Yuki shot up sitting upright in a bed. He looked around, a confused expression upon his face. There was a big gap from the last thing he remembered to where he was now. He didn't recall ever going to the infirmary of his castle. The last thing he remembered was being with Tohru. She didn't know where he lived so there wasn't a chance that she brought him here. Considering her strength Tohru definitely didn't bring him here. But then who did? His thoughts were interrupted by someone who started to speak.
""Don't move too
much, you'll give yourself a headache. You bruised your forehead
when you fainted," A solemn sounding voice told him.
Turning
his head Yuki faced Hatori, the doctor for the palace and also his
twenty seven year old cousin. Hatori didn't seem like the
friendliest person in the world but Yuki knew that he was a lot nicer
inside than he appeared to be. When Yuki was younger he remembered
coming here very often because of his bronchial tubes. Hatori was
always there then though his father would be the one who treated
Yuki.
"Hatori? What happened?" Yuki asked pushing his bangs out of his eyes feeling the tightly wound bandage across his forehead.
"I should ask you that. A startled maid found you fainted, almost gave her a heart attack. Your cut on your left hand was infected. I'm guessing you fainted and hit your head when you fell," Hatori explained.
Yuki nodded vaguely remembering what happened. Now he started to understand. He remembered coming home now and falling down after he unwrapped his bandage. It made more sense now but he still didn't get how a scratch like that made him faint. Even if it was infected, it was just on his hand. Since he wasn't a doctor and Hatori was Yuki decided to believe Hatori over his own doubt. At least his hand hadn't been amputated. That would have been bad.
"So how did you cut yourself?" Hatori asked.
Yuki opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He closed his mouth as he tried to come up with a response that would satisfy Hatori but wouldn't give away his secret meetings with a certain brunette. He knew he'd have to think carefully before he answered. Hatori was very good at seeing through lies which made keeping the truth from the doctor an extremely difficult task. Before he could respond the door swung open and Ayame barged into the room unannounced. For the first time, Yuki was thankful for Ayame's unexpected visit.
"Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuukiiiiiiiiiii!" sang Ayame as he ran over to Yuki grasping both of his wrists in his
His relief that Ayame was here was beginning to dwindle away by his close proximity. Yuki held back a grimacing look since Ayame had unintentionally helped him. Still, couldn't his older brother save him and stay at least ten feet away? Hatori pitied Yuki for having a brother like that, but Ayame was one of the doctor's close friends though he didn't like to admit it. Having Ayame in the room kept Hatori from pushing Yuki for answers though.
"Are you alright? The painful look on your face has led me to sleepless nights! Worry is a hideous monster distracting me the whole time!" Ayame gasped.
"How long was I out?" Yuki asked pulling his hands away from Ayame.
"Two days, one hour and three minutes since you were brought to Haa-san!" Ayame answered rather proudly.
Yuki stared at Ayame in disbelief. It was a miracle that Ayame could memorize that, yet not remember a request, though more an order, Yuki gave him. Even Hatori seemed bewildered that Ayame had known that since he hadn't told Ayame that Yuki had fainted until after he had treated him. If only he could put his memory to good use, then Yuki might get some peaceful days for once in his life.
"My head hurts…" Yuki muttered rubbing his head.
"Now, now! Out with it! Tell Nii-san about the demon that has inflicted this terrible wound upon you!"
"I just scraped it…" Yuki lied. That was half true though. He had scraped it against the sharp vase from the temple. But of course he'd never say that aloud. That was like purposely falling into a trap. Saying that would lead Hatori or Ayame to ask where there was a broken vase in the palace, which would make him explain that he had gone to a temple, which in turn would force him to say he had gone there because he liked a girl named Tohru who wanted to find her parents. Just thinking about it made him a bit confound and dizzy.
"Where? When?"
"Recently… At the stables… I tripped over an old tool and scraped it against the sharp end of a pitch fork," Yuki continued drifting further from the truth than he was before.
"The careless fool who left the tool out! I will bring him to you and have him on his knees apologizing and begging you for forgiveness!" Ayame declared.
"You don't have to-!" Yuki protested but Ayame was already gone.
In the end, counting on Ayame to save him was pretty stupid. Ayame couldn't sit still for more than a minute which made Yuki angry for even thinking that Ayame would stay and keep Hatori from finding everything out. Yuki was silent awaiting Hatori's advancement. Hatori didn't say anything at first like he was picking out the perfect questions to ask. The time was beneficial to Yuki who was trying to come up with any excuses he could muster in this short amount of time. Anything would be helpful at this point.
"There was no tool… was there?" Hatori asked in an expressionless voice.
"Eh?"
Yuki's eyes widened as he bit his lip nervously. He wasn't ready to answer yet; he needed more time. Hatori was silent. Sweat droplets started to appear on Yuki's forehead. As each second passed he grew more nervous. There was no way around telling the truth anymore, but maybe he could get away without telling the whole truth. He'd leave as soon as he could; his legs felt fine enough to run away from this place. Good thing he had injured his hands and head and not his legs or he might be stuck here where Hatori could ask all the questions he wanted.
"Hatori, please don't tell anyone…" Yuki barely choked out.
Hatori looked startled but smiled, "What you do is your business… Whether I say anything or not you'll be caught eventually. I won't tell but I'm not helping you either. Just be careful for her sake, whoever it is you are seeing…."
"Thank you…"
An expression of relief passed Yuki's face when he heard Hatori say this. No one could understand how good those words sounded to him. He wasn't aware of how important seeing Tohru was to him yet, but it obviously meant enough to him to make him sweat when it was almost taken away from him. Subconsciously Yuki let a smile cross his face. Small signs like these made it easy for Hatori to guess that Yuki was seeing a girl he was clearing head over heels in love with.
"You should leave now before Ayame comes back… Rest though and come back in the morning," Hatori instructed.
Yuki nodded as he slipped out of bed and exited the room. He would gladly accept the permission to leave. A few minutes ago he thought he would have to convince Hatori that he was well enough to leave. Hatori tended to be over cautious but with good reason. If he didn't take proper care of the future heir of the kingdom there was sure to be drastic punishment. Now he had another reason, not many people knew this, but Hatori understood what it was like to be in love, and he would help Yuki stay well enough to see whoever it was he saw. That was the least he could do.
"Fight for your love Yuki…. Don't let it end like Kana and I…" Hatori muttered softly.
Yuki looked back but the doctor had vanished already, most likely to see other patients. Even though he only cared for people within this castle there were several sick maids and butlers. Usually servants didn't get seen by the same doctor as the royal family but to keep them in the best conditions so they could do more work, they did. But of course, the royal family was Hatori's top priority.
He shrugged deciding not to over think what Hatori said. It wasn't as if Hatori had spoken in some code that he could crack by thinking about it. There was clearly a story he hadn't heard before. Yuki shook his head, his silver bangs covering the bandage across his forehead. He could ask someone what Hatori meant and lucky for him one of Hatori's friends was coming by now. A dark haired man with a playful smile on his lips passed Yuki.
"Shigure," Yuki called to the man in the dark green kimono.
"What is it, my dear cousin?" the man turned around to face him, his dark bangs hiding his mischief eyes.
"Who is Kana?"
Shigure's eyes widened for a split second before he dropped the papers that were once in his hands. The sharp thud from the force hitting the marble floor rung loudly across the empty hallway as a couple of sheets swayed to the floor. For a minute, all Shigure could do was stare at Yuki in disbelief. Like many things, Kana was not a subject people brought up lightly and without reason. In fact, nobody spoke of her anymore which left Shigure pondering over who told Yuki.
"Whe-Where did you hear of her?" Shigure asked in a baffled voice.
"Hatori mumbled something about her… Tell me. Who is she?" Yuki demanded impatiently as he bent over to pick up some of the scattered sheets of paper.
Shigure dropped down beside Yuki reaching for the rest of the papers and taking the ones in Yuki's hands. He wasn't sure how to start this conversation. Shigure was a novelist which gave the hint that he was good at telling stories but tragedies about his own friends was something he had difficulty doing. Yuki stood up waiting for his answer. Hatori was his cousin as well as Shigure's so it didn't make sense that Shigure would know and Yuki wouldn't.
"Kana was Hatori's first love," Shigure sighed.
"What happened to her?"
"You see… She was a peasant, a poor girl. Hatori loved her anyways though. You see, their love wasn't allowed since Ha-san has royal blood. He didn't care though… So it was decided that Kana would be executed… No one has seen her since… That night was the first time I had ever seen Ha-san cry…" Shigure murmured the end.
"Oh…"
Yuki couldn't say anymore. He never thought that anyone felt as much pain and suffering as himself, but he felt bad for Hatori and his lost love. He knew now that he was pretty much being selfish and self absorbed before, only thinking of his own misery. It never occurred to him that these kinds of tragedies happened to everyone, future king or not. This pitiful excuse for a story from Shigure gave Yuki a lot to think about.
---------------------------
"Yuki? What's wrong?"
Yuki looked up at his angel, concern sprinkled across her words and worry coated her face. He smiled hoping that he hadn't been sitting there with a dazed look on his face for too long. Hatori and Kana still wouldn't leave his mind. He couldn't help but imagine what happened to Kana happening to Tohru because someone found out about their relationship. It was horrifying to think that one day Tohru could be executed, but she was a princess so maybe they wouldn't kill her.
Tohru's fate could even be worse on the other hand, since there was clear hatred between their families. Yuki knew his mother and father had his fiancée picked out but would they really get rid of Tohru like that to keep him from wanting to marry her? He could never tell Tohru what he was just thinking about. There was no doubt she wouldn't want to see him anymore so he'd be selfish and keep it to himself to prevent her from leaving him. She was like a drug, and he was helplessly addicted to her; he needed her.
"Nothing… I was just thinking about something," He smiled at her not wanting her to fret about anything else.
"How's your hand?" Tohru asked kneeling down in front of him.
"I'm fi- It hurts a little," Yuki replied deciding to be honest with her.
"I'm glad it's getting better!"
Tohru didn't comment but she was really glad that he hadn't chosen to tell her he was fine. His honesty meant a lot to her. It meant so much that inside she was jumping for joy. The truth just seemed to make her feel more special to him, and she wanted nothing more than to be important to him. Yuki looked up at her about to change the topic to something pleasanter but a cough stopped him. He covered his mouth as more coughs forced themselves out.
"Are you sick?" cried Tohru her worry reappearing across her face.
"No… I have weak bronchial tubes…" Yuki choked out between coughs.
"It's almost fall now so you should wear something warmer! The winds are starting to get stronger! I don't want you to get sick!" Tohru advised.
Yuki smiled and nodded. He was about to stand when his hands flew to his chest as another coughing fit began. Tohru leaned towards him fretfully stroking his back gently in attempt to soothe the coughs. His face started to flush a shade of red; he found himself unable to catch his breath. His short and choppy breaths came out less and less as coughs took over. Inside of him, his lungs burned crazily from the painful asthma attack. He felt energy vanish from his body making him lay his head on her shoulder for support.
"Yuki?"
Shifting over Tohru tried to look at his face to see what happened. He hadn't said anything or even moved in a while. When she maneuvered Yuki fell to the ground clutching his chest unconscious. Tohru shrieked jumping up unsure of what to do now. She chewed her lip worriedly unable to think straight in a time of crisis. It took her a minute to realize she should call for an ambulance. She thought about where a phone would be until she remembered she had her cell phone with her.
It all passed by as a blur, her numb fingers shakily dialing the number of the emergency room, the ambulance coming with the paramedics carrying him inside, arriving at the hospital, watching them treat Yuki and then sitting beside him waiting for him to open his eyes. She hadn't released his cold hand since she had climbed into the ambulance with him. Tohru lost track of time long ago even with the clock a few feet away from her. The window served as a good clock with the moon high in the sky but she didn't pay attention to it. She couldn't, not with Yuki in front of her unconscious.
She hadn't even seen the sun set being too fixated on Yuki. Tohru knew that when she got home she'd be in huge trouble for leaving the castle for so long without warning and for not at least calling back. At the moment she didn't care; all she wanted was for Yuki to open those gorgeous eyes of his. He hadn't woken up since he fainted in the afternoon. Tohru stared at him squeezing his unharmed hand tightly begging him to awaken.
Wrapping her other arm around her knees tighter Tohru frowned. She pulled the chair closer to his bedside and rested her head on an empty spot of his bed. Tohru peered at his peaceful face. He didn't look sick anymore, his face was back to its original pale tone, and no IV's were hooked into his arms nor were any machines to keep him alive. The nurses and doctors hadn't really dropped by after they forced an inhaler in his mouth. Her eyes began to droop, but she kept snapping them back open. She lost to her eyes in the end, letting them shut for what she thought was a minute.
Yuki stirred turning over in the lumpy hospital bed. The blanket that was thrown across him was rough and scratchy. He looked around the small room. All four walls were painted in a bland cream color, a few cushioned chairs were pushed against the walls, there was a dresser, an empty bed to his far left, and there lied a single lamp on a nightstand beside him weakly lighting up the room. It wasn't until his eyes caught sight of an IV stand and a heart monitor by the empty bed did he realize he was in a hospital room. Quickly he pieced together what he remembered and concluded that he had fainted, again.
"Damn… This keeps happening way too much lately…" Yuki mumbled as he pushed the blanket off of him.
Something under the blanket, which he had just thrown to the side of his bed, stirred. The lump grew bigger. Yuki stared at it half wondering if he was going to die and partially curious to know what was under there. He tried to pull the blanket off whatever it was under it but his hand was restrained. He really was going to die wasn't he? Someone had tied his hands up and hid by his bed until he woke up, didn't they? Normally he would have laughed at himself for even thinking that but right now he was jumping to conclusions and couldn't stop.
He couldn't calm himself down until a small hand poked out from under the mass and peeled the blanket off showing him a dumbfounded Tohru. She blinked glancing around the room a bit confused until she saw Yuki. It was only then did she remember what had happened. A smile instantly spread across her face when she saw that he had woken up, but she was a little embarrassed to be caught sleeping.
"Yuki-kun! Are you okay? Do you feel better?" she asked at once.
"Yes… I'm fine… This used to happen frequently when I was younger. It's not too serious so it wasn't necessary to bring me to the hospital," Yuki replied with a smile.
"Oh but, you fainted and I um… I wasn't sure what to do! I was really worried," Tohru admitted nervously as she turned her attention back to her skirt.
Yuki smiled as he gave her hand, which was still tightly wound around his, a reassuring squeeze. Her jaw dropped and her face flushed when she realized how tight her grip on his fingers was. She let go instantly letting his hand lie freely against the white sheets. Tohru stared at it as if to check if she had broken any of his fingers. He laughed softly and lifted it to her hand to show her his hand still worked. His hand moved to her hair fixing the tasseled mass.
Her hands jumped to the sides of her head in shock. She ran her fingers up and down to rake out the tangles and knots in her brown hair. Tohru silently yelled at herself for falling asleep and ruining her composure. Yuki simply smiled thinking she'd never realize how perfect she always look regardless of how she dressed or even if she brushed her brown locks or not. He repositioned his hand to the back of her neck and bent towards her as if he was about to kiss her but let his lips hover by her ear instead.
"Thank you for everything you did for me…" he whispered to her.
Tohru could feel her cheeks darken by the second. He pulled back with a grin across his face, and then he kissed her. She flinched, shocked by his actions, before she kissed him back. Straightening herself up, she locked her hands together around his neck forgetting how late it was. Yuki continued to kiss her, wondering if this made up for making her worry so much and for keeping her out so late. He knew just as well as she did how much trouble the both of them would be in when they went back to their homes. It would be especially bad if they questioned where either of them had been.
Leaning closer to Yuki
Tohru could feel her legs leave the chair. Her eyes widened as she
fell accidentally shoving him onto his back on the bed. His lips kept
contact with hers. He didn't seem to mind seeing as he didn't
stop kissing her. At first, neither did she until she came to see
that she was lying on top of him, on a bed. That position was bad;
this was going too fast for her. This made her break the kiss
immediately and jolt back into a sitting position. Tohru bowed her
head apologetically.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered.
His eyes opened slowly as he raised himself up on his elbows. He arched one eyebrow wordlessly asking, "For what?"
She just sat there gazing at his handsome features before jumping up with a gasp. The moon in the sky reminded her of the time. Tohru jumped up in a panic. She knew it was late, but she wasn't aware that it was this late. Flailing her arms around trying to decide what to do at this point she dropped something wrapped in an envelope on top of Yuki's legs. He sat up and picked it up curiously seeing his name written in a curvy writing.
"What's this?" he asked her holding the envelope up.
Tohru froze turning around to face him. Her eyes shot open with signs of horror as her jaw dropped. She walked back over to him facing her feet a little embarrassedly. She had the feeling no matter how much she tried she wouldn't be getting the get well card she wrote for him back. Her intention was to leave it for him if he didn't wake up so that she wouldn't be around when he read it. Now that she thought about it, she had written some embarrassing things there. Tohru hopped up on the bed reaching for it but he held it just out of her grasp.
"It's nothing!" She managed to choke out.
"But my name is on it…" he started with a smile.
There would be no reasoning with him to give it back. She could tell that she'd have to take it by force if she wanted it back. Too bad for her his arms were longer and he was ten times more quick and graceful than she was. Her clumsiness was evident as she fell on his chest for the second time that night. Tohru attempted to push herself up and get the letter back but one of his arms held her down in a one-sided embrace.
"What is it? A love letter?" he guessed with a teasing smile she couldn't see.
Keeping her face pressed against his shirt she shook her head muttering, "It's a get well card…"
"Then… Can I open it?"
Giving up, she nodded her head. Yuki beamed but he kept an arm around her shoulders anyways. She made no attempt to stop him from opening the letter. Tohru kept her face on his chest waiting for him to read it and end her misery already. He ripped the top of the envelope carefully not wanting to damage whatever was inside. Hearing him pull the card out she burrowed her face deeper not wanting to know his reaction if it was bad. Yuki unfolded the simple card with a flowery design on the cover. What he was interested was not in the card but what was written in it.
Dear Yuki,
Please forgive me if I didn't take you to the right place or something! I wasn't exactly sure what to do so I'm sorry! I hope you are feeling better! You really scared me but the doctor said I had nothing to worry about! If you are feeling up to it please meet me at the lake this Friday night!
I'll be waiting,
Love,
Tohru
P.S. Get well soon! ♥
Yuki looked down at the brown head not understanding why she didn't want him to read this so badly. From his perspective there was nothing embarrassing about the card at all. He found it cute and comforting. Each word of it fit her personality so well especially the little heart she drew at the end. Glancing down at her he kissed the top of her head to let her know he had finished reading and liked it.
"Thank you…" he told her with a grin.
Tohru peered up at him with a faint smile. Once again she had forgotten that she was supposed to go. Yuki reminded her though but not because he didn't want her there; he felt the opposite, he wanted her to stay. He knew better than to keep her there. It was because he wanted to see her more that he let her know she had to go, for if she stayed out too late tonight today could be the last time he saw her. She pushed herself off of him shyly.
"I'll see you then," she told him as she hopped off the bed. Tohru stayed by his bed and kissed his cheek before making her way over to the door.
"Wait! Tohru, it's dark. Let me walk you back home," Yuki offered as he started after her.
"Ah no! I couldn't make you do that! You should be resting!" Tohru cried shaking her head.
"I told you before I'm fine. You can't expect me to let you walk home alone in the dark, do you? I care about you, a lot so don't think I could risk you getting harmed," Yuki told her nonchalantly.
She looked uneasy about this. A part of her wanted him to come because she loved to be with him but she didn't want him to come along because he had fainted. The last thing she wanted was to overexert his energy and cause him to collapse again. That would be extremely bad if he blacked out on his way home where she wasn't there to call for help. Tohru couldn't say it aloud but she cared about him too and couldn't let him get harmed either.
"Please?"
When he saw her trying to refuse again he added, "You know I'll go with you whether you want me there or not. Isn't it better to agree?"
Tohru smiled slightly and gave in. Since he put it that way there was no chance he would stay and rest even if she told him not to come. Instead of trying to get him to stay here and fail miserably she figured it would be better to just to let him come along and enjoy his company. That's what she really wanted to do inside anyways. Yuki saw her determination to refuse break inside, and he couldn't help but let a small smile form upon his face.
"Oh okay… But promise you'll stop if you need a break," Tohru replied.
Yuki willingly obliged saying, "I promise… I promise…"
"Okay, then let's go!" Tohru exclaimed extending her hand out to him.
Yuki laughed and took her hand. He took one last look at the room before walking out the door with Tohru. There was always one thing he was thankful about hospitals, people here were too absorbed with their own dramatic lives to pay attention to the fact that two royal people were here. He preferred it that way, it'd take too much time to talk to them and explain why he was with Tohru, part of his parents' enemies' family. It was complicated and needed a lot of rethinking, but he really didn't care who her family was. He liked her because she was her not because of her family. They had nothing to do with what made him like her.
Long chapter make up for delayed update? I hope it did! Gomen nasai I didn't mean to take so long! Please review and tell me what you think! Ooh and I keep forgeting to say thing but I love to draw this series so it there is any scene you want me to draw from this story please tell me! There is no guarantee of when it'll be finished though! I draw more scenes from the end O but I finished this story at a glorious 454 pages! So far I've typed 66 pages.♥ Review! ♥
