heroes and thieves
chapter twelve - more than this (part II)
"Absolutely not."
Madoka's reaction to being told about Ayumu's plan to leave the hospital is not unexpected. But it's Kiyotaka's reaction that takes them by surprise.
"Oh? I don't think that's such a bad idea."
Madoka glares at her husband so fiercely that Hiyono gets uncomfortable and wants to leave the room. "How in the world can you agree with him?"
"Hmm, well, he did say that he would come back to the hospital each week for physical therapy. And at this stage, Yui - ah, Hiyono is more than capable of providing him assistance with his daily therapies." Kiyotaka smiles, folding his arms across his chest. "I imagine it would do Ayumu some good to be out of the hospital after all this time, as well."
"You are really going to approve of this?!"
"I think you're overreacting, neesan." Ayumu leans on his crutches; ever since regaining his mobility, he's all but refused to sit or lie down except to eat and sleep. He's putting his full weight on his left leg today - something not exactly approved by his physical therapist, but she knows better than to argue with him at this point. Hiyono, of course, can sympathize. "Since I'm recovering, there's no reason I have to remain here. And even if things change, I'd rather be at home - "
"I understand that," Madoka interrupts, exasperated, "but why are you two moving in together so quickly?"
Kiyotaka is still smiling. "He's almost twenty years old, after all. Perhaps he would like some independence."
"I don't think that's what he's after, moving in with a girl so quickly."
Hiyono feels herself blush, and she chooses to stare at the sheets of Ayumu's bed, where she sits, instead of anywhere else. Although, she thinks, that is probably the last thing she should be staring at. Or thinking about.
Ayumu sighs from a few feet away, but he doesn't sound irritated. "Would you really rather see me live alone?"
"No, but - "
"And are you willing to give me my old room back?"
"W - well, I could clean it out - "
"And you're comfortable with your troublesome brother-in-law spending all of his time at home with you, interrupting your private time with your husband?"
Madoka is quiet. Too quiet. Hiyono politely covers her ears just as the screaming starts, although it doesn't block out much of the noise. "DON'T USE THAT AGAINST ME, YOU MORON! I'M TRYING TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU!"
Kiyotaka laughs uproariously. "I think you've won, Ayumu."
"I'm only trying to be polite."
"Yes, yes, I can see that. She's worried about you, after all." Hiyono finally lifts her head again, just in time to see Kiyotaka throw his arms around a very annoyed Madoka and practically crush her in a hug. "My wonderful wife is so sweet and thoughtful! Offering our home to my little brother in his time of need!"
Madoka groans and kicks him in the shin. "Stop it."
"Well then!" He releases her quickly, still smiling, completely unphased by the physical assault. "I suppose the two of you have already secured an apartment?"
"Yes," Hiyono answers, lowering her hands. "And I am having a few things delivered by the end of next week. So when Narumi-san is released from the hospital… whether it's next month as he hopes, or even a little while after that... he'll be able to go right there and settle in. Ah, and it's only three blocks away. So it will be very easy to come back for physical therapy, even without a car."
"And you'll be able to pay for all this?" Madoka lifts an eyebrow. "I didn't think the transcriptionist position had a very high salary…"
"We'll make do," the younger woman says, smiling sheepishly. "I'm… well, I'm used to living below my means. The important thing is that Narumi-san has someone to care for him - "
"When I need it," Ayumu interrupts.
"... when he needs it," Hiyono echoes, glancing at him. "Since it's very important that he feel independent, after all."
"That may be important," Kiyotaka says, and the blonde catches a hint of a smile on his handsome face as he turns away to rearrange the morning glories in the vase on Ayumu's nightstand, "but I'll feel better knowing that my brother is in good hands, instead of all alone, lonely and sad and missing his big brother and devoted oneesan!"
Hiyono doesn't say anything in response to that; when she glances at Ayumu, she sees him make a face, and for a moment all she can think is that Kiyotaka and Ayumu really act nothing alike… and for that she is very glad.
Kiyotaka and Madoka leave nearly half an hour later. By then, it's almost eight in the evening on a Friday, and Hiyono is dreading the arrival of nine, when visiting hours end. She's stayed past a few times and hasn't been caught, but she isn't willing to push her luck and somehow find herself banned from the hospital.
When the door slides closed, Hiyono is still seated on the edge of Ayumu's hospital bed, and he is still up on his crutches, having spent the entirety of their visit insisting that he did not need to sit or lie down. "Finally," he mutters, turning himself around to face her, "I thought they'd never leave."
Hiyono smiles, watching him come closer. "But they didn't tell you no, right?"
"You're right," he says, and grins as his crutches clatter to the floor. "That went as well as I expected it to, if not a little better. And..."
She watches his crutches fall, and she knows full well he shouldn't be walking without them, but she still can't help but smile - probably because she also knows what's coming next. "And?"
"And," he says ago, climbing onto the bed, "I cannot wait to be out of this hospital room."
"Naru - " she starts, but that's as far as she gets before he pushes her down onto the mattress and kisses her. She laughs and kicks her legs, but after a few seconds she forgets all about protesting, because her time and attention is better spent focused on him, after all.
After a few minutes he pulls away with a loud sigh, sprawling out half beside her and half on top of her, his head tucked into the space between her chin and shoulderblade and one of his hands falling to rest on her stomach. Her shirt is rumpled and his hair is a mess but she doesn't care, really, because she's in love with him - because she's going to get to live with him, just as soon as he leaves the hospital, it's really going to happen -
"Are you sure?" he asks, suddenly, quietly.
"About what?"
"Me," he murmurs, and his breath is warm on her collarbone; she shivers as she feels his fingertips drift across her stomach, wondering if he's purposefully touching her or simply absentmindedly moving his hand, just wanting to be closer to her. Either could be right at this point. "If something happens… you could lose me again."
"I won't."
"It isn't as easy as you - "
"I won't," she repeats, softly, silencing him, "lose you, Narumi-san. I believe that. I believe that… that no matter what happens, that no matter how bad things get… you'll keep fighting, because I'll keep cheering you on. That's what I'm really good at, and… that's what I want to do." She swallows, leaning close to him, pressing her cheek to the top of his head, moving one hand until her fingers can tousle his messy hair. "And no matter what, I'll always love Narumi-san. Even if your health stays the way it is now, or gets worse… I'll always feel the way I do right now, and I'll never want anything more than this."
Ayumu's fingers still against her skin for a moment; then, with a soft chuckle, he sweeps them down low to rest against the curve of one hip. "If I had known you would one day say something like that… I might have been a little nicer to you, the day we first met."
"If you had known, Narumi-san," she says, closing her eyes, "none of this would have happened."
"Hm. I suppose that's true." There's silence in his room for a minute, broken only by the sound of their breathing; Ayumu eventually shifts slightly in the bed, pressing his palm flat to her skin. "I haven't said it, have I?"
"What?"
He doesn't reply. It takes her a few seconds, but Hiyono does realize what he means, with a little leap of her heart in her chest to accompany it. She's said it, of course, and more than once, and it's not as if she's hurting to hear his response; she knows that he loves her, and that is enough, but oh, to hear the words, to see his face when he tells her…
"I never thought it would come to this," he says, quietly.
"To what?" she asks.
"To this." He gestures vaguely with his hand before placing it against her skin again. "Neesan liked to joke that you were exactly my type, but I was never interested in you. When you stood with me for the Blade Children's challenges, and even when you barged into the school with a bag of weapons and gave yourself up to Kanone Hilbert as bait, I barely thanked you. And my first response to you giving up two years of your life to become a researcher in Europe, devoting yourself entirely to finding some kind of treatment for my condition, was to give up and decide to die. I fought so hard to keep myself from feeling anything but respect for you, but eventually I had to ask myself why I bothered fighting."
She smiles, closing her eyes, and shifts on the bed, breathing in the scent of his hair. "You're stubborn, Narumi-san."
"Hn." She feels him exhale, his breath warm on her throat. "Was it your goal all along, to make me feel this way about you?"
"It would have been easier if you didn't…"
"But?"
"But I'm happy that things have changed this much," she admits. "Because… more than anything, I want to be by Narumi-san's side. No matter what that means… no matter what role I have to play. It's what makes me feel the most like… me."
"Like you?"
"Like Yuizaki Hiyono - the real Yuizaki Hiyono." She smiles again. "Does that make any sense?"
"A little. I'm used to you not making much sense."
"Don't - "
"The point is," he interrupts, "no matter how hard I looked, or thought, or daydreamed, even after you came back - even after you first told me you wanted to be here, and even after you agreed to stay, at first - I couldn't see a future with you. I thought you would run away again on some kind of mission, or that my left arm would stop moving and my physical therapy wouldn't do any good. I told you once that my chances of living past age twenty were five percent, and that was an optimistic evaluation. Now I'm told it's more like eighty-eight percent, and I should be more worried about being hit by a car or getting pneumonia again."
Hiyono opens her eyes, surprised. "That's… Narumi-san, that's…"
"It's a big change. But it's not just because of my health. It's because of my outlook. I started making an effort, instead of simply waiting for the inevitable to happen, or agreeing to undergo surgery just to please aniki." He looks up at her, something in his dark eyes sincere. "I've never had much of a purpose in my life. Since I spent so long living in my brother's shadow, I've never felt like much of a real person. Part of that is why I understand how you feel. But now, somehow, coming through this… I do feel real. Coming through all this, I'm able to see some kind of future. I'm able to think about the things that I want, and the kind of experiences I want to have. Even if that's selfish…" He pauses, then chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. "I might say I deserve to be selfish, for once."
"You do…"
"But at the same time, I have everything I could ask for. I have my life, and my health, and you. All you've done is think about me, for three years straight. About how you can support me, and how you can make me healthy again." He frowns slightly. "And even without worrying about how I felt, or thinking about whether or not I would say the same thing… you decided that you loved me." He exhales loudly. "Stupid girl. I've caused you nothing but trouble, and yet here you are, devoting your life to me without expecting anything in return."
"That's what makes me happy, Narumi-san."
"Well," he says, and sits up, leaning on his right arm, looking down into her eyes, "it shouldn't. Not anymore. One-sided affection directed towards grumpy, ungrateful people - like the person I was - shouldn't make anyone happy. You deserve more than that. Much more than that. After everything you've done, you probably deserve more than I can ever give you, but I know you'd refuse my attempts to repay you, anyway."
She opens her mouth to respond, realizes what he is probably going to say next, and closes it.
"Do I really make you happy?" he asks, staring down into her face, his expression serious. "Honestly?"
"Honestly," she says, softly, "Narumi-san makes me happier than anything else."
"Good." He bends to kiss her forehead, gently, his messy hair mingling with hers. "Because I feel the same way about you."
There's a pause. She waits, patient, knowing she doesn't need to force it. He'll say it when he's ready.
"Hiyono."
"Yes, Narumi-san?"
The hospital room is quiet. The air around them is cool. And the blonde woman thinks she would wait forever, if that's what it would take, but she knows that they've both done enough waiting, and that it won't be long now. She knows that he is ready and so is she, that their future begins tonight, together, here in this room, with no one and nothing to stop them. She may have once been a spy and he may have once been a victim of thieves, but now they are the hero and the heroine and their story is about to begin anew.
Ayumu draws in a breath, holds it, releases it. "I love you."
"I love you, too," she says, and that's as much as she gets out before she bursts into tears, and he laughs, shaking his head at her. They waste away the rest of visiting hours together on his bed, alone and thinking of what their new life will be like together outside of these hospital walls.
