A/N: Yay, another update in less than a day. I really like this chapter a lot and I hope you all like it too. And I don't usually make it a habit to ask for reviews but please review if you enjoy the story or otherwise. It really motivates to write more when I read reviews. Anyhow, enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite! xxx
Disclaimer: I don't own Free!
It was close to 11 pm when Kyou finally left Haru's house. Haru had offered to walk her home but she had declined vehemently. She needed to regain her composure after their date night and with Haru around, her heartbeats would definitely not be returning to it's regular beat. She was recapitulating the events of her date night with Haru with a smile on her face. She pulled her jacket closer to her body. It was still quite cold out and she wished she'd put on something warmer or a thicker jacket at least. She hopped on to the raised platform lining the walkway. She tried walking on the narrow surface of the platforms, arms wide open trying to maintain the precarious balance.
"Kyou-senpai!"
She lost her concentration and almost fell before regaining her balance. She looked up to see Rei calling out to her. Around him was Makoto, Nagisa, Rin, Shiori and Nitori. Gou must have gone home because of her early curfew. She felt them judging her appearance; disheveled hair from Haru's hand constantly running through it and tugging it, kissed swollen lips, flushed cheeks and rumpled clothes. It was obvious she'd hooked up with Haru.
She cleared her throat trying to cover up her embarrassment at being caught doing the walk of shame, "What's everyone doing here anyway?"
"Since school is starting soon, everyone decided to hang out a little longer. We are going over to my place," Makoto explained.
"I wanted all of us to go over to Haru-chan's house but Rei said I should give you both some privacy. Ne, Kyou-chan, come along with us and call Haru-chan as well," Nagisa said enthusiastically.
She pretended she didn't hear the first part of what Nagisa said. "Yeah, I'll come along for a bit," she took out her phone to call Haru but nobody picked up, "He's not picking up. Must be in the tub. I'll try again in a while."
They made their way to Makoto's place leisurely and somehow or other she had ended up walking next to Shiori with Rin and Nitori right behind them. What happened next happened so fast that she literally didn't know what hit her until it was over. All she knew was she heard Rin yelling and she was turning to look when she saw Rin pulling Shiori back by the arms and tucking her under his arms protectively. Kyou had a millisecond to wonder what was going on before she felt an intense pain on her shoulder and the next thing she knew she had fallen to the ground.
"Oh my gosh, Rin! If you hadn't pulled me back I don't know what would've happened to me," she heard Shiori said, her face was pale.
"Kyou!" she heard Makoto yelling her name.
She sat up in a daze, not registering what had happened and why everyone was crowding around her looking so concerned. "What happened?"
"The white cat. I think it was on the balcony you were walking under and it knocked one of those big potted plants over," Makoto said with worry lacing his voice. She could see he was assessing her for injuries.
Understanding dawned on her. Rin had reflexively pulled Shiori back. Not her. She knew it was irrational but she could feel a surge of hurt welling up and threatening to overwhelm her. It wasn't like she was best friend with Rin and he had known Shiori longer so it wasn't his fault at all that he had reflexively pulled Shiori back. And it was unfair anyway to fault him for something that was out of his control. Although to be fair, even if Rin had the time to think, she wasn't sure he would choose to save her first.
"She's bleeding heavily on her shoulders and she's got a cut on her right cheek," she heard someone said and she felt someone brushing her cheeks. She looked up to see Rin kneeling next to her.
"Is she okay?" She heard Nagisa asked frantically.
"Stop crowding around her," she heard Rei said futilely.
"Kyou! Kyou! Can you hear me?" Rin said again.
"I think she's in shock. It doesn't seemed like she's registering anything," Makoto said.
She felt light taps on her cheeks and her eyes snapped back to Rin's maroon eyes. "Kyou, answer me. Are you okay?" she heard Rin said.
She pushed his hands away, she couldn't stand to look at him now. If she looked at him now she had a feeling the tears gathering behind her eyes would spill.
"I'm fine," she replied, directing her answer at Makoto, she refused to look at Rin.
"You will need stitches on your shoulders," Makoto said grimly.
"Can you stand?" Rei asked.
She nodded and tried to get up shakily. She grabbed on to Rei and dismissed Rin's already outstretched hands.
"I'm fine. We need to get to Haru's and he can bring me to the hospital. I don't want to let my parents know," she said calmly.
Makoto turned to Rin, Nitori and Shiori, "I'm sorry but we should really bring her to the hospital now. I wouldn't mind if you guys want to wait at my house first but Rei and Nagisa will want to come along to the hospital as well. It's best that you guys go home first."
An uncomfortable silence descended upon them as soon as Makoto completed his sentence. She had no idea what prompted the usually kind and patient Makoto to say something like that. His words had basically insinuated that Rin and his friends were outsiders and that their help were not needed. He had basically drawn the proverbial line in the proverbial sand. His cleverly disguised words had also insinuated that they weren't welcome to accompany them to the hospital neither did he expect them to have the courtesy to offer to follow them to the hospital.
She saw Rin's face twisted in anger before he got it under control, "We will all come with you," she heard the steel in his voice.
"It's really okay. There's no point having so many people there. I'm sure they have everything under control," she added quickly, pointing towards her Iwatobi friends.
She saw his jaw clenched as he turned to tell Shiori and Nitori to head back first but she wasn't in any mood to wait around plus her shoulders were really hurting. She motioned for Rei to leave them behind as she, Rei, Makoto and Nagisa made their way to Haru's house.
When Haru opened the door and saw her drenched in blood, she saw his face visibly paled and his eyes were filled with fear. She must have been delirious because she felt like laughing. In the months that they had been going out, it was the first time that she'd seen so much emotions on his face. She wondered briefly if she had to painted in blood before he would show any emotions. He took her into his arms and she instantly sagged against him, relieved flooding through her.
Makoto started explaining everything to Haru as Rei reappeared from behind Haru and tied a cloth around her wound to stop her bleeding. Haru got his wallet from his room and jacket off the coat rack before they all left the house.
As soon as they opened the door, she saw Rin standing there.
"I've sent the rest home first. I'd like to come along. I've already hailed a cab for us," Rin said with an edge in his voice.
She really didn't want Rin to come along. "Actually, all of you should go home. I don't want to make you guys wait at the hospital needlessly. I have Haru with me," she said.
"But, Kyou-chan..." Nagisa began before he was silenced with meaningful look from Rei.
Rei being as perceptive as he is probably figured out that she didn't want Rin there and she had no choice but to send all of them home if she wanted to stop him. "Hey, let's go home Nagisa. We'll come see you tomorrow Kyou-senpai," he bowed before pulling Nagisa off with him.
"Don't look at me, I'm coming," Makoto said shrugging.
"I'm coming," Rin said again.
She heaved a sigh. There really is no point is arguing with him when he's so set on coming along.
The room she was in was sterile and white in color. She was glad the doctor allowed Haru in with her especially after finding out she would need 11 stitches in total. The cut had been quite deep, running diagonally from the top of her shoulders to her deltoid. The doctor had started out by cleaning the wound with some liquid that stung so bad but nothing compared to the feeling of the needle threading in and out of her skin even with the numbing injection. She was grateful that she had Haru's hand to squeezed each time the needle went in and out of her flesh. She distracted herself by looking at Haru. He'd not spoken much but he looked grim and he looked at her with concern in his eyes. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy him worrying about her.
The doctor finally stitched the last of the stitches. After taping some gauze over the wound, he gave them the okay and instructions on how to care for the wound.
As they exited the room into the hallway, Haru told her to wait in the waiting room as he walked in the opposite direction to collect her medicine. As she was approaching the turn to the waiting room she heard raised voices before they were lowered into furious whispers.
"For fuck's sake, how many times do you want me to say I'm sorry. I truly am. It wasn't like I wanted her to get hit by a potted plant. And Shiori is important to me. It's not fair to make me choose. It's reflex. It's not like I consciously made a choice for her to get hurt," she heard Rin whispering furiously.
She heard Makoto sighed, "I know it's not your fault but it's just...I don't know... It just pisses me off okay?" Makoto said.
"Shit. You...," she couldn't hear the following words, "...her..." She heard Rin said disbelievingly. It was as if he couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. As if the revelation he just had was too absurd to be true.
"Why are you so surprised? Aren't you also in the same-" Makoto said but before he could finished Kyou decided that she really shouldn't be eavesdropping, especially when she can't even make heads or tails of the conversation. She had stepped out from behind the corner, and once they saw her, it effectively stopped the conversation they were having.
"11 stitches!" She grinned at Makoto, motioning to her shoulders.
"Glad you're okay," he said ruffling her hair, "Where's Haru?"
"He's gone to collect my meds at the pharmacy in the north wing," she replied.
"This hospital is really too big for it's own good. I better go check on him," Makoto said, giving Rin a look before walking away.
She wanted desperately to ask Makoto to not leave her alone with Rin. After all the excitement had calmed down, she had began to feel guilty and foolish for overreacting towards the whole Rin-prioritizing-Shiori's-safety situation. It really wasn't his fault. It was reflex after all. In fact, even if Rin had time to think, she wasn't sure that he would pick her over Shiori. And seriously, how could she expect him to save her when he's only known her for months when he'd known Shiori for much longer. She felt really bad for being so rude to him earlier on and decided that she had to apologize.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. After a quick look at each other they bursted out laughing.
She held up one hand as if to stop him. "Me first. First of all, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I'm serious, so stop feeling sorry. Second, I am sorry. I was rude earlier on and it was uncalled for. I-I was just scared and I needed a familiar face I guess," she said. She couldn't tell him the real reason she was rude earlier. It might seem like she was jealous if she'd told him that she didn't like it that he had reflexively saved Shiori first. It was better to tell a white lie than to tell the truth in this scenario.
Rin felt a sting in his heart at her words. I needed a familiar face. Is that how she sees him? That when it comes to down to it, compared to her Iwatobi friends, he was no better than a stranger? Not that he could blame her. He hardly got to see her as it is and he had spent the past few weeks avoiding her when she probably see most of the guys from Iwatobi almost everyday. And she was right to see him that way, he was responsible for her injuries after all. If it was Makoto that was standing behind her, he was sure she wouldn't be in this predicament now.
Under the fluorescent lights, he thought that she looked even paler and her face looked drawn. She looked so frail that he had to resist the urge to gather her into his arms. He watched her wrapped her arms around her body as she attempted to give him a smile.
"Regardless of what you said, I'm sorry," he said, eyes drawn to the gauze taped to her shoulder.
They sat silently for a while before Kyou broke the silence. "Can I... Can I be nosy?" she asked.
He snorted at her choice of words, "What?"
"Is Shiori your ex-girlfriend?" she paused before adding, "Or girlfriend?"
"No, nothing like that. She's important to me." He paused, his face coloring a little as he continued, "I used to like her a lot. A year before I came back, I confessed to her and I got completely rejected."
She smiled. "Is that possible? A girl who is resistant to you?" she said teasingly. "No wonder you liked her so much. She sounds different from all the girls you usually surround yourself with."
"She was the one who was there for me when I was stuck in a rut back in Australia. In fact, she was the one that encouraged me to come back here to face my fears," he said.
She felt uncomfortable the more she listened to him talk. Even more so after seeing the soft expression on his face as he talked about Shiori. She craned her neck subtly, trying to see if Haru or Makoto were coming back anytime soon.
"Am I boring you?" he teased, one eyebrow raised with a brazen smile.
"Ah... Sorry I was just wondering what is taking Haru and Makoto so long, it's been more than 15 minutes," she said evasively.
She checked her watch, "It's almost 1 now. Has the last train left yet? You can leave now you know. As you can see with your own eyes I'm completely fine."
"It's fine, I'll stay. The last train left ages ago. The plan was to take cab home after hanging out at Makoto's place anyway."
"If you're going to stay on, you might as well just sleep over at Haru's place. It's getting really late and I'm sure you'll get into trouble for getting back late to the dormitory," she reasoned.
"Speaking of, won't your parents be worried that you're not home yet?" he asked, curious.
"Usually yes, but seeing as how they have not bombarded my phone with calls and messages, I'd guessed they were asleep. I'll just text them and tell them I'm sleeping over at Makoto's."
"Why Makoto not Haru?"
"You have to ask? First of all, they're hardly going to let me sleep over at my boyfriend's house. Unchaperoned. Second, they know Makoto's parents quite well."
"Then I'll sleep over at Makoto's place as well," he said, not looking at her.
She was taken a back and was about to formulate a reply when Haru and Makoto walked in.
Haru walked up to her, tucking her stray hair behind her right ear, lightly stroking the cut in her cheeks, "Are you feeling alright? Does it still hurt?" he asked solemnly.
She shook her head, blushing, unused to Haru showing his affection.
"We should go. Come on," Makoto said as they all stood up.
The four of them quietly exited the hospital and entered the cab. As it turned out, all of them ended up sleeping over at Makoto's house.