heroes and thieves
chapter ten - the one
four months later
It's nearly midnight. Visiting hours are long since over. And a patient is missing from his bed.
"You have a rebellious streak in you after all."
"Narumi-san should have realized that years ago."
"Ah. I suppose you did sneak into the school with a bag of weapons."
"And I shot Kanone-san with a tranquilizer dart."
"That's right... I forgot that was you."
"Y - you forgot?!"
"Hn. I was in pain." Ayumu shifts in his wheelchair, one hand reaching to his side. "Give them here."
Hiyono - officially Yuizaki Hiyono now, again, and with the documents to prove it - hesitates, chewing on her bottom lip. She hadn't been nervous about sneaking Ayumu up to the roof, but she is nervous now, because she knows exactly what he's planning to do and really, Narumi-san, did it have to be the roof? "Are you sure?" she asks, with a glance at the wooden crutches she's holding. "If... if anything goes wrong, then - "
"Then I'll fall over. Relax. We're far from the edge, and I don't plan on pushing my luck." He looks up at her, making a come-on gesture with his hand. "That is," he adds, as she reluctantly passes the crutches to him, "I don't plan on pushing it any more than I already have."
"Really…" The blonde woman sighs. "Nothing Narumi-san does surprises me anymore. If you really wanted to, I'm sure you could do a handstand right now…"
Ayumu grunts, securing a crutch in each hand, a grin turning up one corner of his mouth. "After all this physical therapy, I wouldn't doubt it. My arms are stronger now, after all." He glances up at her, then nods. "Stand back."
She does, taking a few cautious steps away from his wheelchair, her heels tapping lightly on the rooftop. He isn't supposed to be standing on his own yet, nor is he supposed to be on the hospital rooftop at just a few minutes from midnight, but after a year in the hospital, well… Narumi Ayumu does things his own way, and no amount of objections can stop him once he's made up his mind.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Hiyono would rather see him stubbornly insist on living his own way than she would see him the way he was months before, lying alone in his bed, having accepted his own demise.
She's glad to be breaking the rules with him now, just as she broke them with him years before.
As she watches, the brown-haired young man uses his crutches to get to his feet, nudging the wheelchair back with his right shin. He leans heavily on the left crutch, allowing the right one to clatter noisily to the rooftop after just a few seconds, and Hiyono catches the hint of a grimace on his face. "Narumi-san," she starts, softly, "you don't have to - "
"Yes," he counters, and straightens, frowning at his left leg, "I do."
Almost a minute goes by before his left crutch joins the right on the ground in front of him. Ayumu stands, unsupported, his arms slowly lowering to hang by his sides. He takes a step with his right foot, then his left, and then his right again. And then, much to the surprise of his companion, he throws his head back and laughs.
"Narumi-san?" Hiyono blinks at him. "What's… what's so funny?"
"He won," he says through his laughter, shaking his head. "That bastard. In the end, he knew this would be the outcome."
"Eh?"
"Hizumi." He straightens again, chuckling, looking over his shoulder at her. "He always said I would be the one to survive. Right before he died, he told my brother to use his body as a tool to save mine. Aniki didn't tell me at first, because if I'd known…"
"You would have refused?"
"Of course. But it's his victory now. He said I would live, and here I am." He chuckles again, smiling slightly. "Today is his birthday."
She starts, feeling her eyes widen. "Oh - it is?"
"He was a little older than me. He would have been twenty today." He turns his head up to look at the sky, at the stars, perhaps searching for something unknown and unreachable in them. "If there is a heaven, I thought he would want to see this."
"That's… wonderful, Narumi-san."
"Hm. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to stand here much longer, as much as I'd like to - "
"Understood!" Hiyono scurries forward, picking up the crutches that have fallen at his feet, and passes them back to him quickly. He grunts just once as he slips them under his arms, shifting to take the weight off of his left foot, but he doesn't move in the direction of his wheelchair. "Well," the blonde says, smiling up at him, "is that all you wanted to do tonight, then?"
"Not quite." He studies her expression for a second or two, as if he's trying to decide what to say or figure out how she's going to react; she barely has time to wonder which before he speaks again. "There's something else I want to do, with your help. And now is as good as a time as any to talk about it."
She straightens, smiling. "Anything you need, Narumi-san, I'll do!"
"Anything?"
"Of course!"
"Well, then." He starts to grin. "I want to leave the hospital."
Her mouth drops open. "I - "
"Next month."
"Narumi-san!"
"And," he goes on, and he's grinning that grin of his, that cheeky, borderline obnoxious grin that is still so new to her and yet so very loved, "I would rather jump off this roof than I would move back in with my brother and neesan. So I'm counting on you to find a place for the two of us to live."
She presses her lips together, opens her mouth to respond, then realizes precisely what he's said and gasps. "U - us?"
"Someone will need to help me continue my physical therapy. And I doubt you'd be content to let me live on my own while I'm still not moving around very well."
She sighs heavily. "That may be true, but… I don't think Madoka-oneesan will approve of us living together…"
"She'll never approve of anything I do. You might as well get used to it now." He leans on his left crutch, grunting softly. "But I have to admit I'm glad that you objected on those grounds, and not because you didn't want to stay with me."
Hiyono purses her lips, swallows, and manages a smile. "It's a scary idea, but… I know Narumi-san needs me, so why would I object?"
"You're that devoted to me?"
This time the smile isn't forced. "It's a habit."
Ayumu laughs, shaking his head. He reaches down and takes one of her hands in both of his, looking down at her with a serious, unrelenting gaze. The roof is silent around them, the late summer air hot and sticky. "Do you," he begins, "really want to stay with me? Even knowing that my recovery isn't guaranteed?"
"Yes."
"Even though I may still succumb to my condition in the future?"
"Yes, Narumi-san."
"Even though I'm a clone of someone you hate?"
She scrunches up her nose at him. At this he chuckles, squeezing her hand, and there's a short pause before he speaks again. "This won't be easy," he continues, "for either of us. And if you decide to give up, I won't blame you. But if anyone could do this… it would be you."
"There is nothing I want more in this world," she says, softly, with a nod. "I want to be with you."
"Well, then." He bends slightly, leaning forward on his crutches. The kiss is long and sweet, and when they part, Hiyono sighs, stepping close until she can rest her head against his shoulder. "I should apologize again," he murmurs, "for saying those things to you before I came to my senses… for acting the way I did. I could have lost you."
"It's alright."
"You shouldn't always forgive me so easily." He chuckles into her ear. "I'm not the hero of this story, after all. I'm not always right. You're the one who fought the hardest for all of this."
"No," she disagrees, "that isn't right. You've been fighting, too. Your physical therapy has been really hard, and your surgeries have been difficult, and - "
"But none of that would have happened without you." She feels him press a kiss to her temple, and her entire body warms over; she's still not used to these kinds of romantic gestures, especially because they are still so uncommon, thanks to Kiyotaka and Madoka now often being present when Hiyono visits. "Take some credit," he tells her, "for motivating me. For giving me the reason I needed to fight."
"Okay," she agrees, reluctantly. "But - "
"Stop."
"But - !"
"Stop or I'll stop you myself."
She draws back, looks up at him, and smiles. "And how exactly would you do that…?"
"Hm. I suppose I could throw you off the roof - "
"Narumi-san!"
"Oh, I see. You thought I was talking about kissing you." He shakes his head. "When have I ever been that predictable? You should know I have a history of throwing young girls from high places. Isn't that how we met in the first place?"
"You are unbelievable," she says, and grabs him by the collar. He grins all the way through the first kiss, and it's only after she punches him lightly on the arm and tells him to take her seriously for once that he does. They stand together on the roof with his wheelchair abandoned behind them for several minutes, alternately hugging and kissing and exchanging short verbal spars, and when they finally sneak inside again, it's with their hands clasped tight together on top of one of his crutches.
"Hey."
It's almost one in the morning and Hiyono hasn't quite figured out how she's going to sneak out of the hospital. All of Ayumu's ideas have been terrible, and an offhanded remark about her dressing up as a "sexy nurse" is still floating through her mind. Does he really think I'm…? she keeps wondering, blushing all the while. "Yes?" she murmurs, opening her eyes.
"You can stay the night. This bed is big enough for two."
"Narumi-san, you would get in so much trouble - "
"I locked the door after we came back from the roof. I'm not due for medication until ten or eleven. And I've skipped breakfast before, so the nurses won't think anything unusual is going on." She can't see his face in the dark, but she has a feeling he's grinning. "Unless, of course, they hear any strange noises."
"... don't say things like that."
"What? You're the one who made that weird sound - "
Hiyono rolls over and swats at him blindly in the dark; she thinks she hits his shoulder but she isn't quite sure. His bed really is big enough for two, and they've been sharing it for well over an hour now, passing the time with quiet conversations and the occasional tangling of limbs, and - well, she's learning a lot about what Ayumu thinks of her. "I told you I - that I couldn't help it!" she hisses. "I'm - a little ticklish!"
"Hm. Is that so?"
"You would make the same noise if I kissed you there!"
"I doubt it."
She grits her teeth. "Narumi-san - "
"Listen," he says, and she immediately closes her mouth, relaxing, and when his arm slides around her and pulls her close, she's happy to settle down with her head on his chest and one hand searching for his in the dark. "I'm serious about leaving the hospital," he tells her as their fingers twine together. "And about living with you."
"I know you are…"
"If you want me to be selfish, that's what I want." He exhales softly. "This kind of thing… it's not anything I've ever experienced. I still feel a little strange, indulging in it. But if you really want me like this…"
"I do." She smiles, tucking her head beneath his chin. "More than anything else."
"So you'll find somewhere for us to live?"
"I will." She giggles quietly. "But on one condition."
"Oh no."
"I want at least one meal cooked by Narumi-san every day."
"Hn. Assuming I remember how to cook. But that's fine."
"Good! Oh, and I - "
"You said one condition." His voice is dry. "Don't push your luck."
"I'm not!" She sticks her lower lip out in a pout, even though there's no chance he can see it in the dark. "All I was going to say was that I want us to find something close to the hospital, so that it will be easier for you to come back for therapy. I don't have a driver's license yet, so…"
"Ah." He shifts in bed, one of his arms tight around her back. "As far as that is concerned, whatever you want is fine."
A few minutes later Hiyono is nearly asleep, and she's just conscious enough to figure that she really can't help it; his bed is big enough for two, after all, and it's more comfortable than her futon by far. But then Ayumu snorts into her ear and she's wide awake, opening her eyes and blinking the sleep out of them. "What? Narumi-san? Did you - are you - "
"Nothing. Just thinking about something."
"... eh?"
"Wondering what it was like when my brother found out you were in love with me."
Hiyono draws in a breath, holds it, lets it go. "Well," she begins, slowly, softly, finding one of his hands in the dark again, "I didn't quite… tell him…so…"
"As if you had to."
"B - but I - "
"You went to Europe for two years to become a researcher because you thought it might my life. Since you've gotten back, you've barely left my side. And you changed your name back to the fake one you used when you were playing the role of my constant companion. Don't even tell me it's not obvious." He snorts into her ear again. "Somewhere between our final meeting and your first flight to Germany, I'm sure he figured it out. I may have taken a little longer, but aniki's a smart man, when he wants to be."
"... mou," she murmurs, defeated, and sighs. "Actually… there was one time, a few months after I left, that…" She hesitates. She shouldn't be telling him this. But it's almost one in the morning and she's tired and the circle of Ayumu's arms feels like home, so there's really no reason not to tell him. He'll find out anyway, eventually. "I had appendicitis, and… I had to be hospitalized for a few days. I don't remember, but in the recovery room after my surgery, the nurses said I was…" She sighs. "... screaming about hating a man named Narumi Kiyotaka for poisoning my relationship with his younger brother."
"Oho, so that's how it was…"
"Unfortunately… um… you see, your brother was visiting at the time, so…"
Ayumu laughs. The sound is a little mocking, but it's still warm and very much welcomed. "Of course you would do something like that," he says, with another snort, and then he bends to kiss her. Hiyono decides to forget all about being indignant or objecting to this, to anything he wants to do or say right now, because it is just so good to hear him laugh, to be beside him, to be wanted and needed and the one he has chosen to stay with.
She forgets all about what Kiyotaka might think, about the nurses possibly discovering them in the morning, because nothing really matters except the two of them, the sleepy summer evening, and the comfortable bed they share in his hospital room.
But in the morning, she thinks, after she's slept, she will smack him for making fun of her.
