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All the Small Things: Deleted Scene
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Yuuki Ootori sat cross legged on her side of the bed. She had just climbed out of her riding clothes, into a shower and then into a pair of jeans and a sweater. She was staring painfully at her hands as her husband slept like a log near her knee.
She stared at him pleadingly, willed him awake, got no response and turned to her hands again. She had broken a nail while riding. Badly broken a nail. It was split from just off centre, the crack running past the tip of her finger and across the flesh usually covered by the usually unremoved body of her fingernail. She had also got cleanser in it. The warm water had helped, the soap had not. It stung.
Yuuki turned back to Kyoya and scowled at him playfully. He was out like a light. She smiled and lay down on top of the covers beside him.
"Hey, Kyoya?" She whispered. "You should help me when I'm in pain. I wake up for you when you're in pain. Like the times you were sick and when you had a migraine." Pause. Silence. "I need a hug?"
Nothing.
Yuuki pondered for a moment. He looked so peaceful and honest when he slept. She couldn't help but love watching him sleep, it was something only she got to see and understand and be near on an intimate level. It was a sign of trust, of allowing the other to rest, of allowing them to rest near you.
And yet...her whole hand tingled as the abused nerves in her forefinger reverberated. It was surprising how much something so small could hurt. She had nearly cried. And then when she got soap in it she had bit her lip so hard that it throbbed slightly and her head hurt because she had went to rest it against the mirror and been a little too hasty. All in all, it was a simple and tortured affair.
"Kyoya?" Yuuki said gently. "I'm all broken."
No response. All he did was breathe slowly. The girl sat up again and sat facing him. Cradling her injured hand she eyed her husband mischievously. Her healthy forefinger and thumb were used to close Kyoya's nostrils.
There was a moment of dead silence and then a hand locked around Yuuki's wrist. He was awake and menacing. He had not got a fright, gasped for air, struggled or anything; he had attacked. Sort of. Kyoya stared up at his wife in a confused, muddled, annoyed manner.
"What on earth are you doing?" He said, a grumpy edge to his voice. "Were you trying to kill me?"
He was going to rant a bit but stopped upon seeing Yuuki's long-suffering face. She was staring at him painfully, totally unapologetic about giving him the Tontine Treatment to wake him up.
"Kyoya..." She whined softly. "Finger." She held up the offended phalange. "Feel my pain."
"You woke me up with abuse because your finger hurts?"
Pause. She grinned. "Yes."
"Yuuki..."
"Look at it! Its red and I got cleanser in it and it burns. Oh it burns."
"Stop being melodramatic." The Ootori woke up to a less annoyed state than the one he had come back to life in. "Let me see." He grabbed her hand and reached for his glasses.
"Don't be angry, Kyoya. I want you to look after me." Yuuki said generically.
"That's not going to work." He commented, slightly amused at her try-to-save-his-mood quip. The man put his glasses on and held her hand as he ran his fingers up the length of hers. "When did you do this?" It looked nasty.
"I caught it on the hook that holds Zero's bridle..."
There was a long pause as the man of the house examined the damage.
Yuuki eyed her husband carefully. "Is it okay? It really hurts."
Kyoya met her eye and with a totally serious voice said "We have to amputate."
She believed him for a moment and blinked in surprise. He was a doctor after all.
The man smiled, she had just brightened his morning. "Don't be stupid, Yuuki. Just carefully cut it short and rub some Dettol into the split. You'll be fine."
"Don't say things like that!"
"Hey, you woke me up by blocking my air supply. I have every right to be mean."
"No...that's just downright evil."
"Why would a broken nail mean amputation?"
"It's badly broken. If you had any idea how much it hurts..."
Kyoya smiled sleepily. "What time is it?"
"It's just past seven."
The man half-sighed. He actually had to get up. "I'm sorry it hurts, Yuuki."
"You are not. You just want revenge for my trying to kill you."
"We have a prenup, you can't kill me."
"Ooo....now that was an evil statement." She eyed him. "Kiss it better." She held finger out to him.
Kyoya smiled genuinely this time. "I married a five year old."
"No, no, you married me. There's a difference."
The man paused for a moment. She was not immature or unintelligent – rather the opposite. She was just...Yuuki. So uniquely herself that society standards didn't really apply to her. She had taught him that just because society says so, doesn't mean it has to be so. They had their own lives and though they lived in a social group, they were their own units. Society is run by the individuals within it, somewhere along the lines we forgot this.
Kyoya kissed Yuuki's finger and then gently held her hand in his own. "Good morning, Yuuki."
"Good morning, husband." She replied sweetly as she leant forward to press her lips against his own. "Thank you."
The man tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "No, Yuuki, thank you."
Thank you for teaching me things that I could never find in a text book, for helping me learn things that are never written and for making me feel like I come first in all your classes. Thank you for making the small things, no matter how inconsequential or painful, mental or physical, intimate or meaningless – thank you. A thousand times, thank you.
Yuuki frowned for a moment. "Thank you for what?"
An intelligent expression settled onto her husband's face and he replied with silence. The man stepped out of bed and left his wife sitting, pondering, smiling. Always smiling.
Little things grow into big things. Little things like acquaintances. Like that first riding lesson. Like a snowflake. They could end up destructive, like airplane wheels. They could end up amazing, like the ink on a return ticket. Life is not one large entity, if you look closely it is an entirety of moments. Some forgotten, blended, some highlighted and spectacular. Some crumbling, some whole. Moments. Little things. The ones that hurt were often the ones that made or broke the memories around it. Breaking a nail could be incredibly painful, but if treated right could be a lesson well learned from the ABC of life; or so the metaphor suggests.
Kyoya appeared out of the bathroom and found his wife with a pair of nail scissors, flinching as she cut the last of her shattered nail-tip off. The long and ragged crack throbbed and stung, but she had to get rid of what was making it hurt more. Dead weight. Sometimes we have to go through pain to remove that which makes life more painful.
The man disappeared to the bathroom and returned with a slightly orange-stained cotton ball and a bandaid. He silently took his wife's offended hand and ran the Dettol over the broken nail-body. Yuuki hissed slightly at the burn and relaxed as the bandaid was pulled tight across her finger, cutting off some of the negative sensation.
"Good girl." Kyoya mocked lightly as he stood and discarded the cotton ball. "What colour sticker do you want?"
Yuuki stared sadly at him from her seat on the bed. "Ow...Kyoya..."
"Aw, Yuuki." He cooed, mocking her again.
"Aw, Kyoya." She shot back, amused.
"Come here." He opened his arms.
Yuuki unfolded herself off the bed and embraced him warmly. He smelt like soap and warm cologne. "You're so nice."
"You're the only one who thinks so."
"Maybe I'm delusional."
"No, you're Yuuki." Kyoya replied. "And you see me."
The girl smiled up at him. "Who can't?"
"The people I don't let." He replied honestly.
Yuuki fingered her husband's tie. "Thank you." She looked him in the eye. "Really."
He kissed her forehead. "You're welcome."
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Yes, I do still write these. Yuuki and Kyoya are characters that stuck around in my head and refused to leave. And...I'm still a little attached to this story, I just can't seem to leave it behind.
This was going to be a 'Kyoya x Kain x Yuuki' short, but it turned out like this. So, expect one with Kain in it in the future.
Hope you enjoyed.
Reviews much appreciated.
Blessings,
P.
p.s) I have started a new story called 'Amorphous'. It's a Bleach fic, which is totally new for me. Its supernatural and there are so many characters...it's going to be an adventure. I am awaiting feedback to see how it is taken, so, fingers crossed.