A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. I decided to just finish off the story and get it up. So here is the last few chapters. I decided to cut out a lot of crap in between... and I hope it doesn't feel too rushed. Thank you to everyone who stuck through my story :D
Chapter Twenty-Six
The rain had been pouring heavily that day. They'd arrived home from hotel hours earlier and everything had seemed normal. Len had excitedly expressed his feelings on seeing Rin again but hadn't spoken about what happened between him and Katsurou. Kaito had picked up instantly something happened and even when Aiko told him something was up, neither of them could get anything out the two. Katsurou only spoke to Len when necessary and seemed to be avoiding him. The only information Len gave away was that Katsurou had to sort his feelings out, and that was it.
They'd parted ways the moment they got off the bus, though Kaito hung around with Hibiki who wanted to talk about something. They'd decided to head back to Hibiki's apartment.
However, a storm was brooding in the distance… and none of them could expect the tragedy the storm was going to bring.
They just gotten in to the apartment and setting down in the living area when Hibiki whipped out his phone. He was grinning like a fool, though Kaito was unsure why. After a moment, Hibiki showed him something on his phone. Kaito stared at it with confusion. "What is it?"
"What does it look like?" Hibiki countered, his grin wavering slightly. "Do you like them? I was thinking about getting a set." The image was a collection of metallic bangles, though some were designed as chokers and rings as well. "I thought about getting six of them."
"Six? Why?" Kaito asked, feeling even more confused.
"Well, for us six. Ryu, Katsu, You, Aiko, Len and Me. Six different bangles. You know, like friendship bracelets… but more stylish and less obvious."
Kaito looked at the image again, frowning a little. "What for, though?"
"Christmas! For Christmas! It's approaching so quickly! Can you even believe that?! So I thought these would be awesome as Christmas presents… unless you hate them?" Hibiki looked suddenly disappointed. "I suppose they're pretty bland right…?"
"No, they're pretty cool," Kaito smiled reassuring. "I think the others would love them."
"Really! Then you'll come with me to get them, right? I'm… not confident enough."
Kaito gave him a suspicious look. Why would Hibiki want him to help? He asked, but Hibiki avoided the question. Instead, he jumped up and offered to make something hot to drink. Using the towel Hibiki provided, Kaito dried off his hair. Hibiki had switched the television on to catch what the weather was going to be like. "Damn, looks like a storm's coming," Kaito muttered. "I don't think I'd get home in time."
"That's fine, you can crash here," Hibiki replied, bringing over the mugs. "I've got an extra futon and I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind."
Kaito accepted the drink, sighing as the warmth spread out form the mug and into his cold fingers. "Yeah, I'll give them a buzz… and in the morning, we'll go get these bangles you want."
Hibiki grinned at him, pleased to hear that Kaito would go with him.
Kaito woke to the sound of his phone buzzing beside his head. Groaning, he picked up his phone, noticing a dozen missed calls as well as a text message left on his phone. He also noticed it was two-twenty in the morning. He debated for a moment to look at them or not, but decided that there wouldn't be that many missed calls if it wasn't urgent. Unlocking the phone, he looked at the missed calls. Most of them were from Aiko, but there were a few from Katsurou and Ryunnosuke. The first call had come at twelve-thirty, and it had been from Aiko. That bugged him, but he also noticed the text was from Aiko, so he opened it. It was very short and merely said "call me back, it's urgent". He stared at it for a long moment before deciding to dial Aiko's number. As he was about to ring it, his phone began to ring. Aiko had bet him to the chase and had called him.
"Hello?" Kaito answered the call, trying not to yawn. "Aiko, it's two o'clock in the morning, what-"
"Thank god I got through! Kaito, you need to get down to the hospital! This is really bad!"
He could tell Aiko was crying. He sat up, and began to shake Hibiki who snoozed in the futon beside him. "What's happened, Aiko?"
"Please, Kaito! You need to get to the hospital! Katsurou is on his way to Hibiki's place."
"I'm here at Hibiki's" he replied, shaking Hibiki a little harder. The boy stirred, groaning in a response. "Aiko, I need to know what happened."
"It's Len… Kaito, Len's hurt. You need to get here."
Just as the words slipped Aiko's mouth, there was a loud banging on the front door. "Hibiki! Wake up! This is an emergency!"
Hibiki crawled from his futon to answer the door. "Damn it, Katsu! It's two in the damn morning. Just shout a little louder."
Whatever was happening between the two became a muffled, but panicked conversation. Kaito did his best to calm down Aiko as he hunted for his clothes. Once he promised her he'd be there, he hung up and headed to the door. Hibiki, clearly too lazy to change, had grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on over his pyjama's. Katsurou stood at the door, red face and almost teary eyed. "K-Kaito… you're here too?"
Kaito nodded. "Let's get a move on."
"A-A taxi is here. Kamui-senpai said he'll pay the fair."
"Katsu, what happened?" Hibiki asked as they left the apartment. Surprisingly, he didn't seem too upset, though Kaito knew it was a façade.
Katsurou merely shook his head. "We don't have time to hang around here and talk, so I'll explain in the taxi."
It was almost heartbreaking watching Rin snuggle close to Miku-san. Her whole body shook as she sobbed uncontrollably. Miku-san had received the news from Ryunnosuke and had dropped everything to be here. Even though she looked rather calm, Aiko could imagine what she was thinking. Miku was hardly around because of her job, but it didn't mean that she didn't care about Len. With her and Ryunnosuke being somewhat childhood friends of Len, there wasn't any doubt that Miku would run to his aid. Over the course of their trip, Miku had frequent Kamui-senpai's place to help him take care of Rin. Now… they waited to hear the news of Len's recovery.
Aiko bit her lip, turning her eyes to Ryunnosuke who sat nearby. He looked tired, but then again, they all were. This was not how they expected their trip to end up. At the end of it, Aiko had done the crying on his and Miku's behalf, as neither had shown any signs that they were going to. After calling Kaito, Aiko had managed to regain some composure… but she wondered what Kaito was going to do now?
From all the information they had gathered, it didn't sound good. Kamui-senpai was the only person who'd been able to give a detailed report of events and wasn't at the hospital. The only facts he'd given them was Len's mother showed up out of now where, possibly high on drugs or something and had attacked Len. Len was too kind to fight back, and was badly hurt. So was Rin, though Kamui-senpai had been able to restrain Len's mother and prevented her from doing any more damage. From what he said, Len was still conscious, but he would probably be on pain medication by now since the injuries were extensive. He'd been in surgery when Aiko had arrived at the hospital.
She didn't like to admit it, but the authorities were not going to turn a blind eye this time. Len and Rin would no longer be able to take care of themselves and be forced back into the foster system. If the next people who were willing to take him didn't live nearby…
…Len and Rin would be separated from them.
That scared Aiko more than anything.
However, she'd not revealed to anyone that her parents had been asked to take them in. They had a history with the system, and they were received by many of the authorities. If they decided to take that risk and bring Len and Rin home with them, things wouldn't necessarily change.
But, it was for her parents to decide now.
Aiko took a deep breath. When were they allowed to see Len? She wanted to see for herself that he was okay. Need to know what damage had been done and help him in any way she could.
As the thoughts circled her mind, three figures approached from down the hallway. Ryunnosuke got up to greet the three of them, explaining in quiet voices what the situation was. She didn't have to look at Kaito to know what he was thinking. Instead, she looked back at Miku and Rin, and felt like crying again. What Rin saw would have scarred her for sure.
"Rin…" Kaito spoke quietly as he approached the two girls. Almost instantly, Rin pulled away from Miku to give Kaito a teary-eyed look. She probably had grown to trust Kaito by now, since he had become a driving force in Len's life. Miku didn't fight her when Rin pulled away and hugged him. Kaito was quiet while Rin sobbed, caressing her hair gently and supporting her in the only way he could.
Once she had finished crying, Rin fell asleep in Kaito's arms. None of them really spoke, instead, they'd dozed off a few times themselves, waiting for some sort of okay from the staff. Kaito had been the only one to force himself to stay awake, waiting for anything. Good news had come in the early hours of the morning. Surgery had been successful and Len was no longer in critical situation. In a few more hours, they'd be allowed to see him. Maybe out of exhaustion, Kaito had finally fallen asleep. He awoke several hours later to find Kamui-san hover over him. He looked like death, but Kaito didn't comment.
"Len's awake," Kamui-san spoke quietly, doing his best not to disturb the group. "He's pretty beat up, but he's awake. The police are with him now."
"When can we see him?" Kaito asked softly, shifting his weight slightly. He didn't want to wake Rin, but his arms were sore now.
"This afternoon," Kamui-san replied softly. "A few nurses have told me that it's best for us to go home for now. There's not much more we can do here. Plus, Len will probably wanna sleep for a while, too."
"Let's go back to my place," Aiko spoke up, yawning. She'd must have woken and heard their conversation. "It's closer to the hospital."
Eventually agreeing to it, Aiko and Kamui-san woke the rest up. They left the hospital in higher spirits than they were when they entered, but there was no doubt they were all beyond exhaustion.
The phone rang just after lunch, and Kaito could feel the collective sighs of relief when they heard the voice on the other end. "I'm fine," Len's voice was quiet and tired. However, the fact he was even allowed to call them was great news. "I'm sorry I worried you all."
"It's ok," Kaito replied, with the group agreeing with him. "What's the verdict?"
"Well… I've got this really cool scar down my chest… it hurts really bad and I can't sit up straight. I've been told bed rest is on my roster for the next fortnight or so. If it doesn't reopen in the next few days, I should be allowed to come home. I'm also currently blind in my left eye… though that's temporary. The rest are just some broke bones and stuff."
"You were in surgery for ages, Len. There must had been some serious damage," Aiko spoke up, expressing her concern.
"I know… I haven't asked how bad I was, but I was pretty messed up when I got here. I rather not know the gory details." Len laughed weakly then winced. "I'm sorry, I'm really fine."
"Fine my ass," Ryunnosuke muttered to himself, though Kaito was sure Len didn't hear him.
"Anyways, they said that visitors can come by…but I rather you guys not come by. I look pretty…bad. Though… I'm meant to be meeting my foster parents today… well, this afternoon… which is kinda scary."
"I'll come down and see you," Kaito said abruptly. He didn't want Len to be on his own for this. "Everyone else will see you when you're ready, right?" He looked at the others, who reluctantly agreed. "What time will they be there?"
Len was silent for a moment. "I think it was about two…so an hour after I'm allowed visitors."
"I'll be there."