Author's note: I think I wrote something like this once, on an old, old, old fic that I deleted out of sheer frustration with one person who kept reviewing (hateful, hateful reviews) but wouldn't lay off. And when I deleted the story, they still went at it till FF banned them. But yeah, anyways, back on track. I'm sorry for the lack of updates (not that that's terribly new from me, is it?), but between the holiday and some... other issues, my FF has been unfortunately on hold. It will continue to be so in approximately another month when I go to live with a friend while my mother recovers from surgery. Sorry, sorry! I was told to get out, so. Lol.
Taichi wasn't really happy with him, but Jyou didn't know what else to say. No, he didn't know if Hikari was 100%. Physically, you know, more or less. There were a few bruises around her ribs, but they were healed fine. Her head was better, and she had stopped complaining about headaches (not that Hikari complained; she mostly winced when they started talking above a whisper when they occurred). Her cuts and scrapes were healed. She had a stable body temperature. She was sleeping fairly regularly, although Jyou hesitated to tell Taichi that a few nurses had reported that Hikari had woken up with nightmares on more than one occasion while Taichi was out of the room. But they had happened with Taichi present too, and really... Who wouldn't be having nightmares? Hell, Jyou was having nightmares. He called his parents every night for the past month, making sure that they were really okay. Dreams could be deceptively real.
It had taken a bit of talking, but Jyou had finally gotten Taichi to take Hikari home. Hikari had actually done it, getting shakily out of bed (for the nurses hadn't let her walk very much, except to use the bathroom) and reaching timidly for his hand. "I miss my bed," she had said with a small, guilty smile as though it were something to be ashamed of.
And Taichi's expression had softened, and for a moment Jyou thought he was going to cry, but then Taichi smiled softly and went, "Alright. When Yamato gets back from the cafeteria, we'll ask him to take us... home, okay?"
Hikari had smiled back at him, and Jyou wondered if he was the only one who caught the hesitation in Taichi's voice. He sounded almost afraid, a tone uncommon but not unheard of in their oh-so fearless leader. Especially when it came to Hikari. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to see reminders, to think. He was doing a good job the past couple weeks; Hikari had complained about his wasting his time until he had consented to return to soccer practice, if not school. He went twice a week, and he always brought Hikari back interesting stories about his teammates and his plays. But Jyou was fairly certain that if Taichi had new clothes, it was because he had asked Koushirou or Sora to get them while he was at soccer, apologizing and saying he'd be covered in sweat and finding a way to ask without asking. Taichi could be surprisingly manipulative, when he was trying to look brave while hiding from his fears.
The day after Jyou released Hikari, he was given the next two days off work. Not because they didn't need the help, his supervisor had felt the need to point out, but because they didn't need a doctor on call who had worked double shifts for the past two weeks, who had circles under his eyes that made him look haunted even when he smiled. He hadn't slept much, wanting to keep his word to watch over Hikari for Taichi. That was what friends were for, after all... even if some small part of Jyou knew that he probably shouldn't have been the doctor to treat her. But Hikari was alright, probably curled up in her bed at home. Taichi probably gave her the bottom bunk so that she wouldn't have to climb the ladder. Did they still share a room, at that? Things seemed to stay stagnant and change dramatically all at once.
Jyou didn't go to sleep right when he got home, although the idea had certainly crossed his mind. But there was something else he wanted to do first, something he hadn't gotten to do in nearly a month. Well, he sent texts and e-mails, but it was expensive to text out of the country very often. They were usually updates, because Mimi would bite their heads off if she was left too out of the loop. She was already upset that she couldn't visit; she was right in the middle of finals at school and couldn't afford to be away from campus to visit a friend in Japan. She had sent Hikari her regards six times a day on average, however, and threatened Koushirou to buy flowers for her bedside in Mimi's name, which Jyou had found priceless. Really! Imagine Koushirou carrying an overflowing bouquet of pink roses. The mental image still made Jyou chuckle as he collapsed on his bed and pulled his phone out of his pants pocket. He sat back against the pillows as he punched in the now-familiar number.
A yawn answered. "Ah, Jyou? It's late, silly. Is Hikari okay?" Her tone switched from sleepy, to teasingly annoyed, to worried in the time that it took Jyou to process that Mimi had answered the phone.
"Gomen, it's about midnight there, isn't it," he asked apologetically.
"One," she corrected; in the morning, she meant. But she didn't add that, for which he was a little grateful. It was a silly thing, but he felt kinda bad as it was without the extra word grinding into his conscious.
"Gomen," he said again. "If it's any consolation, I'm tired too."
"As you should be," she sounded hard, but he knew the worry in her voice. He had told her about the double shifts, and he was sure some of the others had probably put a word in edgewise as well. "At least it's the weekend."
"So I'm not cutting into your studies?"
"Oh you are," she replied, oddly cheerful. She giggled. "But I don't mind. I missed hearing from you, Jyou."
"Yeah... I'm sorry, I only got to message if it was about Hikari. I was--"
"Busy busy, I know." Was it a bit bizarre that he could picture her sticking her tongue out at him, hair light brown as it had been when he first met her and the last time he had seen her. He missed seeing her, and before he had censored the words from brain to mouth, he could hear his voice saying them out loud. Exhaustion had removed his censoring ability, obviously. He was horrified, but Mimi only giggled again. "I miss seeing you too. Everyone, really. But you most."
Nearly ten years ought to have dulled the butterflies when Mimi made a comment so seemingly careless as that, but the butterflies were still alive and set on making Jyou toss his sandwich. He kept hold of his lunch though; it was a pleasant sort of nausea, really. He could live with this. He wasn't sure how this even happened, only that it had, and he couldn't wait for Mimi to be able to return to Japan. Long distance – particularly with fourteen hours time difference – was stressful, especially when he pulled shifts as he had over the past month.
"Have you talked to Sora," he asked curiously. Sora had been absent more than Jyou had expected her to be, although Taichi said she was at work and had tennis practice and as Hikari's condition improved, Sora's mother became less lax about her skipping out on her duties to visit and keep him company. He secretly suspected that part of it was Sora being glad for the excuse to not hang out with Yamato anymore, but as the word "secret" might suggest, Jyou hadn't mentioned that to anyone. Not until tonight, anyway.
"A little, and she mentioned Yamato. Not like that," Mimi said before Jyou could even guess what 'that' might be. "Just that, you know, he was there. And she thinks he's mad at her."
"I wonder," Jyou began before biting down on his tongue. Seriously, was he that tired that he couldn't even control the voluntary functions of his body?
"I don't. I'd be mad at her too, and I'd be mad at him. They're both being dumb. If I were there, I'd beat them with a marshmallow gun," Mimi announced brazenly. Jyou couldn't help it – he burst out laughing, one hand clutching the receiver while the other held his stomach.
"A what," he asked when he got enough breath back to speak.
"A marshmallow gun," Mimi repeated, unabashed. She yawned a small yawn, but she couldn't hide it. She squeaked when she yawned, like a kitten curling up to sleep. "Micheal bought one for his little cousin, and then we went back and bought some too. They're really funny. Stale marshmallows work best because fresh ones muck up the barrel and – I'm serious," she added crossly, for Jyou had started laughing again.
"I know you are," he said, chuckling. He couldn't help but to be jealous though. He wished that he could have had that fun with her instead of Micheal, although he had no fear of the blond-haired American boy. Mimi had told him all about what a bitch she found his new girlfriend to be, although she added with disgust that Micheal stared at her like she was the goddess Athena from Greek mythology.
"Oh, she might be pretty," Mimi had said during that particular discussion. "But she's a nasty witch, if you ask me. Manipulative, grouchy little --"
Obviously, Jyou made no mention of the girlfriend, lest a similar raging rant be inspired in the girl who speaks what she thinks and thinks what she feels and rarely cares to sugar coat the reality with more than a pretty pink coat of lip gloss and her favorite nail polish.
"I guess we're all in need of a good laugh, huh," she asked softly as his laughter died away. That sobered him up rather quickly. In fact, he was remembering how absolutely exhausted he was again. Mentally and emotionally, he couldn't handle the dreams that Taichi and Hikari's story had inspired. He couldn't begin to imagine what they were thinking, feeling... But pity was out of the question. Taichi would never stand for it, even if Hikari was too polite to say anything against it.
"I guess," Jyou agreed soberly. It was his turn to yawn this time, and he wished he could pull Mimi through the phone and make her lay with him, even though it was only five in the afternoon in Tokyo.
"Exams end next Thursday. Daddy said I can go home for a couple weeks if I get positive marks," Mimi promised her. "I'll take Sora shopping and smack some sense into her with a pretty glove. We'll make her and Yamato be friends again, and let Sora and Taichi go have a proper date while me, Hikari, and Miyako have a girls night and you, Takeru, Yamato, and Koushirou and everyone can have a boys night." She sounded so enthusiastic, Jyou didn't voice the fact that there were a lot more boys than girls, and he'd probably have to work again by that time anyway. She sounded too happy, so excited to be able to plan something that Mimi believed would really help. "Everyone needs friends. So we'll make sure that as each other's friends, we'll be there," she said confidently. Jyou was forcibly reminded of when she decided that yes, they had to fight, that things would only get better if they won that fight. It made him smile a small, wistful smile of remembrance.
"So Sora and Taichi get a well-deserved date," Jyou recalled, and he could almost see Mimi nodding. Indeed, there was a brief pause before she confirmed it with a "Yepp" that made him suspect she had done just that before realizing he couldn't see her nod through the phone line. "What about us?"
"We get two well deserved dates. After all, they can see each other all the time," Mimi sniffed, and then they both laughed. Jyou was glad. There was no reason to be jealous of her proximity to Micheal, not when she laughed so cheerfully and so... he didn't have a word for it. But if he was sure of anything, it was that Mimi would never lie. She would never say she liked him if she didn't (and he ought to know, for he had faced many rejections before a "...You know, I think I'd like that" the last time she had come to Japan and he had asked her on that frightful D word). There was safety in that, a security Jyou could cling to when he began to doubt everything else.
"Only two," he asked with mock despair. Well, he was partially teasing.
"Don't be greedy," she teased. And then her tone got more serious. "I'm scared, Jyou."
He knew how she felt. "Me too."
"I hugged my Mom and Daddy when Sora told me," she told him.
Jyou nodded. "Me too. And my brothers. Really screwed their worlds up," Jyou added, and Mimi giggled a reluctant giggle.
"I don't have any siblings, if that had ever happened to me."
"But you have friends," Jyou reminded her, echoing her earlier sentiment. He hoped she was smiling in her brief silence.
"Yeah. That's true. Poor Hikari... Poor Taichi..." she murmured sympathetically, and Jyou didn't say anything because there were no words that needed to be said. She squeak-yawned again. "Jyou, I'm sleepy."
"I know you are," he said gently. "Go to sleep."
"You're about to fall asleep too, or I'd stay up longer with you," she insisted. Jyou smiled to himself, pulling off his glasses and setting them on his bedside table. If he could fall asleep as the conversation died, it would be like she was in Japan already. Two weeks was an awfully long time to wait for someone you hadn't seen in forever.
"Everything will be alright. Have happy dreams, and don't worry," Jyou said, remembering a day when Mimi had looked at him with wide eyes so expectantly for guidance and reassurance that what she was doing was okay. "I'll see you soon."
"Soon, soon," she echoed in a sleepy murmur. Jyou laid his head down on his pillow.
"You better pass your tests," he teased.
"Pass. I'll pass," Mimi mumbled; the sound was muffled by her own pillow. "Daisuki, Jyou."
"Daisuki." And he was asleep before he could hang up the receiver, hoping to dream dreams of laughter and soft brown hair instead of twisting metal and Hikari's pain-filled face.