a/n2: Just me up here this time. Teddy (the lazy jerk) wouldn't give me the quippy banter he insists we put up here, and this needed to be updated, so here I am. Hello sir that we wrote this for, I saw you reviewed, glad we could get in touch again. Alright enjoy yourselves.
Warnings: Sex, Violence, and Language.
School assignments became my priority that evening, so I was not able to go to the pool house to do any work. I had a few major tests that I had to study for coming up. Surprisingly I was a little sad that I wouldn't be going. I think doing all that hard work really did make me feel good in a way. It got my mind off things; which would have been especially welcome after the encounter I had this morning.
That Ansem guy…something about him made me feel like I couldn't trust him.
"Whatever…" I sighed, pushing those thoughts from my mind as I focused on the educational task at hand.
The weather took a turn for the worse the next day. A storm picked up, sending howling winds and harsh rain crashing down on our poor heads. I ran with my hand clenched tightly over the hood of my coat as I left the dorm. Rust colored leaves pelted me as I went, stinging my bare hands and face. The school, I found out, held up very well against the gale. I wouldn't find out till later, that that wasn't the case for everywhere on campus.
"Oh, come on!" I cried as I entered the pool house.
To my disdain, I found that the roof was leaking mercilessly. It was almost like I hadn't gone inside at all. The water came in from everywhere. The floor was slick with it as it drained into the pool. A good half a meter had already filled the bottom. Setting my jaw, I began my work.
I had to put my coat over my backpack so my school work wouldn't get ruined but after that, I tracked down a ladder and began patching the holes in the ceiling. It took most of the evening, and by the time I was halfway through, I was completely drenched. I decided that the rest could wait until tomorrow, so I took my homework to my dorm room, changed into warm, dry clothes, and began doing my papers.
Thankfully, it was the weekend, so I could stay up as late as I wanted tonight to finish. But for some reason, I couldn't seem to get warm, and I couldn't concentrate very well. Great, I thought deciding to give up for now, everything's out to get me lately.
My throat was burning with a discomfort so great, I felt my eyes water as I coughed. I groaned as I felt my head pulse. It was like someone had filled my head with thick gelatin overnight. I sat up slowly, adjusting to the feeling of achiness and a broken body temperature gauge.
"You've got to be kidding me…" I grumbled nasally, swinging my heavy legs over the side of my bed.
This is such crap! I never get sick! That stupid pool house is going to be the death of me, I swear!
Grumbling irritably to myself, I tugged a sweater over my head, accompanied by a very thick hat. After that, I pulled on my sneakers and forced myself to trudge out of the dorms, across the empty courtyard towards the infirmary. As if the weather knew it had made me sick, it stopped raining long enough for me to get inside.
"Oh, Tamao-kun," Aerith cried after spinning around in her chair to catch sight of me entering the room. "Lie here; I'll go get you some medicine!"
I did not argue, merely flopped down on the nearest bed and tried catching my breath. For the rest of the morning, I lay in bed coughing and sneezing, while drifting in and out of consciousness. Aerith was amazing. She was very attentive to my needs. I could see why she had gotten this job. Clearly caring for others was what she was meant to do.
When I woke up again later, I noticed that my head had sort of cleared. There was still a haze around my thoughts, but I wasn't complaining. My eyes opened blearily, and were met with the dim light of the side table lamp next to my bed. The curtains were drawn, and the light outside had completely vanished.
"You finally awake?"
Groggily, I turned to face the person sitting at my bedside. I was shocked to see the boy Sora, sitting cross-legged in the chair. He smiled when recognition made me stutter slightly.
"Wh-what're you doing here?" I asked, propping myself up slightly.
His eyes raked over my tired face, obviously noting just how sick I was, before he began, "Aerith came to my room to check on me. She thought I might've gotten sick from working in the pool house yesterday too."
I dropped my gaze.
It was silent between us for a hearts breadth before he asked softly, "Why did you keep working in there without us?"
"I…I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell on us?"
He had risen from his chair and come to sit on the edge of the bed. I could feel his eyes piercing straight through me. Was he angry? I couldn't tell, and I wouldn't meet his gaze. For some reason, I just couldn't. After a few moments stillness, he sighed and sat back.
"Well, Tamao right?" he said, once more standing. He moved to the curtain and drew it away. "Feel better."
He was gone before I could pluck up the nerve to reply.
The next morning, I felt a lot better, and got permission from Aerith to go back to my dorm room for the last day of the weekend. I managed to finish my homework, and spent the rest of the day reading idly on my bed. The next day at school, I was almost fully recovered, aside from a nasty cough.
I was half tempted to just go back to my room and sleep, but I felt the need to go to the pool house and do at least a little something. As I stepped up to the rickety doors, I could hear something strange coming from inside. It was a scraping sound. Was that the teacher that was supposed to be watching over us, finally showing up to his job? I went in, irritation lacing my features.
All that fell away however when I saw the person I least expected moving an empty oil drum to the trash pile I had started. I stood dumbfounded as he spotted me, paused in his work, and called over with a huge crooked grin, "Hey, Tamao-chan, glad to see you're feeling better!"
"H-Higari-san …?" I asked in disbelief.
He strode up to me, one hand scratching embarrassedly at the back of his neck as he asked, "So, what do you think of all I've done so far?"
I gaped at the room. Since I had last been here, the water had been drained, the ceiling had been finished, and a good chunk of the things littering the ground were sorted into the keep and throw away piles. I turned to him and mouthed wordlessly. Patting me on the shoulder chummily, he led me over to a pile of concrete blocks and sat me down.
"You should take it easy for a while. Don't want you to get sick again." He said, still smiling as he moved back to the drum.
As he moved it, I found my tongue and asked incredulously, "Why are you here?"
Our eyes locked from across the space between us as he replied seriously, "I've got to make up for lost time."
Skepticism laced my words as I asked, "You want me to believe you're doing this now just because you want to?"
I was expecting him to get angry, or upset in some kind of way, but the last thing that I thought he'd do was blush like a school girl. My mind reeled as he glanced shyly over his shoulder at me, but didn't answer my question.
What the hell was that supposed to be about? I wondered panicky, also blushing. This guy was just beyond my realm of understanding. Even for my standards he was strange. While he worked, I chose to do my homework for the day. We snuck glances at each other every now and again, but for the most part remained silent.
When I looked over at him, I would catch the movement of his eyes quickly shifting away from me. Was he watching me? For an awful moment, I felt the chill of suspicion run down my spine. I could imagine this unassuming kid waiting for the right moment, and when my back was turned, push me into the empty pool. My head would split open and his excuse would be that I slipped. He probably wanted my mouth shut…permanently.
My hand clenched around the book in my hand and I paused in my reading. I shook my head and muttered under my breath, "Stop being so paranoid…"
However, even though I told myself not to worry so much, I found myself scooting a little further from the edge of the pool. You know…just in case.
I was so absorbed in my thoughts and working, that I didn't hear him come up behind me. Next thing I knew, I flung my arms up in shock and made a sort of squeaking/coughing sound as something ice cold was pressed to the back of my neck. He stood over me, holding two cans of pop, trying very hard not to laugh at what I'd just done.
Holding the spot above my racing heart, I glared up at him and asked breathlessly, "What the hell was that for Higari-san?"
"We need to stay hydrated if we're going to get any good work done." He replied cheerfully, sitting down next to me. His legs stuck out over the edge, and as he opened his drink, began swinging them. I took the can he pressed into my own hands deftly and realized that I hadn't eaten or drank much all day. I'd been too busy with school.
"So how are you feeling?" he asked taking a swig of his drink.
This guy was something else. I'll tell you what, if someone were to ask me who was the school idiot, I'd pick him immediately. I shifted next to him and muttered, "Okay…"
"That's good." He replied, that faint smile still lighting up his face.
The rest of the day was spent in relative silence. Occasionally, he would ask me where I wanted something to be put, but for the most part we stayed clear of each other. I was glad to say the least when I got back to my dorm room.
Sighing, I unlocked my door and made to step inside. And just when I thought my day was done with surprises, a folded piece of paper fell from the door frame as the door swung in. My heart thudded dully in my chest as I picked it up. Inside read:
I've seen you.
Never before have I wanted…
Someone so badly.
You'll be mine.
It was like someone had plunged me into a tub full of ice water. Every nerve in my body screamed. I glanced terrified down both directions in the corridor, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end as gooseflesh rose on my arms. When nothing made a move or a sound, I ducked quickly into my room, shut the door, and locked it as fast as I could.
My breathing was rough and ragged as I stood, both hands pressed flat against the heavy wooden door. What nutcase would leave something like that? Shakily, I tore the note into a hundred tiny little pieces and threw them into the garbage. I felt violated.
It could have been anyone, I realized to my horror. I sank down onto the edge of my bed and gripped the spot over my pounding heart.
"It's probably just a mistake…" I whispered after a moment.
Deciding to push the problem as far back into the recesses of my mind as I could, I slid under my covers without changing and tried going to sleep. It didn't come easy. And the whole night I tossed and turned in a state of perpetual nightmare; which, of course, didn't help my already weak state of health.
Grudgingly, I went to classes the next day, and forced myself to stay conscious. It wasn't easy. On a few occasions I found myself dozing masterfully while sitting up. When I got to the pool house later that afternoon, Sora could tell I was even more exhausted than I had been the day before.
As I sat heavily on a nearby crate, he came up and said, "You look a little pale, maybe you should go get some sleep Tidus…I can handle this."
Shaking my head, I imagined all the different things that could go wrong with the restoration of this place if I left it in his hands. Moving to stand, I felt his hands on my shoulders pushing me back. He answered my glare by saying quickly, "At least rest for a while? It won't kill you to sit still…"
I could recognize when someone else was right…I just never liked admitting it. Reluctantly, I sat back, conceding my territory as it were. Sora – the big idiot – smiled down at me before bustling off and starting work on what we'd left the night before. Contrary to what I thought would happen I hardly had to say anything to him with regards to the work that needed to be done. He went about accomplishing tasks at a steady pace, telling me all about Roxas, what a great guy he was, and all the fun things they'd done together. Slowly, I felt myself sinking back into the clutches of sleep that had eluded me before, Sora's comforting voice lulling me into the dream world.
"Come on, time to get up," Sora muttered quietly. "I gotta lock up now, okay?"
It was dark. The pool house was only illuminated by a small sliver of moonlight; sitting up quickly, my eyes widened in surprise as I realized that I had actually fallen asleep. Sora stood next to me, that ever-constant smile on his lips as he gently helped me to my dazed feet. For some reason, being this close to him was making me feel…uneasy. I had to get away from him as quickly as possible.
I could hear the wind howling through the naked, creaky branches of the trees surrounding us as he opened the door to steer me out. While he looked back to lock the door, I tried muttering an excuse about walking back to the dorms alone and attempted a smooth getaway - keyword there being 'attempted'. Definitely did not work out too well in my favor. My foot, as soon as I made to take a step, caught on a loose brick.
Shit, I remembered thinking before taking a nose dive directly into the dirt. Next thing I knew, I had a splitting headache. Groaning, I opened my eyes. Still dark out, but it was quiet, and I was lying on top of a bed. For one moment, I could barely get my body to respond to my want to prop myself up, but finally I was able to look around at my surroundings.
"Great…" I muttered to myself. "…back in the infirmary…"
Brushing my fingers against my forehead, I winced. A lump, the size of a post-it, was throbbing tenderly. This was probably my most idiotic move thus far. Who else just falls over like that? And where was Sora anyway? Did he carry me all the way here?
A noise off to my left made me jump slightly. When my eyes fell on the shadowed space of the room it had come from, I couldn't see anything. My thoughts traveled to the note that I'd found the other day, and instantly my blood ran cold. Tentatively, I asked the darkness, "Wh-who's there…?"
Still no answer, but now I could make out the faint outline of a hunched figure standing in the corner…watching me. The words that I wanted to scream instantly became stuck in my throat. Fear struck me dumb. The unknown person stood, looming menacingly over my bed, drawing nearer. I cowered, unable to do anything but gape in absolute terror.
"…he hit his head on some debris, so I brought him here," Sora's familiar tenor sounded from the hallway. A light illuminated the glass in the door as he and his companion neared.
But my eyes never left the stranger, who started, took one last lingering look down at me, and then slipped without a sound through the door leading to the other hallway. There had been something in the shadows as the person turned to run, however. I had seen a pair of gleaming amber eyes, gazing lecherously down on my frail form. My arms shook so badly, I couldn't hold up my own weight any longer. I collapsed heavily back on the pillow as Sora and Aerith burst into the room.
"Tamao-kun, can you hear me?" Aerith called, seemingly from far away as the lights to the infirmary were flicked on.
Triples of everything swirled above me as I tried to focus once again. Sora's familiar head of chocolate spikes came into view. Concentrating on him, I attempted to pull my rattled mind back from wherever it had gone. Aerith shone a light in my eyes and asked softly, "Please follow this."
Which one? I wondered to myself, struggling to eliminate two of the lights she was holding. After what felt like a long day drifting at sea, my vision came together once again. Finding my whole body was one giant ache, I didn't attempt to sit up again. I merely groaned, "What happened…?"
"You collapsed due to a combination of dehydration and exhaustion," Aerith answered from somewhere to my left. "And when you fell, you sustained a slight concussion."
Groaning, I closed my eyes again and felt a warm hand pat my shoulder gently as Sora laughed, "You have worse luck than me, Tidu-chan!"
Preaching to the freaking choir, I thought to myself. This was really turning out to be the worst time of my life. My stomach suddenly clenched, as a wave of fresh dizziness washed over me. Rolling to my side, I vaguely heard Sora let out a small cry, before I heaved the contents of my stomach onto the floor at his feet.
"Gross…" I muttered, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
Sidestepping the puddle of sick, Sora helped me back onto the bed as Aerith ran off to get cleaning supplies. Propped up, I looked around the infirmary for the first time. All the windows were dark, and all the beds were completely empty. And then my gaze fell on the corner where I had seen that mysterious figure. I could feel the fear creep up my spine as I glanced around wildly.
"What're you-" Sora began, but I cut him off, "Did you see anyone when you brought Aerith in here before?"
He shook his head, brows drawing together in question. That couldn't be right! I knew someone else had been here! I had felt the air change as he stepped towards me. Those eyes gazing down on me had pierced right through my soul. It had been real…right? Looking back up at Sora, I suddenly felt helpless. Maybe that note really was getting to me. I had hit my head after all. I could've imagined it.
"Sorry…" I muttered slumping defeated against the pillow. "It's nothing…"
The look in his eye clearly told me that he wasn't buying it, but Aerith returned just then and asked for his assistance. While they cleaned, I faded in and out of consciousness. The rest of the night, in fact, was spent in a suspended state of waking nightmare. Not until I could see the new light of day glowing softly through the windows, could I finally rest.
a/n: Bloody hell, it was only a question! Should I take it that you're still single then?
a/n2: You can take it and shove it where you can't see the sun...
a/n: O.o