Warning: Contains some foul language and injuries details. OOC.
Disclaimer: Beelzebub- Tamura-sensei.
A/N: Guys, sorry for the long update... really sorry... Also, Oga might be too OOC in here. haha.
And, thank you very much for Surely Blue by being an amazing beta-reader. And if you found some mistakes, it's entirely my fault since I'm the one who write this.
on to the story!
Chapter 4: Disgrace
"That Furuichi, he doesn't even bother showing up to school? That brat has nerves," Kanzaki grumbled,
"Did he catch a cold? I thought idiots couldn't catch colds?" Himekawa said, sitting lazily on Furuichi's chair,
"Guys, doesn't it strike you as weird? He's not the type to stand up girls, or friends," Nene chirped in. "Did he get into trouble or something?" Nene would never admit it, but she did care about that particular silver-haired guy.
"That's a possibility, too," Kunieda looked worried, "He's not walking home with Oga, right? What if—" Kunieda was cut off as frantic-looking Oga and dread-looking baby Beel suddenly slammed the door open.
"Oi, Oga, what the hell?" Kanzaki yelled out. Oga quickly walked towards them and slammed the desk.
"Where is he? Have you seen Furuichi?" Oga asked in his usual voice, trying to keep his cool, but the look on his face showed worry.
"Uh… he didn't come to yesterday's gathering and he's not at school. What happened?" Kunieda answered.
"When I came home this morning, his sister called me and said he hasn't come back home since yesterday morning. Meaning, he never arrived at his home after school." Oga explained in frantic way, "Do you have any idea where he is?"
Himekawa, Kanzaki, Kunieda, and Nene's faces hardened. Don't tell me, he really got into trouble?
"What about his phone? Have you called it?" Kanzaki added, while Himekawa quickly got to his phone and called someone.
"Yeah, I've been calling it, but no one's picked up," Oga really looked worried. His usually stoic face was gone and his voice wavered, "Dammit Furuichi, where the hell are you?!" as he cursed, his phone rang and he quickly picked it up.
"Hello?" he asks impatiently. Listening to the other voice, the rest of them held their breath, while Himekawa pulled his connections and tracked Furuichi's phone.
A sudden chill went through the classroom as Oga's face fell. He shuts his phone hard, running outside the classroom as abrupt as his coming.
"What was that…?" Nene speaks up first,
"Guys, I have his location!" Himekawa said, but as soon as he reads it his face darkened,
"Where?" Kanzaki asked impatiently,
"His phone is in a hospital."
-0-
"Oga-nii-san! Mom just got out of the phone and she said Taka-chan is in a hospital! You'd better hurry up or I will never forgive you for leaving Taka-chan alone!" the sound of hitched breathing came out from Furuichi's little sister. Honoka's voice was etched with worry and Oga, who heard it, felt a hollow hole in his chest.
What? He's in a hospital? What the fuck happened? Oga seemed to have lost his vocal cords and baby Beel, at his side, looked at him worriedly.
"Get here fast!" Honoka yelled out before cutting off the connection. Oga woke from his trance and quickly left the classroom, with no thoughts whatsoever about the friends he left behind. We're talking about Furuichi here, the non-fighting, not-delinquent guy who had decided to be by Oga's side since elementary school. The strongest guy Oga had ever faced. The quirkiest guy with his straight-man identity. The only one who could understand Oga's thoughts and held a telepathic connection with him. The only guy who'd do anything to help Oga when he was in trouble or going into trouble. The guy who kept his promises to Oga. The one Oga had found to share his troubles with. Dammit Furuichi! How the hell did this happen?!
As he left the school building, he passed Tojou,
"Yo, Oga—" his greeting was ignored. Oga ran past him. What was that about? He looks different. Tojou thought, and decided to leave it until he met with Kunieda and the others in the school hallway,
"Yo, what's—" now, his greeting was cut off,
"Not now, Tojou," Kunieda said, "Have you seen Oga?"
"What's with all of you?! I'm just being friendly and—" and he got cut off again.
"Oi, Furuichi's in a hospital. Have you seen Oga?" Kanzaki demanded.
"He's out there, running off to somewhere," Tojou answered, "Wait, what? What happened?"
"We don't know. We just hear about it," Himekawa said,
"C'mon, we need to go. Feel free to tag along, Tojou." Nene quickly walked toward the door with Kunieda, followed by Himekawa and Kanzaki and lastly, Tojou.
-0-
Oga walked in the cold hallway of the hospital steadily (he'd run, but you're not allowed to run in a hospital), hoping all of this was just a dream. As if, when he arrived at the room Furuichi was assigned, he was just going to get yelled at for coming in so late or for having a trip alone with Hilda. But as he faced the door in front of him, his hand shook slightly on the doorknob. He wondered if he could just stop in that moment and head back home, yelling at Hilda for making him leave his best friend in a place he couldn't protect him. But he dismissed those thoughts. It's Furuichi, he's probably just got heat stroke, ha-ha… and as dry as his laugh was in his inner monologue, he knew damn well that would be a miracle if it was true.
He twisted the doorknob, opened it quietly, and went inside where Furuichi's parents and his sister looked at him.
"Oga-kun…" the tear-stained face of Furuichi's mother greeted Oga with such relief. Why? I might be the cause he's in this condi—
He looked at the figure lying on the white, clean bed.
He froze.
Furuichi…?
He walked closer to the foreign person lying on the bed. He didn't recognize this person. He tuned out all noises. Nothing but a white sound buzzed in his ears.
"Tatsumi?" Furuichi's father called him, but he just didn't hear it.
Who the hell are you?
Oga stopped right beside the bed. In horror, He looked at the lying figure on the bed.
"Furu…ichi…?" Oga's mouth felt too dry. A big lump seemed forming out of nowhere in his throat. He couldn't blink. Who is this person? Is this really Furuichi?
"Furuichi…?" He called again in his hoarse voice. He didn't notice that he was now alone with Furuichi. Furuichi's family had left after noticing how private the situation was.
Oga held Furuichi's left hand, the one that was not purposely hung in a white cast.
You're simply sleeping, right? You're just tired, right?
His fingertips lightly traced the palm of Furuichi's hand. His fingers shook at the softness of the unblemished hand. It was very different from the rest his body.
Then, he traced the angry red burns, the mark of rope that had bound his best friend's slim wrist. The angry red stood out so bright, so painfully bright, against the white pale skin.
Beel quietly observed the interaction between the two humans. He didn't make any noises, he didn't move, not that Oga would have noticed any of it.
"Furuichi, wake up…" he softly said. It was a tone that he'd never used before, ever.
But the still body on the bed just kept sleeping. The beeps from the heart monitor confirmed that he was alive, heart beating and all. But Oga just couldn't believe the one in front of him was alive.
I've told you to be careful, dammit! I've told you that they're after you, too!
"Fu…ru..ichi…" his voice broke. Teardrops fell on the back of his own hand, the one that was holding his best friend's hand.
I shouldn't have left him…
"Furuichi…" he kept repeating like a broken radio. It was appropriate. He felt broken.
"Furuichi… wake up," he hissed at the sound of how broken his voice was. And, why the hell can't I see clearly?! He wiped his face with his free hand, finding the wetness odd, but he couldn't think of why it was odd.
"Damn it, Furuichi, wake up!" his broken voice was muffled as he tried to stifle his sobs.
Furuichi slept there, his face was a mirage of colors - blue and black and purple and yellow. Bandages covered half his head, with cuts, scratches, and plasters decorating his too pale face. The "colorful" half of his face looked swollen, painfully so. His torso was completely wrapped in bandages. Few, minor scratches were on his arms and his right hand was wrapped around with a cast from shoulder to wrist. His lower body was covered with a blanket, but judging from the look of the wounds, some part of it must have been covered with bandages as well. Hand marks on his neck were evidently bright, purple with a hint of black.
"Furuichi!" he yelled-whispered it, his own voice was still muffled with by his sobs. "Wake up! Fuck!" Oga was frustrated. How the hell did this happen? What in the world happened to you, Furuichi? He traced his fingertips across the bruised neck.
Oga grabbed Furuichi's hand with his two hands, gripping it close, tight, afraid if he lost it, he'll lost it forever. For fuck's sake, how could this happen?!
Oga cried harder. He never figured that he'd cry in his high school days, since the last time he cried was when he was very young. But all logics abandoned. His life was revolved around Furuichi and fighting and Furuichi. Furuichi never doubted him. He always believed that Oga was a nice person, despite his constant complaints about everything that Oga did.
Without the white-haired boy, he'd just be a delinquent who sought blood and victory. But he was not like that, and the person responsible for making him the way he was might be dying because of him. Whatever happened, it was impossible for Furuichi to draw himself into fights. The only time Furuichi faced delinquents were when someone thought he was Oga or because he was always with Oga.
I'm responsible for making Furuichi like this.
Oga gritted his teeth.
Grabbing the medical chart from the rail of the bed, he let go of Furuichi's hand.
The list of injuries killed Oga.
Two broken ribs
Four bruised ribs
A severe concussion
Multiple swellings and bruising
Several whiplashes
A broken arm
Two head wounds each needed eighteen stitches
Burnt skin
Cracked shinbone
He could've died…
Oga threw the chart away, sending it crashing to the corner. He quickly came back to Furuichi's bedside. His hands instantly felt the rise of Furuichi's chest, felt the thumping of his heart and listened to its beating. Satisfied that he wasn't dreaming, that his friend was really alive, shakily, he grabbed his friend's shoulder. Slipping his hand to the back, he could feel the bulge of bandages that were covering each slashes.
Oga never saw red as blazing as it was now. Baby Beel, at his side, was also as mad as hell.
I'll make them pay. I'll make them pay. They'll pay thousands folds for this. They'll regret that they were ever born.
Oga swore and Beel cooed at his thought.
"Dah! Dah! Dah!" Beel was furiously taping on the air, his face eager to take some lives.
And Oga grasped Furuichi's hand one more time, giving it a nice grip. It was a promise, an assurance, that whoever did this to his best friend, would pay dearly with their lives.
"I'll be back, Furuichi. Just wait," he softly promised to the sleeping teenager.
The boy and the baby then left the room, with a look of determination on their faces.
-0-
review please~