Okay, I'm actually updating on time. I hope you enjoyed the cliff hanger from last time, and there may even be one this time too, so watch out for it. This chapter is gonna be super long (at least for me) so look forward to it!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN JUNJOU ROMANTICA!
Chapter Six?
Akihiko's POV
I had been sitting in the private waiting room for about fifteen minutes when Takahiro and Minami burst in, rushing over to me.
"Have you heard anything? Is he alright?!" Takahiro asked, close to hyperventilating. I stood up and put a calming hand on his shoulder, and said to him in a soothing tone, despite my raging thoughts, "Calm down, Takahiro. Breathe." I paused to let him calm down and catch his breath.
"So far, all I've heard is that he's in surgery. Other than that, there's no news on him." I guided Takahiro to the chair next to mine and made him sit down. We had to wait four more hours for Misaki to get out of surgery, and every second felt like an eternity. The surgery light finally turned off, and the doctor walked out in his scrubs. Takahiro and I practically ran over to the doctor when we saw him.
"Hello, I'm Doctor John Smith. Takahashi-kun . . . well, his condition is stable for now, but the next twenty-four hours are critical. He had major internal bleeding, multiple wounds on his body, a major concussion, and three broken ribs. He's gone into a coma, most likely because of his head trauma, and we aren't sure when, or if, he'll wake up." Dr. Smith stopped a moment to let us take in what he told us.
"I'll have a nurse take you to Takahashi-kun's room. If you'll excuse me, I need to return to my TARDIS*." With that, Dr. Smith rushed down the hall, pulling out a strange flashlight-like thing out of his pocket muttering something like, "I need a new sonic-screwdriver** now . . ." We were all left stunned, to be taken to Misaki's room.
Takahiro, Minami, and I followed a blonde nurse, named Rose Tyler, to Misaki's hospital room, and left us to go in. As I was about to enter, another nurse stopped me saying, "Only family may enter, sir."
"I'm his lover, dammit. Now let. Me. In." I growled, and the nurse's eyes widened, before she nodded and allowed me to enter. What I saw inside the room made me stop in my tracks, frozen in shock. It wasn't the fact that Takahiro was sobbing, or Minami was failing in comforting him, but Misaki's appearance.
He was hooked up to about a dozen different machines, and bandages covered the majority of his body, though his face was mostly spared other than a bandage around his head due to his concussion. I walked to the opposite side of the bed that Takahiro was sitting on after a couple of minutes and sat down in the chair next to it, taking Misaki's hand into mine.
Takahiro stopped crying after about half an hour, and took Misaki's other hand. I laid my arms on the side of the bed, Misaki's hand still in mine, and fell into a deep, fitful sleep.
Misaki's POV
I was surrounded by cold darkness. I couldn't tell which way was up or down or left or right, I couldn't even move. The darkness began suffocating me, and soon it felt like it had been an eternity. The cold begun to sink into my skin and creep deep into me, leaving no warmth left in me, not even a trace of it.
All of a sudden, the darkness disappeared, leaving in its place a huge white room, one-hundred yards in either direction. At first, I thought I was alone, but then I heard quiet sobs behind me, and a soothing, comforting voice I could recognize a mile away. I turned around and saw an eight year old version of me crying, while my brother was trying to comfort me.
I remembered that night, the night I found out that my parents were dead, that I would never see them again. Then, the scene disappeared, being replaced with the moment when my brother declared he would take care of me as my guardian, while all I did was cling to him crying.
'I really was a troublesome kid. I still am too' I thought sadly. Then the scene in front of me changed again, showing when I told Akihiko that I hated him, before the first we did 'it', before he first proclaimed his love for me. It was then that I realized that I was probably bothersome to Akihiko now too, when a new scene showed up.
And then when Akihiko's father, Fuyuhiko, talked to me and told me I was a troublesome existence for him. Then when I first arrived at Takahiro's house and Akihiko declared his love for Ritsu. On and on went all of my worst memories, the worst moments in my life, flashing before me. All the times I was raped in jail, or told I was worthless, or cut, whether by others or myself. Everything. It was then that I felt the cold, indifferent personality I had acquired during my time in jail slip back into place like a mask, a wall covering what I really think.
A wall I never let anyone break down. I felt the darkness begin to take the white room over, and the cold making its way back deep into my bones. Suddenly, a strange warmth started filling me, fighting away the cold that resided in the darkness. Now I was completely surrounded in black, like blankets trying to suffocate me, and the warmth only making it worse.
The warmth was most intense in my hand, but there was also a kind of coldness to it, kind of like Akihiko's hands. I smiled, smiled for the first time in a long time, but this smile was bitter and sad, caused by the pain I felt deep in my heart, in my soul. I finally found the strength to open my eyes.
Akihiko's POV
It had been a week since Misaki had gotten hit by the car, and he still hadn't woken up. I came here often, and had been contemplating calling Aikawa and telling her about it, when I noticed Misaki was moving. I stood up and tried to pull my hand out of his so I could tell the Doctor, but he only tightened his hold on it. Misaki opened his eyes, but closed them again because of the bright light.
Once his eyes adjusted to the light, his eyes focused on me, but what I saw in them I hadn't been expecting. They were cold, like when I saw after he had first been released from jail. He started to sit up, and I tried to stop him, but he was still as stubborn as ever and sat up anyways.
"My head hurts," he groaned, wincing from his sore body.
"Well, you did get hit by a car and sent into a coma, so . . ." I sighed and said, "I'll go get the doctor." I really didn't want to leave Misaki's side, but I knew the doctor had to know he'd waken up. I let go of his hand and notified Dr. Smith. He told me to wait in the hallway while he examined Misaki, so I called Takahiro and informed him, then decided to call Aikawa and inform her about Misaki.
Once she picked up I said, "It's me, Akihiko-" Before I could say anything else, she began yelling and screaming profanities into the phone, asking me if I knew what I'd done to Misaki, which really confused me.
I interrupted her attention catching rant by saying, "What do you mean by that? What about Misaki?"
"Don't you know how much he changed after you left?! He waited at your apartment for two years, and became distant. He stopped smiling and being happy after you left," Aikawa said. That shocked me, but I knew I still had to tell her what happened to him.
"Listen to me. I called about Misaki. He-he's been in a car accident and is currently in the hospital," I said, trying to make my voice steady.
"What hospital?!" Aikawa frantically yelled into the phone.
"St. John's Regional Hospital," I told her, and she hung up before I could say anything more. I put my hand in my pocket, putting my phone away and took out the note Misaki left me.
Akihiko,
I wonder whether you'll ever read this letter, but if you are reading this right now, I'm sorry. But I'm sure you'll be fine. You have your Ritsu after all. Anyways, if you're wondering why I left, it's because I don't belong there. That warm, happy family setting isn't for me, because all I end up doing is ruining it. And sometimes I doubt whether I'm even wanted there. All I want is for you, Ritsu, Takahiro, and Minami to be happy, without burdens like me there to destroy that happiness. Now I'm rambling, but anyway, please don't come looking for me. That man will come and find me anyway, and I don't want you involved. I love you too much to involve you, and I'm sorry for leaving you like this. Goodbye, and be happy.
Misaki
A single tear traced its way down my cheek, and I wiped it away quickly, and went back to Misaki's hospital room now that the doctor was done examining him. 'What is he, an idiot?! How could he think that we don't care!? I'll make sure he gets through his stubborn head that we do care, no matter what!' I thought with determination.
Misaki's POV
Akihiko walked back into my hospital room and sat down in the chair next to my bed. My head, not to mention my whole body, was throbbing, and every little sound the white haired man made caused a sharp pain to lance through my right temple all the way to the middle of my forehead, where the worst of the damage was. He didn't seem to notice my pain though, and started talking, but before he could get five words into his sentence, I put a hand up and said coldly, "Could you please not say anything? Or better yet, don't make any sounds. I have a really bad migraine and you being noisy doesn't help the case."
I saw irritation in his eyes, but he stayed as quiet as he possibly could. I heard my door open again, and brought a hand up to my head as if to make the pain go away. I looked to side to see Takahiro rushing over to me and hug me tightly before I could say anything. All I could manage to say through his worried yet relieved babbling and bone crushing hug was, "Ow . . ."
Takahiro finally seemed to notice my pained groan and let go, apologizing. I didn't pay attention to that though, because at that moment my hospital door opened again to show a very distressed looking Aikawa.
"Oh my god!" she almost screeched, but it seemed she was attempting to respect the rules of the hospital.
"What happened to you?!" she asked in the same screechy voice. I grabbed my head again, managing to groan out, "Would you please stop being so loud? You really aren't helping my migraine."
Aikawa immediately shut up, shocked by coldness toward her. I noticed that once she got over her initial shock, she shot Akihiko a glare before getting a strange sad look in her eyes, like she'd just lost someone important to her.
Then it hit me. 'Aikawa feels as though she's lost me. I can't blame her; I've probably changed a lot in her eyes.' I thought, feeling the loss of my old self hit me. Akihiko gave me a confused look, as if he could sense the lonely sadness I'd felt for the last seven years.
I glared at him, and he glared right back at me, but I could see that he was still confused. "What happened to you?" I heard Aikawa ask in a much quieter voice. For a second I thought she meant the change from my warm and innocent (naïve in my opinion) personality to my now cold and uncaring one, but then I realized she meant the accident.
"A car hit me," I said simply.
"Yes, I realize that, but why did a car hit you?" I didn't answer, thinking of an appropriate excuse to get me out of the situation. I sensed Akihiko and Takahiro looking at me, giving me a strange look I couldn't decipher.
"What?" I snapped irritably at them.
"Are you okay?" Takahiro asked. "You're acting . . . strange."
"No I'm not. I'm acting like I usually do." My brother gave me that strange look again, but said nothing. Then I realized. Those looks they were giving me . . . was pity. 'It seems they've forgotten what I told them before I left, about how much I hate pity.'
That was when I remembered what my brother had said about Haitani that day, how that man told him things about me. "Takahiro," I said, catching everyone's attention, "What exactly did Haitani tell you when he called? I need to know. It's important," I added the last part, seeing his hesitation.
"Please," I said forcefully, with an almost pleading tone. Takahiro nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but then my door opened, and in walked . . . Haitani. I instantly covered my fear and shock with my signature cold mask. When he saw me, he smiled and said, "You've finally woken up. That's great."
Only someone who's been around that man long enough would be able to see the harsh cruelness in his 'kind' words and smile. My hands started to tremble beneath my hospital blankets, so I clenched them into fists to stop the shaking.
"This man is named Shin. He's been visiting you for the past week," Takahiro said. "Are you okay? You look a bit pale." His brow was furrowed in concern.
Sometimes I wish my brother wasn't so thick. "Yeah, just tired," I said, still holding my cold mask.
"I'll watch over him if you three want to go eat. I'm sure you're getting hungry about now," Haitani said 'kindly'. Aikawa, Takahiro, and a reluctant Akihiko agreed and left, heading to the cafeteria.
Haitani waited until their footsteps faded to start my psychological torture. He sat on my bedside and reached a hand out to stroke the side of my face with the back of it, but I slapped it away. Haitani chuckled at my actions, and my wrist. He started squeezing it, causing me to almost gasp in pain as he squeezed with a certain amount of force on one of my bandages.
I forced myself not to make a sound though, slipping back into my habit of silence that I attained in jail.
"I'll leave you alone for now, but don't get too comfortable, because I'll be back for you when the time is right," he whispered in my ear, sending shivers of fear down my spine, and released my wrist. He stayed sitting on the bed, and we stayed like that, silent, Haitani smiling the entire time, until Takahiro, Aikawa, and Akihiko came back.
For the rest of my stay at the hospital, I didn't talk unless necessary. The most exciting thing that happened while I was there was getting an x-ray of my ribs, and I ended up falling asleep during that. When I was finally released after two more weeks, I didn't relax or feel any kind of relief.
If anything, my nervousness, coldness, and short temper only got worse. I could tell my brother and Akihiko were on high alert, possibly so I wouldn't try to leave again, but that only made me want to run away all the more. As we were driving home from the hospital, I asked Akihiko, "Where's Ritsu? I haven't seen him around lately." As much as I didn't like him and his innocent and naïve attitude, I was still afraid of what might happen to him if he hung around me, and if I'm the reason he wasn't here in the first place.
"We broke the engagement. He said he had someone else special to him that needs him." My expression darkened, and I laughed bitterly, giving the two in the front seat a glance of my true feelings.
"I know how that feels. Painful isn't it? I-" I stopped myself, realizing that I had let my mask slip, even if it was a small slip. I looked into Akihiko's eyes and saw guilt and pity in them. Irritation and anger crossed my face, and neither Akihiko nor my brother understood those feelings.
'What do you mean you know how that feels?" Takahiro asked eyes back on the road. I looked out the window, ignoring the question.
"Does that mean you've been in a relationship before? Do I know them-" my irritating brother asked excitedly, but was silenced when he saw the immense, raw pain in my eyes.
"Yeah, you do know them," I muttered dejectedly, becoming depressed. Puzzlement showed in Takahiro's face, and guilt in Akihiko's. With every bump the car made, pain flared through my body, intensifying the pain I felt in my heart.
'Damn and I thought I'd gotten over him' I thought in dark amusement.
Yay! Finally done! That was almost three thousand words! My longest chapter ever! Anyways, down to business. I will take requests by PM for other stories or this story, or you can put it in the reviews if you like. It doesn't really matter to me. 9+ reviews please!
*TARDIS: It's from a show called Doctor Who (which I do not own) and I love anyone who got the reference.
**Sonic-screwdriver: same as the other one. It's from Doctor Who, and I love anyone and everyone who got the reference, along with the John Smith thing.
Dragneellover out!
