I marathoned this today. I had most of it blocked out but I couldn't connect the pieces for the life of me. Today I spent all day writing for this and the 30-Day Challenge.
Chapter 9- Of Comfort and Fears
Gou had been up and running the second she'd finished reading the text from Nagisa. It was bad enough that something happened to Akiha, but for Haruka-nii-chan to be the only one there... She knew he had to be a mess. She was fighting back tears on her way to the train station. Sweet little Akiha... I have to get Onii-chan! Maybe Haruka-nii-chan couldn't get a hold of my brother because of swim practice, she thought grimly as she took hold of the overhead strap. But I can.
The double doors slammed open, startling half the swim team, and Seijuurou's eyebrows shot up at the sight of his girlfriend, hunched over panting.
"Kou! What the hell is the matter?!" The tall male shouted, clipboard and stopwatch and team forgotten.
The redheaded girl didn't answer him, instead cupping her hands around her mouth and shrieking "ONII-CHAAAN!"
The shout knifed into Rin's concentration, halfway across the pool, and he faltered midstroke, inhaling water instead of air. He hacked and stood, shaking his head as he pulled his goggles up and looked around.
Seeing his sister next to a distraught Mikoshiba his brow furrowed for a moment before Gou yelled "Something's wrong with Aki-chan! Haruka-senpai took her to the vet! He needs you, Onii-chan!"
In that moment, Rin's heart stopped cold. His stomach abruptly felt heavy, like it was filled with rocks, weighed down and uncomfortable. His eyes widened, terrified, and it was only when his lungs screamed at him that he remembered to breath.
Oh god no.
In that moment, Rin didn't care about the odd looks he was receiving or about the fact that his team was probably thinking weird things about himself and Nanase.
Haru needed him. Akiha needed him.
He made record time to the edge of the pool and hauled his body out without thinking, mind spinning as he dashed around the pool into the locker room and snatched his jacket, sweatpants, and sneakers. He dressed with only half a mind, completely forgetting that he was soaking wet, his hair under the swim cap was dripping down his neck and chest, and that he wore no shirt under his jacket. He pulled both shoes on and dashed out the door.
Rin pushed past his sister and her boyfriend without a word.
He was halfway through the train ride to the vet when he realized, via the odd looks he was getting and one helpful preteen girl pointing at her head, that he was still wearing his swim cap and goggles. Burning scarlet (he was too upset to be truly mortified, but was sure as hell embarrassed) he yanked them both off. The redhead balled them up and shoved them in a pocket of his jacket- and felt his phone.
Fuck, did Haru call? I mean, he knew I was at practice but...
Rin opened his cell and winced. Two missed calls and a half dozen unopened texts. The latest two texts were from Nagisa- 'Rin-chan where r u?! Haru-chan's really upset!' and the earlier 'Rin-chan once u get this go 2 the vet ASAP! Rei n I are goin now!' but the rest were from Haru.
Though fear clawed at him, he finally managed the courage to select Haru's last text.
'Rin I need you to come to the vet's office. The one we set up her appointment at. She's not doing well.'
It was stark, it was painful, and it was Haru.
The first sounded much more panicked, and he turned his attention unwillingly to the voicemails. God, he should really listen to them, but he very much did not want to. The redhead worried his lip and searched out his headphones. He stood, headed to the rear of the car, and faced the corner. If these messages were half as bad as Rin hoped they weren't, he was going to be bawling and no one needed to see that but Haru and Makoto.
He plugged in the headphones. Swallowed heavily. Tapped the first one.
He collapsed into the seat in front of him only a few seconds into the message, shaking.
God, hearing Haru cry was so wrong. With Rin, crying was, on occasion, a daily occurrence. If something was really stressing him out (An Old Japanese exam he needed to fucking ace to stay on the team, for example) and/or depressing him he would be an emotional wreck and fall back on his lovers. Before he could have- would have- gotten angry. Makoto was known to let tears escape when frightened (oh their movie nights) or when Ren had been very sick a few months back, and then...
No.
No, if he thought of Haru drowning now the redhead knew he'd start sobbing pitifully in his little shameful corner of the train.
"-vet's. Rin, please hurry. As soon as you get this. I need you, Rin, I can't do this-"
'Message end.' The automated voice told him calmly after cutting off his boyfriend's choked cries.
Rin spent the rest of the journey pass him by. He stared at his cell, awaiting another call, anything, and generally moped in his corner seat.
The redhead slipped out the doors on his end of the train before anyone else even swiveled their heads in his direction. He took off at a dead sprint, determined to reach his no-doubt distraught boyfriend as fast as humanly possible.
Makoto drummed his fingers against his thigh, beyond bored, as he stared without seeing at the vending machine. He and his family waited on pins and needles for news. He was excited about the child being born, he was. But a niggling feeling pawed at his mind and made him uneasy.
He chalked it up to nervousness.
He certainly wasn't lonel- oh.
He was. He was usually always under the accompaniment of one of his lovers, Nagisa or Rei or Gou, and so being without was mildly lonely. Of course, the twins were here and his parents, but when you were supposed to be quiet in a sterile environment there wasn't too much you could do so Makoto had ended up with his siblings on the floor, hunched over a kid's table and coloring with the pair.
When Ren had started to complain of thirst Makoto had immediately volunteered to go fetch drinks for the whole family.
As he slotted money into the machine he wondered if there was a particular reason for him to be so melancholy today... And abruptly he remembered Haru.
A coin clattered to the floor as green eyes widened with realization.
Haru, home alone without Rin, was probably twice as lonely as he was.
Smiling, Makoto realized he could always text the older boy. Calls weren't allowed in this part of the hospital.
The brunette gathered up the collection of drinks and hurried back to his family, excited at the thought of talking to Haru.
"Otou-san," he called.
His father looked up and blinked before smiling and taking his coffee with a word of thanks.
"Okaa-san."
Megumi giggled and accepted the bottle of water he held out for her.
"Ran, Ren." He said at last, tapping each twin on the head with their cans. They took them with gleeful wide eyes- their parents had agreed that they could have one can of soda, since the whole family had been up fairly early.
Makoto retreated back to his seat next to his mother and set his drink on the floor. The brunette sighed happily as he pulled out his cell and powered it on, more than happy to talk to Haru to pass the time away.
Except it didn't turn on.
Brow furrowing he pressed the power button again, holding it a little more firmly and for an extra few seconds, but the small green light still didn't come on.
"Oh, it's dead," he murmured quietly to himself, feeling morose. Must have died on the way over. I had it on the whole ride with it on silent so I never heard that it was dying. Well, that's a pity...
He glanced aside and saw his mother charging her own phone and grinned.
"Okaa-san, can I borrow your charger? I didn't realize but my phone is dead."
Megumi laughed, unclipped her phone, and handed her son the cord.
A few minutes later the mobile slipped from her son's hands and Makoto shot upright.
The Tachibana family all jumped at the clatter of plastic on linoleum and the older woman glanced up at her son. "Sweetheart, what's wro-"
Megumi stared, shocked, at the look of panic and desperation on her child's stark-white face.
She caught his wrist. "Has something happened to Haru or Rin?"
He lunged for his cell and played the last voicemail.
"Makoto, where are you? I need you to come home, I- something bad's happened and I can't... I can't, I don't want her to die, Mako, she's-"
A look of mixed horror and heartbreak was her son's expression and Megumi put a hand on Makoto's shoulder.
"Go ahead, sweetie. They need you. I'll give your Aunt Suzuka your regards."
Makoto nodded but didn't move, seemingly attached to the floor. His mother squeezed his shoulder and he flinched. After a second he put a quivering hand on his chair and pulled himself to his feet.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before he left.
"Don't be!" She called after him. She could still see him trembling and could tell he wanted to run at top speed to his lover's side, but restrained himself- this was a hospital- until he hit the elevator button.
"Mommy..." Ren sniffled, tugging at her skirt, "Is Aki-chan gonna be okay? What about Haru-nii-chan?"
Megumi pulled her youngest child into her lap and rubbed his back.
"I'm sure everything will be just fine, sweetheart."
But in all the years she'd known the formerly recalcitrant boy, she'd never heard Haruka cry before.
Makoto relived the horrifying message all the way through the train ride.
"Where are you?"
It sounded so accusing, so sharp and angry when he replayed it in his head.
"Something bad's happened."
"I don't want her to die."
The brunette dug the heels of his hands into his eyes and willed away all of the bad images.
No. He had to hold out hope for their kitten. He had to. She had seemed fine this morning, what could have-
A car's brakes screeched across his imagination and he shuddered.
No. Haru would never let Akiha get out. No way.
She'll be fine, he told himself. She'll be just fine. Akiha's a tough kitten.
"Rin!"
The redhead paused halfway up the stairs and whirled. "Mako!"
He waited for the brunette to run to him and they embraced roughly.
"Rin, do you know what's happened?"
The redhead thrust his lover out at arm's length, horror dawning in his expression. "Y-you mean you're just getting here too?"
Makoto looked confused for the space of a second before the wave of dread broke over him. "Oh god Haru's been alone all this time."
Red eyes widened to match fearful green and then the pair were taking the steps in powerful leaps- two then three at a time- hand in hand.
They heard Nagisa before they saw him, loudly bemoaning their lack of attendance to a pacifying Rei, and Rin had never before wanted to simultaneously punch and hug someone like he did right then.
Bless you, Nagisa, for being here when we couldn't. Thank you.
When they rounded the bend before the vet's office Nagisa lit up like a struck match and waved so hard his body rocked side to side. Rei just eyed their pace, probably calculated velocity and mass and some shit, and held the door open.
Haru's heart leapt into his throat when the door burst open and he heard them calling his name.
"Haru!"
"Haru, are you-"
Rin fell silent because the look Haru fixed his lovers with was heartbreaking.
"Makoto, Rin-" he whispered, his voice a raspy croak.
"Haru, is everything-"
"N-no."
Haru stared at them with watery eyes, his hiccup lodged in his throat, and then he scrambled out of his chair like he couldn't take sitting anymore and all but fell into Makoto's arms.
"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do! She- she just-" Haru devolved into nonsense and he squeezed his lovers tight to him. Rin swallowed bile down at the state of his boyfriend and the shuddering he could feel under his hands.
"I-It'll be okay." The redhead stammered. "She'll be... okay."
Makoto murmured more of the same weak reassurances and rubbed Haru's back in slow soothing circles. Rin glanced past shaking shoulders and saw the remainder of the Iwatobi team take their seats, both looking equally nervous, and...
A traditional Japanese couple and their Akita stared down their noses at the way three boys were holding so tightly to each other. Rin wanted to say something, to tell them exactly what he thought of them and their backwards rules. But his voice wouldn't function so he settled for lifting his lip in a furious snarl.
They helped Haru into his seat and took a chair on either side of their lover, gripping his hands tight. The traditional couple seemed scandalized and Rin turned a fierce glare on them until they looked away. He was glad when they were called in shortly after that.
Despite how it often bugged Rin, to have even Nagisa's good humor subdued seemed like a sin. The blonde sat next to Rei a seat apart from the threesome and kicked his legs back and forth with a twisted frown on his face.
"Shouldn't we have heard something by now?" The shaggy-haired boy complained. "Haru-chan's been here a long time."
"Nagisa," Rei scolded softly.
"What did they tell you when you asked, Rei?" The blonde queried as he turned his pink puppy-dog eyes on the blue-haired boy (who was always weak to that).
"They were starting her on treatment. That was all the nurse said."
Makoto looked up and past his lovers at that. "Treatment? Doesn't that mean she has something treatable then?"
Haru seemed to perk up a bit at Makoto's abstract pondering, blue eyes regaining a hint of a shimmer, and Rin kissed his cheek.
"You see, babe? She'll be fine."
The door's bell jingled again and a quiet voice hissed "Onii-chan!"
Rin jumped and looked past Haru. Gou was standing in the door, her head poking around the frame, eyes wide.
He gave her a disbelieving look. "Gou, what the hell? You can come in, you know."
She blushed a little. "Are you sure? It seems kind of crowded..."
"Gou."
"R-right."
She wasn't alone- Captain Mikoshiba followed after her- and he instinctively scowled.
"What are you doing here?" He tried not to snarl it, since it was nice to have his sister there, but he didn't want to see her holding the older male's hand either.
"Onii-chan! It's only natural I'd be here for you and Haruka-nii-chan and Makoto-nii-san. And Sei was worried about you too," she said with a soft giggle as she looked up at him. "So we came to see you once practice was over."
"Thanks, I guess."
"Nitori and Sugimura went to Nanase's house; they're keeping an eye on the place since Hazuki texted Nitori that Nanase didn't lock his door in his hurry."
"Tell them thanks for that later," Haru rasped.
"Matsuoka."
Rin flinched and looked up; Seijuurou was regarding him with narrowed gold eyes.
"Y-yeah?"
Rin had expected at least some fallout for him rushing out of practice like that. With his Captain dating his sister and his sister one-hundred percent determined to follow him and come to the vet's office he'd had little doubt Mikoshiba would have joined her. And it seemed like now was the time he would be getting his punishment.
"Tell me if you need any time off from the team."
Rin blinked. What?
Seijuurou looked away. "Just tell me ahead of time and I can arrange it so that the school doesn't get their panties in a bunch over it, yeah?"
Rin blinked again, the gears in his brain sluggish, before it slid into place that Mikoshiba was being nice.
"Seijuurou... Thank you."
"Anytime!" The taller redhead barked, familiar wide, pearly grin back in place.
A woman in a white coat came out the door a few minutes later.
"Nanase-sa- Oh!" She took in the full waiting room with surprise. "Are any of you patients?" She asked, eyeing their lack of animal accompaniment.
"No." Seijuurou supplied for them.
The woman beamed. "Well then it appears Akiha-chan has a lot of friends!"
Haru blinked, still unable to process how gleeful these people were, especially when he couldn't handle one sick kitten, and hoped it meant she wasn't here with bad news about Akiha.
"Y-yeah." He said.
"First, tell me one thing. How did you get your kitten?"
"I- I found her wandering around the pool building on the campus of Samezuka Academy." Rin said slowly. "I thought she might've been separated from her mother so I let her be, but two hours later after practice she was still there, hiding under some bushes and freezing, so I hid her in an abandoned outbuilding on campus. Later I brought her to Haru's because he lives alone and I knew Makoto was good with animals. Since then we've all gotten really attached."
The redhead hated how easily the lies rolled off his tongue. A necessary evil, he knew, but not any easier for it. He squeezed Haru's hand tightly in his.
I brought that kitten home because I wanted her to be ours.
The doctor smiled- and glanced at their entwined hands- and shoved her hands in her pockets.
"I see. Thank you for telling me. You see, if you had bought her from someone I would need to lodge a complaint about the breeder because you should not have been sold Akiha-chan with her condition."
"Condition?" Makoto whispered.
"Yes. Your kitten has hookworms, and because they compromised her immune system, she got a severe infection and cold. Kittens get worse very quickly at their age. A space of a few hours and you'll have a very sick kitten. You did the right thing by bringing her in as fast as you did, Nanase-san. Some antibiotics and some worming medicine and she'll make a full recovery. She'll probably need to stay here for a few days so we can take care of her and monitor her condition, if that's all right."
Nagisa leapt to his feet, grinning that grin that could light up a room. "Really?!"
The doctor laughed at the blonde's exuberance. "Really really."
The threesome surged to their feet; hands dropped apart to not call further attention to the comforting gesture.
"So Akiha will be all right?" Rin asked, fighting back tears.
"She'll be just fine in a couple of days."
Haru slumped a little with pure relief but Makoto flushed and looked at the floor, hands tight at his sides. "W-well we don't- we don't have enough money, exactly, for continued care, m-ma'am."
The veterinarian smiled and tilted her head. "We have payment plans if necessary."
Makoto bowed. "Then yes, sensei, we would be very grateful."
"C-can we see her? Just for a bit?"
The vet beamed at them, her gaze on Haru's downcast eyes and dark frown. "Yes of course, dear."
The threesome had seen her soaked through before, her fur slicked flat over her ribs and tail a whip, but she looked even tinier on the tabletop. She almost blended in with the towel laid over the cold metal except for her spots of glaring color.
Makoto swallowed hard as he entered the room, willing himself to be strong; his lovers needed him. Rin's lip was quivering and he was already on the edge of tears. Haru walked in haltingly, breathing hard, and his fingers trembled as he reached out to pet the soft-furred head.
"Akiha?" He croaked. "A-Akiha, wa-wake up..."
"Nanase-san, she's all right. Rest is good for her right now. She was very weak, and we had to anesthetize her because she was quite upset about the IV."
Makoto shuddered- he shared that fear of needles with their kitten- and watched as Haru leaned on the table and pet the still, silent kitten.
"...she wouldn't wake up earlier, either." He whispered. His voice was thick, on the verge of tears again, and wavered slightly- "Akiha, p-please..." -then cracked.
The door cracked open. "Kanashima-sensei, Toshio is showing some signs of infection-"
The vet glanced over her shoulder. "All right, I'll head over to him now. Shiori, stay with this group, would you?"
"All right."
"Is there a way to wake her up?" Haru asked finally, finding their kitten's silence unnerving and desperate to hear her tiny peeping voice again.
The technician jumped. "Well, she's been sedated a while..." She checked the charts quickly, "...Nanase-san. The sedatives should wear off soon but until then..."
He didn't know what made him say it, but it felt right. "She likes- she loves water. Akiha really loves water. She might-" Haru swallowed hard past the painful lump in his throat. "She might wake up if she gets a bath."
"Nanase-san, it may negatively affect her health to be drenched-"
"Please, just try it."
The vet tech looked a little nervous, but she had a blow-dryer and towel handy, so...
"All right."
A bath bucket was filled with two inches of water and the ill kitten placed in it.
Haru, Rin and Makoto crouched next to the large porcelain tub as the vet tech set the small container in the tub and waited with bated breath as the technician carefully set their kitten in the water.
Akiha's head lolled and Haru's hands shot out to balance her head before it could fall in the water.
The next few minutes were tense and silent. Makoto's heart was pounding a staccato rhythm in his chest, desperate for even the slightest movement from their kitten. Rin slowly reached into the tub and sloshed a little water over Akiha's back with trembling fingers.
Her ear twitched. The three boys caught their breath simultaneously, eyes widening.
Ocean-colored eyes cracked open.
Makoto clamped down on the happy shout that almost left him but a sharp noise of excitement escaped before he could stop it.
Green-blue eyes opened wider and wider and then fixed on Rin, who exhaled and smiled down at the sick kitten.
"Hey sweetie."
A soft mewl was his response and a tear streaked down the redhead's cheek. Makoto echoed the sentiment, wiping the moisture from his eyes with a quiet laugh.
Akiha struggled to weak paws and the threesome all jerked forward. Each one was willing to help and make sure she'd be okay, but the kitten stood without their help and pawed at the thin layer of water in her bath. She looked up at her owners and tilted her head and mewed as if to ask why there wasn't more water for her to play with.
Haruka laughed and ducked his head, pressed it to the tub's rim, and his chuckling morphed suddenly from relieved laughter to quiet sobs.
Ironically, Pandaphil383 dear, this ending was written before I read your review about happy crying ;A;