Title: Equally Cursed and Blessed
Authors: Caer (caerfree@tde.com) and Triste (TragedyandComedy@aol.com)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi, violence, angst
Pairings: Eventual YukixKyou, ShigurexHatori, HaruxMomiji
Status: Work in progress (part 1)
Disclaimer: Nope, still not ours.
Thanks to waya, Kato-chan, Aisha C, nata_leechan, Little Wing, EJ, mizuko,
Cari, yamatoforever and Jin for reviewing!
~~
"This is it!" Tohru cried anxiously. "It was right at this spot, see, where the
road has fallen down? Hatori-san, we're here!" She waited for the car to come to
a stop before opening the door and leaping outside, grabbing the blanket that
she'd brought with her and holding it close as she led Hatori over to the steep
slope where Kyou and Yuki were waiting.
Once she'd reached the top of the road, she'd run and run until she reached
home, ignoring the pain in her legs and the burning in her lungs. She'd darted
past Shigure, ignoring his queries over what was wrong and had grabbed the
phone, dialling Hatori's number with shaking fingers. Once she'd managed to
babble out what was wrong, he'd told her to stay put and he'd be right over. It
had been an agonising wait, but thankfully, Hatori had been prompt in spite of
the bad weather and following her directions, he'd driven them to the spot where
Kyou had fallen.
Hatori had bombarded her with questions all the way there, ranging from how Kyou
had managed to turn into his alternate form, how long he had been lying there
hurt, what was wrong with him, had he been bleeding, etc. Tohru had just sat
there and shook her head in response, trying not to cry. She didn't know how
long Kyou had been there, or how badly he was hurt. Hatori had told her that it
didn't matter, than they would find out how bad it was when they got there and
they hadn't said a word until they reached their destination. Standing at the
top of the embankment, she peered down to where she had left Kyou.
Hatori had left the headlights of the car on to make it easier to see where Kyou
was. Tohru almost fainted in relief when she saw that Kyou was still there and
with Yuki huddled close to him to keep him warm. "Down here!" she said to
Hatori, tugging at his sleeve. She paused, wide-eyed though when he just stood
there in shock. "Hatori-san!" she said urgently. "Kyou-kun needs our help!" She
raised her voice. "Yuki-kun? Kyou-kun? Hatori-san and I are here and we're going
to help you! Hold on!"
Yuki looked up and stood. Tohru looked okay, but out of breath. Hatori on the
other hand wasn't moving. He stared down at Kyou's disgusting form, holding a
hand to his mouth. Yuki glared at him venomously. "Hatori!"
At that moment the rain subsided though and the moon shone dimly through the
clouds. The creature beside Yuki transformed back into a shivering, half naked
human form, screaming as the transformation aggravated the branch in his side.
Yuki cried out and knelt back at Kyou's side, holding his shoulders to let him
know he was there and whispering. "It's okay, Kyou...hold on."
Now that some light was shining through and Kyou's skin was a pale white again,
Yuki could see the wound more clearly. Blood was pooled in the small of Kyou's
back and Yuki felt sick. He turned away quickly, concentrating on looking at
Kyou's pained face instead.
Tohru gasped in horror at the sound of Kyou's screams and she hurriedly made her
way down the embankment, almost falling over herself in her anxiousness to get
to Kyou. Thankfully, Hatori seemed to have come back to himself long enough to
get a grip and he followed her carefully. Tohru knelt down beside Yuki, longing
to get close to Kyou and comfort him, but she couldn't risk getting too near and
having him accidentally transform into his animal form. She hung back, sobbing
quietly at the sight of all the blood. "Hatori-san!" She pleaded. "Help him!"
Hatori nodded, gently pushing past Tohru and crouching down beside Kyou,
ignoring the dirty looks that Yuki was giving him. He couldn't help but feel
horribly guilty for having frozen like that when Kyou was so obviously in pain
and in need of his help. He'd been shocked, startled and horrified to see Yuki's
small body curled around the hideous form of the vengeful cat and for a long
moment he'd just stood there, unmoving and trying to fight down the disgust and
revulsion he'd felt.
Ignoring Yuki's glares and his own guilty conscience, he peered down at Kyou's
body closely. It looked as though he'd been pierced on one of the tree branches
and even in the dim light, he could see that it was a pretty bad wound.
Thankfully, the branch had been pulled free of Kyou's body once he had
transformed back into his human form, but he was still bleeding freely and
Hatori could tell at a glance that he must have already lost a lot of blood on
top of that. Not to mention the fact that he was probably bleeding internally
too. All in all, it didn't look too good.
Tearing off his jacket, he bunched it up against the wound, trying to staunch
the heavy flow of blood. "Yuki, I need you to hold this for me," he said,
keeping his voice as stern and authoritative as he could. "I need you to keep it
pressed tight against his wound while I carry him up to the car. Can you do that
for me?"
Yuki nodded shakily. Not looking at the blood, he edged around to Kyou's other
side and slipped a hand under, taking the jacket and pressing it against Kyou's
side tightly while Hatori quickly checked for other wounds, in particular any
neck injuries. Then he slipped his arms under the pale boy and looked at Yuki to
make sure he was ready. Yuki nodded and they rolled Kyou over and then rose
together.
Tohru hurried ahead of them, pausing every now and again to wait for Hatori and
Yuki to carry Kyou up. Once they were safely back on the road again, she ran
ahead, yanking open the back door. "Over here!" she called, waving.
Hatori gently laid Kyou on the backseat and Tohru was about to clamber in beside
him when Hatori stopped her. "You can ride up front with me," he told her. Tohru
stared back at him, looking hurt and confused and he sighed. "I can't risk
having you close to him in case he accidentally manages to transform."
He didn't mention the fact that Kyou might possibly transform anyway because he
was so weak, but at least with Tohru at a safe distance, it would keep him from
changing into his cat form should she accidentally get too close to him. "Yuki,
you stay with him. Make sure he doesn't move about and keep pressing down on
that wound. It still hasn't stopped bleeding yet."
He waited until Yuki got in beside Kyou and then closed the door behind him,
making his way up front to the driver's seat and buckling himself in. When he
was sure that Tohru was ready too, he started the engine and began the short
drive back to Shigure's house. The main house was too far away and as well as
Yuki being uncomfortable there, Kyou wasn't even allowed inside, so Shigure's
was the best place to go.
Yuki had to climb under Kyou so that he was practically cradling the cat's upper
body in his arms while he pressed the coat tightly to the wound. He used his
other arm to cradle Kyou's head. In the end he was pretty much embracing the
shaking teen, but he didn't much care. Kyou was pale and though he was
conscious, his eyes were slitted and glazed over. His lips were practically blue
and he felt chilled all the way through. The car was very warm though and his
shaking seemed to subside. Tohru turned also and draped the blanket over them,
for which, Yuki was thankful since Kyou's body was smeared with blood.
Yuki stared down and into Kyou's eyes and willed the boy not to die. "Don't give
up, Kyou. You'll be all right. Just try to be strong and try not to transform."
He said it so softly, he doubted anyone could hear him, even Kyou, but he
couldn't help but say it. He looked up to see Tohru staring back at him, fear in
her eyes, but an understanding too. Just looking into those eyes made him feel
stronger. He took a deep breath and ignored the wetness that seeped onto his
hand, pressing more firmly and holding his cousin just a little closer.
Soon, they reached their destination and Hatori quickly parked the car, getting
out and helping Yuki lift Kyou out of the car, trying not to jar the injured boy
any more than they had to. Tohru ran ahead and opened the front door, ushering
everyone inside. Shigure appeared, his expression full of concern, but he placed
a hand on Tohru's shoulders to try and calm her down.
"Help me get him into the table," Hatori said to Yuki and together, they
carefully laid Kyou down. Hatori glanced over at Yuki who seemed shaken and
pale, but Kyou was more important at the moment. He was just about to run back
to the car to get his bag when he felt a tiny nudge at his shoulder. Tohru was
standing behind him and holding out the bag that she must have thought to bring
in already and he managed a small smile for her in response to her quick
thinking.
He looked over Kyou quickly and once he found that the boy was still valiantly
hanging onto consciousness, he reached for one of the hypodermic needles, giving
Kyou a shot to knock him out so that he could start setting the wound. He heard
a sudden thump and he looked up startled to see that Yuki had passed out and
slumped to the floor. Hatori sighed inwardly. He was probably in shock.
He glanced back and forth between Tohru and Shigure and finally decided that if
he needed anyone to help him with this, it was Tohru. Shigure was notoriously
queasy, so he'd be no good in an environment like this. He could make himself
useful by taking care of Yuki though. "Take Yuki out of here," he told Shigure
gruffly. "Get him out of those wet clothes and into some dry ones and keep him
warm. He's probably gone into shock, so just keep an eye on him for a while,
okay? When he comes to, give him something hot to drink and stay out of here
'till I call for you."
Shigure would have laughed his head off at Yuki being so faint of heart in any
other circumstance, but Hatori's intense gaze kept him grounded and he nodded.
"Whatever you say Ha-san," he said solemnly. Turning, he knelt down and hefted
the unconscious mouse's limp body into his arms.
"Come on, trembly mouse! I'll soon have you undressed and in bed!" He winked at
Tohru, grinned madly at Hatori and carried Yuki upstairs to his room. He knew
the situation was bad, but a look from Hatori had told them that Kyou would
probably be fine and he knew that the air was too heavy. Tohru could probably
use some comfort too and she smiled gratefully at his attempt to lighten the
mood.
He tromped up the stairs with the senseless Yuki. "Rockabye Yuki!" He
disappeared around the corner and a door sliding open and shut indicated they
had reached their destination all right.
~~
Hatori began his work on stitching up Kyou while Tohru helped by carefully
cleaning up the blood on Kyou's body. Hatori talked to her as he worked, partly
to keep her from getting too queasy at the sight of all the blood, but partly
because he wanted to. They had all been through a terrible ordeal tonight and it
often helped to talk about it in order to start healing.
So far, Tohru was holding up admirably, helping out where she could, but making
sure that she never got in his way. Both of them were a mess, but clean-up time
could wait until Kyou had been seen to. "It looks worse than it is," Hatori
assured Tohru as he worked. "He's suffered a lot of blood loss, which is never a
good thing, but Kyou's tough. He'll pull through. There's also been a fair
amount of muscle damage so it'll be quite some time before he's up and about and
getting kicked out of windows by his cousin."
Tohru giggled nervously. "That's true," she said in response. "They won't be
able to fight if Kyou-kun is ill. But Kyou-kun will get better soon, right?" she
added anxiously. Hatori nodded and she smiled in relief. "That's good." Once she
had finished cleaning Kyou up as best she could, she hurried into the kitchen
and returned with a bowl of warm water and a washcloth. She worked on cleaning
Kyou's face, smoothing his messy hair back from his forehead.
Hatori glanced up at her every now and again and smiled to himself. He'd never
met anyone quite like Tohru before. He'd never met anyone who cared this much
about anybody before. "Kyou's very lucky to have you for a friend," he said
suddenly. "Yuki too. You're good for both of them. You must have noticed how
little they fight now that you're around."
"Yes," Tohru said, gliding the damp cloth over Kyou's forehead. Kyou stirred
slightly and his eyelashes fluttered, but thankfully, he didn't wake. "I'd like
to think that they are getting better at understanding each other. I'm not sure
that I have anything to do with that though," she added shyly. "We're lucky to
have somebody like you around though, Hatori-san."
"The Souma family always needed a doctor who was versatile enough to travel back
and forth to treat whatever was necessary," Hatori said quietly. "You know that
Shigure, Ayame and I went to the same schools together? It made sense that out
of the three of us, I should be the one to study medicine. Science was always my
best subject; so I suppose it was only right to do as was expected of
me and go on to learn how to be a doctor. Anyway, can you imagine Ayame doing
this?"
Tohru giggled and made a face. Hatori gave her a half-smile and continued
talking. "As you've probably guessed, there would be a big risk in taking one of
the Juniishi members to a public hospital should they fall ill. Of course we
transform whenever we're hugged by anyone of the opposite sex, but it also
happens whenever we feel severely weakened. So instead of taking that risk, they
have me as the family doctor. This way, there is no need for erasing anyone's
memory and it's easier and convenient for me to treat them if they're already
where I need them to be."
Tohru gazed up at Hatori in wonder. "You have such a big responsibility," she
said softly. "You're the one who takes care of any of the Juniishi members
whenever they get sick. They don't have to go anywhere to be treated by you,
especially if they already live in the main compound. Hatori-san works very hard
and is very dedicated. I think that someday...I might like to be like you. I
want to help the Souma family. I know I already help out at Shigure-san's house
and everything, but I'd also like to be able to help the other Juniishi
members."
"You do more than enough already," Hatori told her gently. "You don't have to
worry about us on top of school and your part-time job."
"But I want to," Tohru said stubbornly. "I want to help out! I was useful
tonight, right? And besides, it's always good to have an extra pair of hands to
do the job, isn't it? Two's always better than one as they say!"
Hatori stared at her for a moment and then his expression softened. "You've
proven yourself to be very helpful," he said finally. "You're already invaluable
to the Souma family, no matter what anybody says." Tohru fairly beamed at him
and he looked away again, embarrassed. "I'm almost done here," he announced
finally. "We'd better keep him downstairs where it's warm. You go and get
cleaned up."
~~
"Mooouuuusiiiieee...mouuuuussssiiiieee?"
Yuki groaned and reached mentally to strangle whoever was making that annoying
noise, but for some reason, his body didn't do what he willed it to do. He felt
tingly all over and his hands were really, really cold. There was a cold cloth
on his forehead and one on each of his wrists. He must have fainted. The last
time this had happened was when he gave blood at school...was he at school?
"Wake up, little mouse."
Nimble fingers were unbuttoning his shirt and he wanted to bat them away, but he
couldn't move. He opened his eyes groggily and waited for the room to come into
focus. He blinked and saw Shigure looking down at him, a little concern and a
little amusement apparent in his eyes.
"Are you all right?"
In a daze, Yuki muttered out, "Of course I'm all right," and tried to get up,
but once again, his body just didn't respond. In a few seconds though, things
were clear and he sat up abruptly. "Kyou!"
Shigure used the opportunity to take his soaked shirt off and drape a robe over
the wet boy. "Hatori is downstairs taking care of him," the dog said seriously.
He grinned. "Tohru's helping him because sooomebody has a little problem with
needles!" He said the last part in a sing-song voice.
"Shut up!" Yuki yelled, the sound of his own voice ringing in his ears, even
though he hadn't really spoken that loud. Shigure chuckled. Yuki put a hand to
his aching head. "Is Kyou all right?" He looked hopefully at the older man, but
Shigure eyed him seriously.
"I'm not sure," he replied. "Ha-san seems to think he'll be all right. Do you
have any idea what happened?"
Yuki shook his head, pulling the robe over his shoulders and taking the pants
that Shigure had pulled out. "No. We just found him that way. He was caught in
a landslide...half the road fell on top of him, and..." Yuki raised his head. He
got up and walked past Shigure.
"Uh...Yuki-kun?"
Yuki pulled the pants on and threw on the first shirt he could find.
"Yuki-kun, what are you doing? You'll just pass out again if you go down there,"
the dog grinned. Yuki glared at him.
"I'm going to find his bracelet. He must have lost it out there."
Shigure grabbed his arm. "Can't you wait until morning?"
Yuki looked pained. "And what if it rains again? If Kyou changes back, his
wounds won't heal very well."
Yuki continued to pull out socks and boots. He only vaguely noticed as Shigure
sidled up to him, his eyes closed and a stupid grin on his face. He opened his
closet and pulled out a better raincoat, pulling it on and...
"What?" He grabbed Shigure by the collar. "What the hell are you looking at me
like that for?"
Shigure continued to grin. "I'm not looking at you like anything Yuki- kun...but
you're showing a lot of concern for our resident kitty." He smiled sweetly.
Yuki let go, startled. "Eh?" He glared at Shigure. "Don't be ridiculous. I just
don't want Hatori to have to waste his effort...and I don't want that stupid cat
stinking up the house with his other form either! Now are you coming or not?"
Shigure grinned and followed, grabbing a pair of jeans from his own room and a
jacket.
"Coming, little mousie!"
"And don't call me that!"
~~
Hatori had waited for Tohru to clean up first before taking his turn. Before
he'd done that though, he'd followed Shigure's order to call Kazuma, Kyou's
mentor and father figure to tell him what had happened. Hatori had just finished
treating Kyou when Shigure and Yuki had barged downstairs. Hatori hadn't liked
the idea of Yuki going back out to search for the bracelet at all, even if
Shigure was with him, but Yuki was even more determined than Ayame when he had a
bee in his bonnet about something.
It wasn't as though he would have been able to stop him from going anyway, so
he'd let Yuki past. Shigure had told him to call Kazuma and then hurried off
after Yuki. Hatori had made the phone call and after reassuring the frantic
martial arts expert that Kyou was going to be fine, Kazuma had announced that he
would be over at Shigure's house by noon the next day.
Once that had been sorted out, Hatori had taken a quick shower to get rid of the
blood and dirt. His pants were okay to put back on, but his shirt had been
ruined from when he'd been carrying Kyou, so he'd taken one of Shigure's,
figuring that the dog wouldn't mind too much. He'd only been downstairs for ten
minutes with Tohru to watch over Kyou when the front door banged open. Yuki
walked in and judging by the expression on his face, things hadn't gone very
well. "I take it you had no luck finding the bracelet then?" Hatori said with a
sigh.
They looked up, despondent. Shigure took Yuki's coat and took off his own,
hanging them in the closet at the front door, shaking his head. Hatori frowned
at that.
"Thirteen dogs and about two hundred rats and we couldn't find anything."
Shigure sighed. He shook his head then, rapidly, spreading droplets of water all
over the hallway.
"I hope you're going to clean that up," Yuki said darkly.
"Nope!" Shigure smiled, walking toward the kitchen. "Water evaporates, Yuki- kun!
Haven't you learned that yet in high school?" He held his finger up, wagging
it. "You know, it seems they teach less and less these days. You should
endeavour to be old and wise like me."
Yuki ignored him and walked toward the kitchen, looking at the pale boy lying on
the cushions by the table, but not passing Hatori. "Hatori-san...is he all
right?"
"He will be," Hatori replied tiredly. "He lost a lot of blood and it's going to
take him a while until he's fully healed, but he's going to pull through. Kyou's
strong and he never gives up without a fight. He'll be fine. Right now, he just
needs time to rest and recuperate. As do you, Tohru-kun," he added, turning his
head to look at the young girl who was still kneeling faithfully by Kyou's side.
"But I'm not sleepy!" she protested. As soon as she'd finished that sentence,
she opened her mouth on a huge yawn and then giggled sheepishly. "Okay, so maybe
I'm a little tired...but I can't leave Kyou-kun alone. Someone has to keep watch
over him."
"I'll keep watch," Hatori told her. Tohru just shook her head.
"Hatori-san has worked hard today to save Kyou-kun's life," she said stubbornly.
"*You* should get some rest. I'll be just fine, I promise."
Hatori glanced over at Shigure helplessly. Just what was it with kids these days
that never did what they were told to do? Not that he didn't admire Tohru's
courage and faithfulness, he did...but he should be the one to watch over Kyou.
After all, should something happen to Kyou during the night, and then he'd have
to be nearby to do all that he could.
"It's okay," Yuki said hastily, drawing all eyes to him. He smiled at Tohru.
"It's okay. Honda-san and I can take turns watching Kyou out here. That way, you
and Shigure can have time to talk." He looked at them both meaningfully. "We can
come and get you if he wakes up, or if he's in pain." He turned to Tohru.
"Honda-san, you should go get your night clothes on and I'll gather some
blankets. We can stay in the main room with Kyou, and watch over him. Hatori..."
He looked at the stoic doctor. "That would work all right, wouldn't it?"
"Yuki-kun is right," Shigure said happily. "Besides, I cut my finger on
something outside. I need special tender care! It's my best writing finger." He
pouted and batted his eyelashes at the serious man, waving the injured digit at
him. "I'm sure Tohru-kun and Yuki-kun can keep watch."
Hatori stared back and forth between Shigure and Tohru, both of who were gazing
at him with large, pleading eyes. After another few seconds of Shigure waving
his 'injured' finger in front of his face, Hatori grabbed the offending hand and
frowned. "All right then," he said finally, turning to Tohru. "Take it in turns
to sleep. That way he'll always have one of you watching over him. If anything
happens, if he starts to get worse, come right up and get me. Understood?"
Tohru nodded eagerly and Hatori allowed Shigure to drag him upstairs and into
the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his
hands. "Both you and Yuki were out there all that time and you never found the
bracelet?" He sighed. "You should go out again in the morning and have a look
when it's light. I'm worried that he might suddenly transform. He's still very
weak, so we can't risk another transformation on top of everything else that's
happened to him."
"Ahh, Ha-san, my dear Ha-san. People who turn into little sea horsies know
little about the true power of land mammals!" Shigure wagged his finger
playfully before crawling behind the man on his knees and leaning against his
back to rub his shoulders.
"With my sense of smell, my canine friends and Yuki's rats, we could not find a
trace of the bracelet," he said seriously. "We dug and we sniffed, we sniffed
and we dug and still we could not find it. If it was there, we would have found
it, believe me. Unless by some miracle, the bracelet was washed miles away from
where they found Kyou-kun, he must have lost it somewhere else. You should
relax, Ha-san," he added softly. "The good news is, we listened to the weather
report in your car and the skies should be clear...at least for a while."
Hatori closed his eyes, leaning back against Shigure unconsciously as the other
man began kneading the sore muscles of his back. Shigure might talk a whole lot
of nonsense, but he did give good back rubs. "Still...it doesn't make sense," he
said after a while. "How could he have lost it? I know he's hot-headed and
sometimes not too quick on the uptake, but he's not stupid enough to go about
losing something so important." He was quiet for a long moment before speaking
again.
"There was something else about Kyou, something that I noticed while Tohru went
off to clean up. I didn't want to mention it to her or Yuki in case they start
worrying anymore than they are doing already. It looked as though he'd already
received some injuries prior to the accident. Now I know how much Kyou likes to
get into fights, but these marks seemed more than just schoolboy rough- housing.
It looked as though he'd been hit or kicked...the bruises won't come through
properly for another few hours, but you can tell that they're there. That might
have something to do with the fact that his bracelet was missing, but still..."
He sighed in frustration. "No one outside the Souma family other than Tohru
knows what we really are. I can't see him letting someone beat him up and steal
the bracelet. Besides it keeping him from taking his other form, it's pretty
much worthless as a trinket. I just don't get it..."
"Mmm." Shigure closed his eyes. He decided not to mention that Akito had visited
today...not yet anyway. He didn't want to raise undue suspicion yet. He found it
hard to believe that even Akito would be so cold. He would have had a physical
advantage over Kyou in the rain, but he hated even getting near the boy.
Besides, Akito was only violent for specific reasons and Kyou hardly seemed to
be in love. Hell, he barely let Tohru near him and he adored her to pieces. If
he loved anyone, it was her.
"I think we'll have to wait until Kyou wakes up before we know anything. He
might have lost the bracelet earlier today and then transformed coming home. Or
he may have been beaten. There has been talk of robbers about lately. In his
weak state, they might have beaten him up and taken anything of value. True, the
bracelet in pieces isn't worth much, but it is very old, and antiques can be
pawned."
He hugged Hatori, unbuttoning his shirt from the back. "Ha-san, can't we just
get some sleep? I hardly ever get to hold you with you being at the main house,"
he whined.
Hatori stayed silent and let Shigure unfasten the shirt he was wearing. He still
couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Kyou tonight though, how Tohru
had led him to the edge of that landslide and how he'd just froze, staring at
Kyou's alternate form in horror and disgust. He remembered the look that Yuki
had given him, almost as if he had been scorning Hatori for being so unwilling
to get close to Kyou. Despite his thoughts, he couldn't help but shiver when
Shigure ran his fingers teasingly over his bare chest. "Shigure...do you think
I'm a bad person?" he asked suddenly.
"Eh?" Shigure stopped. "Well, yes. You didn't even look at my finger!" he
lamented. "But otherwise, no." He slid the white shirt Hatori had borrowed off
his back and kissed one warm shoulder, wrapping his arms around his lover. "Is
something bothering you Ha-san?" He turned the man around and looked at him
seriously.
Hatori frowned, letting his body relax against Shigure's and resting his chin on
his shoulder. He'd never admit it, but Shigure's silly banter and idiotic jokes
were usually what kept him going. Shigure was always complaining about how dull
and how serious Hatori could be at times, but when Hatori thought about it, they
tended to balance each other out perfectly. Shigure was what he needed to keep
him from being constantly morbid while he was always there to go Shigure a good
kick up the backside whenever he started drifting too far from earth. They'd
been best friends ever since they were kids, but they had only been lovers for a
few months.
Hatori had been completely astonished when Akito had found out about their
affair and he'd been even more surprised when instead of punishing them, Akito
had actually given them his blessing. Hatori couldn't help but be suspicious
even now after so much time had passed. Shigure was always telling him to stop
being so pessimistic, but Hatori couldn't help it. He was a smart man, he'd gone
through years of education, but Akito still continued to puzzle him. He always
seemed three steps ahead of everyone else and if there was anything Hatori
hated, it was guessing games.
Part of him was sure that Akito was just biding his time; ready to pull some
sort of trap on him...but maybe Shigure was right. Maybe he was just seeing the
glass as half-empty. It was then he realised that Shigure was still staring at
him expectantly and he wondered just how long he'd been off in his own little
world. "It's nothing," he said eventually, pressing his face against the side of
Shigure's neck.
Shigure smiled in exasperation and pulled the cynical man down on top of him,
cradling him on his chest and running his long fingers through Hatori's hair.
Even now, he was loath to express what he was feeling. He had always been that
way and Shigure supposed he shouldn't expect an overnight change, but still, he
wanted to be there for the man.
It seemed that Hatori was always being strong for the rest of them. He was
always strong for Shigure, but he never seemed to let anyone in. Even when Kana
had gotten married, he had said little about it. It was that event that brought
them closer together though. It had surprised the writer when Hatori had broken
down and begged Shigure to just hold him. They had fallen asleep in each other's
arms on the couch and Yuki had found them that way the next morning.
After that, they just sort of fell into the relationship, neither actually
making it official, just gradual touching and talking and holding until it
became a relationship. Hatori had insisted that they tell Akito, but Shigure had
made sure to visit the boy first and assure that they would not be denied.
Whatever the particulars were, they were here now and Shigure just held Hatori
close, stroking his hair out of his face and kissing his weak eye gently.
"Ha-san, you know you can tell me anything right?"
"I know," Hatori murmured, nuzzling closer to Shigure, seeking out more of the
other man's warmth. Shigure was always so warm, whereas he...he was always so
cold. He didn't mean to be. It wasn't like he was completely uncaring or
anything. For the time being, he just concentrated on the feeling of Shigure's
fingers running through his hair, soothing him. He was relieved that he could do
things like this with Shigure.
He never thought much about Kana these days, but he remembered how he used to
mourn the fact that she and he would never be able to simply lie down together
and touch each other for hours on end. He could do that with Shigure and
although his lover had never really been much of a patient man, he was always
willing to just hold him like this, never pushing him for anything else. He
brushed his fingertips over Shigure's shirt and then tightened his fingers in
the soft material. "I don't want to talk..." he said softly. "I just want to
forget. I just want to be with you. Is that so bad?"
Shigure merely smiled and kissed the man's soft forehead and pulled him close.
No, that wasn't so bad at all.
Authors: Caer (caerfree@tde.com) and Triste (TragedyandComedy@aol.com)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi, violence, angst
Pairings: Eventual YukixKyou, ShigurexHatori, HaruxMomiji
Status: Work in progress (part 1)
Disclaimer: Nope, still not ours.
Thanks to waya, Kato-chan, Aisha C, nata_leechan, Little Wing, EJ, mizuko,
Cari, yamatoforever and Jin for reviewing!
~~
"This is it!" Tohru cried anxiously. "It was right at this spot, see, where the
road has fallen down? Hatori-san, we're here!" She waited for the car to come to
a stop before opening the door and leaping outside, grabbing the blanket that
she'd brought with her and holding it close as she led Hatori over to the steep
slope where Kyou and Yuki were waiting.
Once she'd reached the top of the road, she'd run and run until she reached
home, ignoring the pain in her legs and the burning in her lungs. She'd darted
past Shigure, ignoring his queries over what was wrong and had grabbed the
phone, dialling Hatori's number with shaking fingers. Once she'd managed to
babble out what was wrong, he'd told her to stay put and he'd be right over. It
had been an agonising wait, but thankfully, Hatori had been prompt in spite of
the bad weather and following her directions, he'd driven them to the spot where
Kyou had fallen.
Hatori had bombarded her with questions all the way there, ranging from how Kyou
had managed to turn into his alternate form, how long he had been lying there
hurt, what was wrong with him, had he been bleeding, etc. Tohru had just sat
there and shook her head in response, trying not to cry. She didn't know how
long Kyou had been there, or how badly he was hurt. Hatori had told her that it
didn't matter, than they would find out how bad it was when they got there and
they hadn't said a word until they reached their destination. Standing at the
top of the embankment, she peered down to where she had left Kyou.
Hatori had left the headlights of the car on to make it easier to see where Kyou
was. Tohru almost fainted in relief when she saw that Kyou was still there and
with Yuki huddled close to him to keep him warm. "Down here!" she said to
Hatori, tugging at his sleeve. She paused, wide-eyed though when he just stood
there in shock. "Hatori-san!" she said urgently. "Kyou-kun needs our help!" She
raised her voice. "Yuki-kun? Kyou-kun? Hatori-san and I are here and we're going
to help you! Hold on!"
Yuki looked up and stood. Tohru looked okay, but out of breath. Hatori on the
other hand wasn't moving. He stared down at Kyou's disgusting form, holding a
hand to his mouth. Yuki glared at him venomously. "Hatori!"
At that moment the rain subsided though and the moon shone dimly through the
clouds. The creature beside Yuki transformed back into a shivering, half naked
human form, screaming as the transformation aggravated the branch in his side.
Yuki cried out and knelt back at Kyou's side, holding his shoulders to let him
know he was there and whispering. "It's okay, Kyou...hold on."
Now that some light was shining through and Kyou's skin was a pale white again,
Yuki could see the wound more clearly. Blood was pooled in the small of Kyou's
back and Yuki felt sick. He turned away quickly, concentrating on looking at
Kyou's pained face instead.
Tohru gasped in horror at the sound of Kyou's screams and she hurriedly made her
way down the embankment, almost falling over herself in her anxiousness to get
to Kyou. Thankfully, Hatori seemed to have come back to himself long enough to
get a grip and he followed her carefully. Tohru knelt down beside Yuki, longing
to get close to Kyou and comfort him, but she couldn't risk getting too near and
having him accidentally transform into his animal form. She hung back, sobbing
quietly at the sight of all the blood. "Hatori-san!" She pleaded. "Help him!"
Hatori nodded, gently pushing past Tohru and crouching down beside Kyou,
ignoring the dirty looks that Yuki was giving him. He couldn't help but feel
horribly guilty for having frozen like that when Kyou was so obviously in pain
and in need of his help. He'd been shocked, startled and horrified to see Yuki's
small body curled around the hideous form of the vengeful cat and for a long
moment he'd just stood there, unmoving and trying to fight down the disgust and
revulsion he'd felt.
Ignoring Yuki's glares and his own guilty conscience, he peered down at Kyou's
body closely. It looked as though he'd been pierced on one of the tree branches
and even in the dim light, he could see that it was a pretty bad wound.
Thankfully, the branch had been pulled free of Kyou's body once he had
transformed back into his human form, but he was still bleeding freely and
Hatori could tell at a glance that he must have already lost a lot of blood on
top of that. Not to mention the fact that he was probably bleeding internally
too. All in all, it didn't look too good.
Tearing off his jacket, he bunched it up against the wound, trying to staunch
the heavy flow of blood. "Yuki, I need you to hold this for me," he said,
keeping his voice as stern and authoritative as he could. "I need you to keep it
pressed tight against his wound while I carry him up to the car. Can you do that
for me?"
Yuki nodded shakily. Not looking at the blood, he edged around to Kyou's other
side and slipped a hand under, taking the jacket and pressing it against Kyou's
side tightly while Hatori quickly checked for other wounds, in particular any
neck injuries. Then he slipped his arms under the pale boy and looked at Yuki to
make sure he was ready. Yuki nodded and they rolled Kyou over and then rose
together.
Tohru hurried ahead of them, pausing every now and again to wait for Hatori and
Yuki to carry Kyou up. Once they were safely back on the road again, she ran
ahead, yanking open the back door. "Over here!" she called, waving.
Hatori gently laid Kyou on the backseat and Tohru was about to clamber in beside
him when Hatori stopped her. "You can ride up front with me," he told her. Tohru
stared back at him, looking hurt and confused and he sighed. "I can't risk
having you close to him in case he accidentally manages to transform."
He didn't mention the fact that Kyou might possibly transform anyway because he
was so weak, but at least with Tohru at a safe distance, it would keep him from
changing into his cat form should she accidentally get too close to him. "Yuki,
you stay with him. Make sure he doesn't move about and keep pressing down on
that wound. It still hasn't stopped bleeding yet."
He waited until Yuki got in beside Kyou and then closed the door behind him,
making his way up front to the driver's seat and buckling himself in. When he
was sure that Tohru was ready too, he started the engine and began the short
drive back to Shigure's house. The main house was too far away and as well as
Yuki being uncomfortable there, Kyou wasn't even allowed inside, so Shigure's
was the best place to go.
Yuki had to climb under Kyou so that he was practically cradling the cat's upper
body in his arms while he pressed the coat tightly to the wound. He used his
other arm to cradle Kyou's head. In the end he was pretty much embracing the
shaking teen, but he didn't much care. Kyou was pale and though he was
conscious, his eyes were slitted and glazed over. His lips were practically blue
and he felt chilled all the way through. The car was very warm though and his
shaking seemed to subside. Tohru turned also and draped the blanket over them,
for which, Yuki was thankful since Kyou's body was smeared with blood.
Yuki stared down and into Kyou's eyes and willed the boy not to die. "Don't give
up, Kyou. You'll be all right. Just try to be strong and try not to transform."
He said it so softly, he doubted anyone could hear him, even Kyou, but he
couldn't help but say it. He looked up to see Tohru staring back at him, fear in
her eyes, but an understanding too. Just looking into those eyes made him feel
stronger. He took a deep breath and ignored the wetness that seeped onto his
hand, pressing more firmly and holding his cousin just a little closer.
Soon, they reached their destination and Hatori quickly parked the car, getting
out and helping Yuki lift Kyou out of the car, trying not to jar the injured boy
any more than they had to. Tohru ran ahead and opened the front door, ushering
everyone inside. Shigure appeared, his expression full of concern, but he placed
a hand on Tohru's shoulders to try and calm her down.
"Help me get him into the table," Hatori said to Yuki and together, they
carefully laid Kyou down. Hatori glanced over at Yuki who seemed shaken and
pale, but Kyou was more important at the moment. He was just about to run back
to the car to get his bag when he felt a tiny nudge at his shoulder. Tohru was
standing behind him and holding out the bag that she must have thought to bring
in already and he managed a small smile for her in response to her quick
thinking.
He looked over Kyou quickly and once he found that the boy was still valiantly
hanging onto consciousness, he reached for one of the hypodermic needles, giving
Kyou a shot to knock him out so that he could start setting the wound. He heard
a sudden thump and he looked up startled to see that Yuki had passed out and
slumped to the floor. Hatori sighed inwardly. He was probably in shock.
He glanced back and forth between Tohru and Shigure and finally decided that if
he needed anyone to help him with this, it was Tohru. Shigure was notoriously
queasy, so he'd be no good in an environment like this. He could make himself
useful by taking care of Yuki though. "Take Yuki out of here," he told Shigure
gruffly. "Get him out of those wet clothes and into some dry ones and keep him
warm. He's probably gone into shock, so just keep an eye on him for a while,
okay? When he comes to, give him something hot to drink and stay out of here
'till I call for you."
Shigure would have laughed his head off at Yuki being so faint of heart in any
other circumstance, but Hatori's intense gaze kept him grounded and he nodded.
"Whatever you say Ha-san," he said solemnly. Turning, he knelt down and hefted
the unconscious mouse's limp body into his arms.
"Come on, trembly mouse! I'll soon have you undressed and in bed!" He winked at
Tohru, grinned madly at Hatori and carried Yuki upstairs to his room. He knew
the situation was bad, but a look from Hatori had told them that Kyou would
probably be fine and he knew that the air was too heavy. Tohru could probably
use some comfort too and she smiled gratefully at his attempt to lighten the
mood.
He tromped up the stairs with the senseless Yuki. "Rockabye Yuki!" He
disappeared around the corner and a door sliding open and shut indicated they
had reached their destination all right.
~~
Hatori began his work on stitching up Kyou while Tohru helped by carefully
cleaning up the blood on Kyou's body. Hatori talked to her as he worked, partly
to keep her from getting too queasy at the sight of all the blood, but partly
because he wanted to. They had all been through a terrible ordeal tonight and it
often helped to talk about it in order to start healing.
So far, Tohru was holding up admirably, helping out where she could, but making
sure that she never got in his way. Both of them were a mess, but clean-up time
could wait until Kyou had been seen to. "It looks worse than it is," Hatori
assured Tohru as he worked. "He's suffered a lot of blood loss, which is never a
good thing, but Kyou's tough. He'll pull through. There's also been a fair
amount of muscle damage so it'll be quite some time before he's up and about and
getting kicked out of windows by his cousin."
Tohru giggled nervously. "That's true," she said in response. "They won't be
able to fight if Kyou-kun is ill. But Kyou-kun will get better soon, right?" she
added anxiously. Hatori nodded and she smiled in relief. "That's good." Once she
had finished cleaning Kyou up as best she could, she hurried into the kitchen
and returned with a bowl of warm water and a washcloth. She worked on cleaning
Kyou's face, smoothing his messy hair back from his forehead.
Hatori glanced up at her every now and again and smiled to himself. He'd never
met anyone quite like Tohru before. He'd never met anyone who cared this much
about anybody before. "Kyou's very lucky to have you for a friend," he said
suddenly. "Yuki too. You're good for both of them. You must have noticed how
little they fight now that you're around."
"Yes," Tohru said, gliding the damp cloth over Kyou's forehead. Kyou stirred
slightly and his eyelashes fluttered, but thankfully, he didn't wake. "I'd like
to think that they are getting better at understanding each other. I'm not sure
that I have anything to do with that though," she added shyly. "We're lucky to
have somebody like you around though, Hatori-san."
"The Souma family always needed a doctor who was versatile enough to travel back
and forth to treat whatever was necessary," Hatori said quietly. "You know that
Shigure, Ayame and I went to the same schools together? It made sense that out
of the three of us, I should be the one to study medicine. Science was always my
best subject; so I suppose it was only right to do as was expected of
me and go on to learn how to be a doctor. Anyway, can you imagine Ayame doing
this?"
Tohru giggled and made a face. Hatori gave her a half-smile and continued
talking. "As you've probably guessed, there would be a big risk in taking one of
the Juniishi members to a public hospital should they fall ill. Of course we
transform whenever we're hugged by anyone of the opposite sex, but it also
happens whenever we feel severely weakened. So instead of taking that risk, they
have me as the family doctor. This way, there is no need for erasing anyone's
memory and it's easier and convenient for me to treat them if they're already
where I need them to be."
Tohru gazed up at Hatori in wonder. "You have such a big responsibility," she
said softly. "You're the one who takes care of any of the Juniishi members
whenever they get sick. They don't have to go anywhere to be treated by you,
especially if they already live in the main compound. Hatori-san works very hard
and is very dedicated. I think that someday...I might like to be like you. I
want to help the Souma family. I know I already help out at Shigure-san's house
and everything, but I'd also like to be able to help the other Juniishi
members."
"You do more than enough already," Hatori told her gently. "You don't have to
worry about us on top of school and your part-time job."
"But I want to," Tohru said stubbornly. "I want to help out! I was useful
tonight, right? And besides, it's always good to have an extra pair of hands to
do the job, isn't it? Two's always better than one as they say!"
Hatori stared at her for a moment and then his expression softened. "You've
proven yourself to be very helpful," he said finally. "You're already invaluable
to the Souma family, no matter what anybody says." Tohru fairly beamed at him
and he looked away again, embarrassed. "I'm almost done here," he announced
finally. "We'd better keep him downstairs where it's warm. You go and get
cleaned up."
~~
"Mooouuuusiiiieee...mouuuuussssiiiieee?"
Yuki groaned and reached mentally to strangle whoever was making that annoying
noise, but for some reason, his body didn't do what he willed it to do. He felt
tingly all over and his hands were really, really cold. There was a cold cloth
on his forehead and one on each of his wrists. He must have fainted. The last
time this had happened was when he gave blood at school...was he at school?
"Wake up, little mouse."
Nimble fingers were unbuttoning his shirt and he wanted to bat them away, but he
couldn't move. He opened his eyes groggily and waited for the room to come into
focus. He blinked and saw Shigure looking down at him, a little concern and a
little amusement apparent in his eyes.
"Are you all right?"
In a daze, Yuki muttered out, "Of course I'm all right," and tried to get up,
but once again, his body just didn't respond. In a few seconds though, things
were clear and he sat up abruptly. "Kyou!"
Shigure used the opportunity to take his soaked shirt off and drape a robe over
the wet boy. "Hatori is downstairs taking care of him," the dog said seriously.
He grinned. "Tohru's helping him because sooomebody has a little problem with
needles!" He said the last part in a sing-song voice.
"Shut up!" Yuki yelled, the sound of his own voice ringing in his ears, even
though he hadn't really spoken that loud. Shigure chuckled. Yuki put a hand to
his aching head. "Is Kyou all right?" He looked hopefully at the older man, but
Shigure eyed him seriously.
"I'm not sure," he replied. "Ha-san seems to think he'll be all right. Do you
have any idea what happened?"
Yuki shook his head, pulling the robe over his shoulders and taking the pants
that Shigure had pulled out. "No. We just found him that way. He was caught in
a landslide...half the road fell on top of him, and..." Yuki raised his head. He
got up and walked past Shigure.
"Uh...Yuki-kun?"
Yuki pulled the pants on and threw on the first shirt he could find.
"Yuki-kun, what are you doing? You'll just pass out again if you go down there,"
the dog grinned. Yuki glared at him.
"I'm going to find his bracelet. He must have lost it out there."
Shigure grabbed his arm. "Can't you wait until morning?"
Yuki looked pained. "And what if it rains again? If Kyou changes back, his
wounds won't heal very well."
Yuki continued to pull out socks and boots. He only vaguely noticed as Shigure
sidled up to him, his eyes closed and a stupid grin on his face. He opened his
closet and pulled out a better raincoat, pulling it on and...
"What?" He grabbed Shigure by the collar. "What the hell are you looking at me
like that for?"
Shigure continued to grin. "I'm not looking at you like anything Yuki- kun...but
you're showing a lot of concern for our resident kitty." He smiled sweetly.
Yuki let go, startled. "Eh?" He glared at Shigure. "Don't be ridiculous. I just
don't want Hatori to have to waste his effort...and I don't want that stupid cat
stinking up the house with his other form either! Now are you coming or not?"
Shigure grinned and followed, grabbing a pair of jeans from his own room and a
jacket.
"Coming, little mousie!"
"And don't call me that!"
~~
Hatori had waited for Tohru to clean up first before taking his turn. Before
he'd done that though, he'd followed Shigure's order to call Kazuma, Kyou's
mentor and father figure to tell him what had happened. Hatori had just finished
treating Kyou when Shigure and Yuki had barged downstairs. Hatori hadn't liked
the idea of Yuki going back out to search for the bracelet at all, even if
Shigure was with him, but Yuki was even more determined than Ayame when he had a
bee in his bonnet about something.
It wasn't as though he would have been able to stop him from going anyway, so
he'd let Yuki past. Shigure had told him to call Kazuma and then hurried off
after Yuki. Hatori had made the phone call and after reassuring the frantic
martial arts expert that Kyou was going to be fine, Kazuma had announced that he
would be over at Shigure's house by noon the next day.
Once that had been sorted out, Hatori had taken a quick shower to get rid of the
blood and dirt. His pants were okay to put back on, but his shirt had been
ruined from when he'd been carrying Kyou, so he'd taken one of Shigure's,
figuring that the dog wouldn't mind too much. He'd only been downstairs for ten
minutes with Tohru to watch over Kyou when the front door banged open. Yuki
walked in and judging by the expression on his face, things hadn't gone very
well. "I take it you had no luck finding the bracelet then?" Hatori said with a
sigh.
They looked up, despondent. Shigure took Yuki's coat and took off his own,
hanging them in the closet at the front door, shaking his head. Hatori frowned
at that.
"Thirteen dogs and about two hundred rats and we couldn't find anything."
Shigure sighed. He shook his head then, rapidly, spreading droplets of water all
over the hallway.
"I hope you're going to clean that up," Yuki said darkly.
"Nope!" Shigure smiled, walking toward the kitchen. "Water evaporates, Yuki- kun!
Haven't you learned that yet in high school?" He held his finger up, wagging
it. "You know, it seems they teach less and less these days. You should
endeavour to be old and wise like me."
Yuki ignored him and walked toward the kitchen, looking at the pale boy lying on
the cushions by the table, but not passing Hatori. "Hatori-san...is he all
right?"
"He will be," Hatori replied tiredly. "He lost a lot of blood and it's going to
take him a while until he's fully healed, but he's going to pull through. Kyou's
strong and he never gives up without a fight. He'll be fine. Right now, he just
needs time to rest and recuperate. As do you, Tohru-kun," he added, turning his
head to look at the young girl who was still kneeling faithfully by Kyou's side.
"But I'm not sleepy!" she protested. As soon as she'd finished that sentence,
she opened her mouth on a huge yawn and then giggled sheepishly. "Okay, so maybe
I'm a little tired...but I can't leave Kyou-kun alone. Someone has to keep watch
over him."
"I'll keep watch," Hatori told her. Tohru just shook her head.
"Hatori-san has worked hard today to save Kyou-kun's life," she said stubbornly.
"*You* should get some rest. I'll be just fine, I promise."
Hatori glanced over at Shigure helplessly. Just what was it with kids these days
that never did what they were told to do? Not that he didn't admire Tohru's
courage and faithfulness, he did...but he should be the one to watch over Kyou.
After all, should something happen to Kyou during the night, and then he'd have
to be nearby to do all that he could.
"It's okay," Yuki said hastily, drawing all eyes to him. He smiled at Tohru.
"It's okay. Honda-san and I can take turns watching Kyou out here. That way, you
and Shigure can have time to talk." He looked at them both meaningfully. "We can
come and get you if he wakes up, or if he's in pain." He turned to Tohru.
"Honda-san, you should go get your night clothes on and I'll gather some
blankets. We can stay in the main room with Kyou, and watch over him. Hatori..."
He looked at the stoic doctor. "That would work all right, wouldn't it?"
"Yuki-kun is right," Shigure said happily. "Besides, I cut my finger on
something outside. I need special tender care! It's my best writing finger." He
pouted and batted his eyelashes at the serious man, waving the injured digit at
him. "I'm sure Tohru-kun and Yuki-kun can keep watch."
Hatori stared back and forth between Shigure and Tohru, both of who were gazing
at him with large, pleading eyes. After another few seconds of Shigure waving
his 'injured' finger in front of his face, Hatori grabbed the offending hand and
frowned. "All right then," he said finally, turning to Tohru. "Take it in turns
to sleep. That way he'll always have one of you watching over him. If anything
happens, if he starts to get worse, come right up and get me. Understood?"
Tohru nodded eagerly and Hatori allowed Shigure to drag him upstairs and into
the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his
hands. "Both you and Yuki were out there all that time and you never found the
bracelet?" He sighed. "You should go out again in the morning and have a look
when it's light. I'm worried that he might suddenly transform. He's still very
weak, so we can't risk another transformation on top of everything else that's
happened to him."
"Ahh, Ha-san, my dear Ha-san. People who turn into little sea horsies know
little about the true power of land mammals!" Shigure wagged his finger
playfully before crawling behind the man on his knees and leaning against his
back to rub his shoulders.
"With my sense of smell, my canine friends and Yuki's rats, we could not find a
trace of the bracelet," he said seriously. "We dug and we sniffed, we sniffed
and we dug and still we could not find it. If it was there, we would have found
it, believe me. Unless by some miracle, the bracelet was washed miles away from
where they found Kyou-kun, he must have lost it somewhere else. You should
relax, Ha-san," he added softly. "The good news is, we listened to the weather
report in your car and the skies should be clear...at least for a while."
Hatori closed his eyes, leaning back against Shigure unconsciously as the other
man began kneading the sore muscles of his back. Shigure might talk a whole lot
of nonsense, but he did give good back rubs. "Still...it doesn't make sense," he
said after a while. "How could he have lost it? I know he's hot-headed and
sometimes not too quick on the uptake, but he's not stupid enough to go about
losing something so important." He was quiet for a long moment before speaking
again.
"There was something else about Kyou, something that I noticed while Tohru went
off to clean up. I didn't want to mention it to her or Yuki in case they start
worrying anymore than they are doing already. It looked as though he'd already
received some injuries prior to the accident. Now I know how much Kyou likes to
get into fights, but these marks seemed more than just schoolboy rough- housing.
It looked as though he'd been hit or kicked...the bruises won't come through
properly for another few hours, but you can tell that they're there. That might
have something to do with the fact that his bracelet was missing, but still..."
He sighed in frustration. "No one outside the Souma family other than Tohru
knows what we really are. I can't see him letting someone beat him up and steal
the bracelet. Besides it keeping him from taking his other form, it's pretty
much worthless as a trinket. I just don't get it..."
"Mmm." Shigure closed his eyes. He decided not to mention that Akito had visited
today...not yet anyway. He didn't want to raise undue suspicion yet. He found it
hard to believe that even Akito would be so cold. He would have had a physical
advantage over Kyou in the rain, but he hated even getting near the boy.
Besides, Akito was only violent for specific reasons and Kyou hardly seemed to
be in love. Hell, he barely let Tohru near him and he adored her to pieces. If
he loved anyone, it was her.
"I think we'll have to wait until Kyou wakes up before we know anything. He
might have lost the bracelet earlier today and then transformed coming home. Or
he may have been beaten. There has been talk of robbers about lately. In his
weak state, they might have beaten him up and taken anything of value. True, the
bracelet in pieces isn't worth much, but it is very old, and antiques can be
pawned."
He hugged Hatori, unbuttoning his shirt from the back. "Ha-san, can't we just
get some sleep? I hardly ever get to hold you with you being at the main house,"
he whined.
Hatori stayed silent and let Shigure unfasten the shirt he was wearing. He still
couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Kyou tonight though, how Tohru
had led him to the edge of that landslide and how he'd just froze, staring at
Kyou's alternate form in horror and disgust. He remembered the look that Yuki
had given him, almost as if he had been scorning Hatori for being so unwilling
to get close to Kyou. Despite his thoughts, he couldn't help but shiver when
Shigure ran his fingers teasingly over his bare chest. "Shigure...do you think
I'm a bad person?" he asked suddenly.
"Eh?" Shigure stopped. "Well, yes. You didn't even look at my finger!" he
lamented. "But otherwise, no." He slid the white shirt Hatori had borrowed off
his back and kissed one warm shoulder, wrapping his arms around his lover. "Is
something bothering you Ha-san?" He turned the man around and looked at him
seriously.
Hatori frowned, letting his body relax against Shigure's and resting his chin on
his shoulder. He'd never admit it, but Shigure's silly banter and idiotic jokes
were usually what kept him going. Shigure was always complaining about how dull
and how serious Hatori could be at times, but when Hatori thought about it, they
tended to balance each other out perfectly. Shigure was what he needed to keep
him from being constantly morbid while he was always there to go Shigure a good
kick up the backside whenever he started drifting too far from earth. They'd
been best friends ever since they were kids, but they had only been lovers for a
few months.
Hatori had been completely astonished when Akito had found out about their
affair and he'd been even more surprised when instead of punishing them, Akito
had actually given them his blessing. Hatori couldn't help but be suspicious
even now after so much time had passed. Shigure was always telling him to stop
being so pessimistic, but Hatori couldn't help it. He was a smart man, he'd gone
through years of education, but Akito still continued to puzzle him. He always
seemed three steps ahead of everyone else and if there was anything Hatori
hated, it was guessing games.
Part of him was sure that Akito was just biding his time; ready to pull some
sort of trap on him...but maybe Shigure was right. Maybe he was just seeing the
glass as half-empty. It was then he realised that Shigure was still staring at
him expectantly and he wondered just how long he'd been off in his own little
world. "It's nothing," he said eventually, pressing his face against the side of
Shigure's neck.
Shigure smiled in exasperation and pulled the cynical man down on top of him,
cradling him on his chest and running his long fingers through Hatori's hair.
Even now, he was loath to express what he was feeling. He had always been that
way and Shigure supposed he shouldn't expect an overnight change, but still, he
wanted to be there for the man.
It seemed that Hatori was always being strong for the rest of them. He was
always strong for Shigure, but he never seemed to let anyone in. Even when Kana
had gotten married, he had said little about it. It was that event that brought
them closer together though. It had surprised the writer when Hatori had broken
down and begged Shigure to just hold him. They had fallen asleep in each other's
arms on the couch and Yuki had found them that way the next morning.
After that, they just sort of fell into the relationship, neither actually
making it official, just gradual touching and talking and holding until it
became a relationship. Hatori had insisted that they tell Akito, but Shigure had
made sure to visit the boy first and assure that they would not be denied.
Whatever the particulars were, they were here now and Shigure just held Hatori
close, stroking his hair out of his face and kissing his weak eye gently.
"Ha-san, you know you can tell me anything right?"
"I know," Hatori murmured, nuzzling closer to Shigure, seeking out more of the
other man's warmth. Shigure was always so warm, whereas he...he was always so
cold. He didn't mean to be. It wasn't like he was completely uncaring or
anything. For the time being, he just concentrated on the feeling of Shigure's
fingers running through his hair, soothing him. He was relieved that he could do
things like this with Shigure.
He never thought much about Kana these days, but he remembered how he used to
mourn the fact that she and he would never be able to simply lie down together
and touch each other for hours on end. He could do that with Shigure and
although his lover had never really been much of a patient man, he was always
willing to just hold him like this, never pushing him for anything else. He
brushed his fingertips over Shigure's shirt and then tightened his fingers in
the soft material. "I don't want to talk..." he said softly. "I just want to
forget. I just want to be with you. Is that so bad?"
Shigure merely smiled and kissed the man's soft forehead and pulled him close.
No, that wasn't so bad at all.