, her thumb stroking absently at his hand and she stared down at him.
The woman shook her head and went to the door where she called down the hall for help and Arisa turned back to the redhead to watch him for a few seconds. She bent down to press another clumsy kiss to his lips and closed her eyes slowly, imagining him kissing back and she withdrew so that her she could take in the blankness on his face. A hand encircled her upper arm and she whirled around to face the security guard who had touched her.
"Miss." The guard said lowly, his grip tightening, "Lets go."
"Okay." Arisa whispered, her hand still wrapped around Kureno's and she let it go reluctantly with the realization that she couldn't bring herself to fight for freedom when the man she loved was trapped inside of himself.
"I'm sorry." The guard added, and he shook his head then allowed her to exit in front of him.
The guard left Arisa in the waiting room where she curled up on a couch and waited for dawn, taking Saki's advice to heart she steeled herself to the cold waiting room so that she would always be there.
Yuki woke to a loud banging on his door and finally the sound of it slamming open, he glanced drowsily to the clock and registered the hour. It was three AM and Kyo was already roused and ready to fight. The Rat say up now and opened his mouth to say something foul to the Cat when said Cat swung a punch home and sent Yuki back into his pillow.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Yuki shouted, rising like a balloon and taking Kyo by the shoulders.
"Damn Rat!" Kyo shouted back and Yuki narrowed his eyes.
"What is going on?" Yuki whispered, now seeing that Kyo wasn't punching for the sake of punching.
"Why is Tohru so sad?" Kyo demanded, motioning to where the brown haired girl stood flustered at the door with sadness in her eyes.
"Kyo!" Tohru wailed, coming now to wrap her arms around Kyo as if it would stop him from killing Yuki and the girl narrowly missed crushing the bitter orange cat that resulted.
Yuki tilted his head to the side and lifted the small cat from the minute pile of clothes to hold the feline in front of him and he shook his head.
"It's a girl thing." Yuki assured him, knowing that Akito's present state was in fact responsible.
The orange cat struggled a bit before giving in to the fact that Yuki would always be stronger than him and he sulked quietly, Yuki smiled and held the cat to his chest so that Kyo started struggling again.
"You queer what are you doing!" Kyo shouted as he transformed back and hit the floor with a thud.
"Picking on you." Yuki replied, his violet eyes darkening with malicious satisfaction, "For waking me up."
Tohru had covered her eyes to hide the sight of Kyo's manhood and Yuki merely turned up his nose at his naked cousin while said cousin pulled on his boxers in a huff and stormed from the room. Yuki laughed softly and Kyo stuck his hand back in to make an obscene gesture.
"I'm sorry Yuki!" Tohru pleaded and the Rat placed a hand gently atop her brown locks.
"Nothing to be sorry for." Yuki replied and he sat silently on his bed.
"Good night Yuki." Tohru announced, realizing that he was already half asleep as it was and she hurried from the room. Yuki mumbled a response and slumped over onto his bed with a sigh, dozing off once more.
"On this most glorious day one should not dally in bed!"
The voice shook Yuki from sleep almost as much as the curtains being flung open and the gray haired boy stared sleepily at the shapely form of his brother in the light of the sun. Ayame turned and smiled, his hair pulled back into a twist as it had been on most occasions and he motioned for the boy to get up.
"Why are you here Nii-san?" Yuki queried, sitting up and rubbing sleep-tinged eyes with his fists.
"I heard from a reliable source that my most cherished younger brother has been struck while he slept! By a monster no less." Ayame explained, coming now to sit beside his brother with lime green eyes alight with excitement.
"Kyo maybe be a monstrous pain in the ass… but I think actually calling him a monster is taking it a bit far." Yuki said with a yawn and he edged away from his brother.
"Nonsense!" Ayame cried in dismissal and he took Yuki's hands into his own, "I know that you are affected so by Kureno's hospitalization, but dearest brother don't cry."
"I'm not crying." Yuki insisted, withdrawing his hands.
Shigure appeared at the door and shook his head with a soft smile at Ayame's enthusiasm, the Dog crossed the room and pulled Ayame to him with a smile.
"Now Aaya… what did I say about picking on your brother?"
"I was not picking on him!" Ayame protested, pretending to sulk.
The Dog released the Snake and turned to Yuki, to whom he gave a sad shake of his head to confirm that no change was made in Kureno's condition then Shigure left the room to leave the brothers alone again. Ayame removed the hair tie and shook out lustrous silver locks so that they fell about him and he pulled Yuki from where he sat.
"Yuki. Today I will do you the honor of fitting you as a School Girl." Ayame said with a mischievous flicker in his eyes.
As the Snake began to unload various measuring devices from his bag Yuki reached out and took a sickly slim wrist into his hand so that Ayame turned to face him.
"I know you never liked Kureno. Nor Akito… but you are going about this the wrong way." Yuki whispered, drawing his brother into his arms and hugging him close so that the Snake questioned the Rat's sanity, "To truly cheer me up Nii-san… I want you to spend the day with me."
"Ah! The emotional hammer stroke of this has jarred my precious brother from the very grips of sanity!" Ayame cried, despair seeming to cross his face and he closed his eyes as if he would cry.
"Nii-san…" Yuki said softly and the Snake's attention was immediately recaptured, "Fit me if you so desire… but for something else."
"I shall make you the most beautiful blue kimono with a starlight obi so that you will look the perfect princess!"
Yuki was irked at this and expressed this by taking a halfhearted swing at Ayame, which connected sharply with the elder's shoulder and Ayame shrunk back in mock pain before immediately brandishing the measuring tape. The younger let out a fearful squeak but allowed his brother to do as he pleased nonetheless, knowing full well that nothing would please Ayame more than making a custom kimono meant to fit only Yuki.
Arisa was jarred from her light sleep by a soft and reluctant shake to her shoulders, she looked up to see the barely masked concern in the handsome Sohma doctors face.
"Have you been here all night?" Hatori asked lightly and she nodded, he sighed and looked around the room before removing his jacket and draping it carefully about the girl's shoulders.
"You know who I am?" Arisa responded and she held the coat close to her shivering body as she cursed the hospital's arctic air conditioning.
"Any friend of Miss Honda would be worth recognizing." Hatori responded, nodding carefully to Tohru who was looking around as if she were lost.
"You care about her… don't you?" Arisa commented and he looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes before nodding and Tohru was upon them with the cheery smile that conveyed her nervousness.
"Good morning." Tohru said softly, her arms subconsciously finding their way around Hatori who was inwardly panicked until he remembered his release from the curse.
"Morning." Arisa acknowledged and she went slowly to the sign with visiting hours on it.
Tohru watched her friend carefully as she withdrew from the hug she had given Hatori, the elders hand was still on the back of her head and she smiled up at him as he removed it.
"What are you doing here?" Hatori asked with concern on his face.
The girl smiled sheepishly and opened the long box she had with her, "I thought his room was too empty so I spent my paycheck on flowers." She said, her eyes still on Arisa's back as she stood stock still in front of the sign.
"You brought him Forget-Me-Not?" Hatori queried and she stared up at him with a flustered look and he sighed, "What is the other one in there?"
"Stargazer Lilies…" Tohru said warily and he smiled, she smiled back, "I got them for Arisa actually, she had this silly dream as a child to give flowers to the one she loved. She told me."
Hatori suppressed a laugh and took a seat, Arisa eyed the flower box carefully and Tohru handed it to her. Arisa took the box in hand and stared questioningly at Tohru as he opened it, her eyes widened and she smiled gently at her friend before hurrying off down the hall.
"There is something I should tell you." Tohru whispered and she turned away from the careful eyes, "I wont ever leave you… I'll never be scared away."
"Do you mean to tell me… that despite all that you know and all that you have seen of this family that you…"
"That I Love you?" Tohru said suddenly, whirling around to face the elder man with tears in her eyes, "Yes, I mean to say."
Before Hatori could make a move the girl had already disappeared through the automatic doors and was catching her breath just out of sight, cursing herself for saying such a stupid thing to a man with a heart of ice. Melted Ice such as it was… but ice nonetheless, in truth she didn't even know if she truly felt the way she suspected she did. Telling him that was a mistake, but she would stand by it and make the words seem more and more true to him by the day. If she loved him as she suspected she did, then she'd make him believe it too.
AN: There are two reasons for Tohru's choice in flowers. First is their meaning
Forget-Me-Not: True love, hope, rememberance and memories.
Stargazer Lily: I see heaven in your eyes.
Second is that this fanfic was originally called Forget Me Not and was actually going to be about Hatori. The choice of the forget me not was Tohru's developing affections and the Stargazers were for Arisa's realization of her own.
More to come. Promise.