"Kaoru Hitachiin?" The receptionist typed away after Kyoya demanded to know the whereabouts of the boy. "He's just gone in for surgery."
"What surgery?!" Hikaru nearly shouted, feeling panic rise in his throat. He'd just gotten Kaoru back, and now he had to sit in a waiting room, stressing out while his brother was being operated on?
"I'm not permitted to give that information out to anyone other than family." The receptionist countered. Clearly, she didn't have a photo of Kaoru on her computer.
"This is Kaoru's twin brother." Kyoya grumbled. "And my family owns this hospital, meaning I can access any records I please, so I suggest you save me some time and tell us what is happening."
"Fine." The woman turned back to her computer. "He's having a dislocated rib put back in place, he shouldn't be long."
"Thank you." Kyoya said, coldly, and dragged Hikaru away from the desk.
"Can we see him?" Mikami asked as the pair returned to where he was sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair.
"He's in surgery." Kyoya explained as he and Hikaru sat down. Hikaru's leg immediately started bouncing up and down, as he tapped his fingers on the table next to him. "He's getting a dislocated rib replaced."
"Hikaru…" Mikami trailed off and Kyoya looked over to see his friend silently letting tears flow down his cheeks.
"What can I do?" Kyoya asked, resting a hand on Hikaru's tightly clenched fist.
Hikaru just shook his head, shot out of his seat and ran down the hall.
"Should we go after him?" Mikami asked, looking panic-stricken.
"No." Kyoya shook his head. "They've never been good at letting others in, even to help them. He needs Kaoru right now, and because he can't have the one thing he needs, he needs to be alone."
Mikami nodded, kind of able to imagine the pain Hikaru and Kaoru had been through. He'd grown up and only child, with just a mother to spend time with. When she'd gotten sick, it was devastating. She was the only family he had.
"How did you end up working there?" Kyoya asked, breaking Mikami's train of thought. "You shoplifted for profit, and were jailed for a couple of months because of it, how did you get the job?"
"When I was in jail, I met this guy." Mikami breathed, recalling how his horrible downward spiral had begun. "He knew Shuko, and told me I should apply for a job at his prison. I called him when I got out, got the job then and there, went in to serve food my first day and figured out what the place was. It was much smaller then, but still just as horrible. I tried to leave, but he threatened to kill me, and my mother. So I stayed. The pay was good, enough to cover my mother's treatments, but I was always trying to come up with ways to get out of it."
"Well then you won't be prosecuted." Kyoya decided.
"How can you know?"
"You were acting out of self-preservation. At first you didn't know what it was, then you stayed because your life and the life of a family member was on the line. You've technically done nothing wrong."
"Well that's a relief."
The two sat in silence for a while before Hikaru came back. He was infinitely calmer than he'd been before, which was evident in his ability to sit still.
"Where did you go?" Kyoya asked, mildly concerned at his friend's seemingly magical transformation.
"Just for a walk." Hikaru replied, lazily.
Kyoya dropped it for a few minutes, but kept his eye on Hikaru, which was a good thing considering he happened to notice a deep red stain forming below the knee of Hikaru's jeans.
"Hikaru, your leg." Kyoya said, an edge of concern in his voice. If Hikaru had done what Kyoya was thinking…
"What?" Hikaru looked down at his jeans and his eyes widened. "Shit…" He breathed, seeing the large splotch of blood growing steadily.
Kyoya reached down and tugged Hikaru's pant leg up before he could protest, revealing an array of cuts and scratches running in different directions all over Hikaru's leg.
"Let go!" Hikaru tried to shove Kyoya off of him, but the older boy was stronger, and dragged Hikaru up to the desk, relaying to the receptionist what had happened. Hikaru was immediately whisked away to get checked out, despite his theatrical struggle against the orderlies.
"What was that about?" Mikami's eyes were wide as Kyoya sat down. He was noticeably paler than he'd previously been, and his stoic façade had melted into an expression of concern.
"I was worried that Hikaru had been hurting himself." Kyoya mumbled. "My suspicions were just proven."
"Why would he do that?" Mikami shook his head in confusion. "Wasn't he in enough pain?"
"Quite the opposite, actually. Early on, Hikaru and Kaoru shut down. You said Kaoru didn't let it get to him, he did. He figured out how to turn his emotions off, which, in turn, made Hikaru turn his emotions off. Hikaru was almost convinced Kaoru had been killed at one point."
"Wait… what?"
"I don't fully understand myself, but they have something special. A connection."
"Was that why Hikaru collapsed in the interrogation room earlier?"
"Precisely. That would have been the moment when Kaoru's ribs were broken."
"That's kind of cool, but also really… awful." Mikami shook his head, wondering if a bond so strong would be worth feeling two people's worth of pain.
"It's interesting in its own way."