Broken Fragments
Chapter 46: Spilled Contents and Nonstop Tears
Yuuhi and Hiroto, along with their managers, Subaru and Chairman Muranishi, finished taking care of paper works and security verifications in the airport with the help of the American assistants that flew with them from Japan to California. The two idols were immediately surrounded by bodyguards dressed in black suits and ties. Then, as soon as they stepped out of the airport, fans screamed and took pictures of the two idols, who wore dark sunglasses to keep the afternoon rays off their tired eyes. Hiroto had known about his fans abroad, so he expected some kind of security, but Yuuhi didn't think she actually had fans outside of Japan, so she felt a little overwhelmed. She didn't show any emotions, but she was glad and anxious at the same time to find that she had supporters all over the world.
"You alright?" Subaru asked, entering the car right after Yuuhi.
"Yeah," she nodded as she put on her seatbelt.
Hiroto entered a different car to prevent suspicions from their fans. After all, the most skeptic fans were from outside of the country, who couldn't really get direct news and information from their admired idols. It wasn't a problem for the couple because they were both exhausted. Even though they slept during the flight in comfortable first-class seats and beds, they still yearned for the softness of an actual bed.
The five elite black cars that transported the idols, managers, assistants, and guards arrived at the four-star hotel after a 30-minute drive in traffic. They were given separate keys for their own rooms while the staff of the hotel took care of their luggage. Hiroto and Yuuhi headed to their rooms first while their managers handled everything in the front desk. The hotel was huge and full of people that ranged from businessmen to celebrities, but the air was totally different from the hotels in Japan.
"How are you feeling?" asked Yuuhi's boyfriend, following her into the elevator.
"I uhh…I'm okay," she lied.
Yuuhi hadn't been feeling well since they got on the plane, but being the person to always hide things, she kept a soft smile on her face.
The elevator beeped and the two got off to their designated rooms' floor. Swiping the keycard, the two entered their own separate rooms, which were located next to each other. The luxurious rooms were spacious and gorgeous. The sheets smelled fresh, the refrigerator had various alcoholic drinks, and the flat-screen TV hung on the wall.
Hiroto sat down on his bed after he dropped his luggage on the floor. While he rubbed the top of the bridge of his nose, sighs also escaped from his mouth. He, too, was exhausted, but he was thinking of activities he and Yuuhi could do while she was still in California with him. Yuuhi had four days to spare in California before her flight to New York for Genevieve Laurent's fashion show on the first day of the New Year. Since they were going to be apart for a while, Hiroto wanted to spend as much time as he could with Yuuhi. He had already planned that on her last day in Cali, he was going to take her out for dinner in the most well-known restaurant in Los Angeles. Of course, Christopher Ray's assistant had already taken care of the reservations for the Japanese idol. Hiroto smiled to the thought of seeing Yuuhi's delighted look. His feelings for her flowed to his head as he continued to daydream while lying on his bed.
Meanwhile, on the left side of the wall that separated the rooms, Yuuhi violently threw her purse's contents on the bed without even admiring the fancy room. She held her hand on her mouth, her eyes wide in panic and frustration.
"Where is it?!" she yelled in her head, searching through her things.
Tears started forming in her eyes when she remembered what her doctor had reminded her when they met in secret before Yuuhi's flight.
"I found out the truth," Yuuhi muttered while her doctor examined Yuuhi's heart with a stethoscope.
Before their flight at one in the afternoon to America, Yuuhi visited her doctor, Ayane Saitou, to get a checkup three hours before leaving to the airport. The doctor, who had a moderate schedule, made time for her special patient, like always. The room was quiet because for the doctor somehow sensed that Yuuhi needed to be the first one to talk.
Even after Yuuhi's statement, Saitou-sensei kept doing her job and placed the stethoscope's diaphragm on Yuuhi's back. Yuuhi deeply inhaled twice without being given instructions, already familiar with the process like the back of her hand.
"My mother left me a note she'd written when she realized she was getting worse," Yuuhi stated with cold eyes that stared at the floor.
Saitou-sensei walked to her desk to record the vitals she had taken from the auburn-haired girl. Then, she wrapped the stethoscope's tubing around her neck and turned her rolling chair around to finally speak to Yuuhi.
"The medicine you're taking now," began the doctor, already getting straight to the point.
"They're only a part of a test."
Saitou-sensei began to explain how there are various drugs that are being tested on patients with cystic fibrosis. Though rare, Saitou-sensei was able to apply for Yuuhi to become one of the test patients. The idol's doctor went on to explain about how the antibiotics she used to take when she was a child was the same as the medicine she was taking now, except the present prescription didn't have to be taken every day.
"You can't take advantage of that, however," the doctor warned Yuuhi.
"I recommend you take the medicine every day. The drugs are still an experiment, after all, so we don't know how long it takes for a patient to start getting sick or weaker without them. Also, you can only find them in a select few hospitals around the world. Please be really careful."
Yuuhi took heed of her doctor's caution and placed the three containers, each containing a week-long supply of medicine, in her purse.
During the flight, Yuuhi had to secretly take her medicine in the bathroom to hide it from her companions. True, she had an actual blood relative with her, but Yuuhi still couldn't bring herself to tell Subaru, her older brother, about her situation. He was aware of Yuuhi and Kirari's unusual conception, but he wasn't aware of what Yuuhi was going through. The idol vowed to keep it concealed from them as long as she can go through with hiding it.
After fumbling through her things, Yuuhi found only one container hidden in the deepest pocket of her designer purse. She couldn't find the other two containers and couldn't remember where she put them She tried to remember, but Yuuhi couldn't think straight from the sudden stings she began to feel in her chest. The auburn-haired idol immediately opened the plastic bottle to take a pill with the hand that covered her mouth. She started to cough out blood before she even entered the room, making her panic since Hiroto was next to her. As soon as she popped the pill in her mouth, she ran to the refrigerator and desperately grabbed for the water bottle hidden behind the alcoholic and carbonated beverages.
Yuuhi chugged the water down and rested on her hotel room floor, her heart still racing. She kept coughing violently, realizing the fact that medicines don't work in a quick second after taking it. With both her hands, she tightly shut her mouth and tried to cough as quietly as she could, her chest in pain.
Out of the blue, knocks were heard from the other side of the door.
"Y-yeah?" Yuuhi asked, her eyes widened in horror and panic.
"Can I come in?"
Without having to say their name, Yuuhi was able to identify who wanted her permission to enter.
"I..uhh.." Yuuhi ragingly coughed again, interrupting her sentence.
"I'm changing."
Yuuhi knew that it was a stupid way to decline her boyfriend from entering her hotel room. After all, they've already made love with each other before and have seen each other in only their naked forms.
"Are you alright?" worried, Hiroto asked with a suspicious tone lying under.
The auburn-haired idol took a deep breath and wiped her mouth with the back of her left hand. She got up and opened the door, hiding her bloodied left hand behind her back. Yuuhi just poked her head out the door, not giving Hiroto the slightest idea that he could come in.
"I'm okay," Yuuhi continued to lie.
"Can I come in?" the boyfriend asked, his eyes wandering off to the small gap that the door made.
"No! I'm sorry."
"But—"
"I have a surprise for you."
Technically, the sick auburn-haired wasn't lying to him. Yuuhi still felt guilty that she had to hide things from her lover, but something in the back of her head made her hesitant about everything. She tried not to think about it because recently, all she could seem to feel was bliss.
"You do?" Hiroto blushed with a soft glimmer in his eyes.
Yuuhi faked a smile and nodded to reassure her boyfriend.
"All right. Well, when you're done, just come out so we can eat dinner downstairs later."
"Okay."
Before Hiroto could even try to give Yuuhi a kiss, the girl shut the door on his face and leaned her back against it. On the other side, Hiroto blankly stared at the door, a little shocked from Yuuhi's behavior. Inside the room, Yuuhi clenched her chest, only prayers and hopes that the pain would soon stop swirling around in her chest. She slowly fell to the floor, terrified that the medicine wasn't going to work.
The pain gradually died down, but Yuuhi's heart ached from the frustration. She was angry at herself for not trying to rely on Hiroto, but she couldn't help that she wasn't ready. Yuuhi had always tried not to rely on anybody with the fear that they were all going to leave her someday. Growing up having to be as blank as a rock, Yuuhi had difficulties trying to pour out everything in front of anybody. It's true that she was starting to show Hiroto the actual Yuuhi, but he had yet to see the bare Yuuhi.
Thinking about how cowardly she was, Yuuhi felt as cold as the smooth door she leaned on. She felt as empty as the room she was in. The auburn-haired girl let go of her tears, angry and hurting.
"Why is this happening to me?"
When Yuuhi felt better, she knocked on Hiroto's door when the sun started to turn orange and set. Hiroto grabbed a polo shirt and left it unbuttoned, his tank top showing. They made their way to the lobby of the hotel and met up with their managers to eat dinner. A waitress came over to pick-up their orders and give them their drinks after they looked at the menu. Yuuhi ordered a Caesar salad; Hiroto ordered lasagna; Chairman Muranishi and Subaru ordered baked fish fillet. After handing their menus to the tending waitress, they looked around the hotel restaurant filled with American customers.
The restaurant wasn't too grand for the customers to wear formal clothing, but the people still dressed decently. Soft music played from the speakers found in the corners of the room. The round oak tables were dark, shiny, and smooth, thanks to the staff that always kept them polished. Mini-chandeliers rest atop each tables to provide the customers with their own light. The floor's velvet-colored carpet was soft and clean, too.
Yuuhi felt better with all the conversations that went around in the restaurant. It was peaceful, but not too quiet for her to feel alone.
"Did you find your rooms?" Hiroto asked the two managers who sipped some of their beverages.
"Yeah. Ours are only a few doors down from yours," Subaru replied, putting down his glass of cider.
The four of them made small talk about the flight. They also talked about the plans that were already made for them by their employers, Genevieve Laurent and Christopher Ray. Ray, the director that Hiroto was going to work with, was too busy to greet them, but Chairman Muranishi had been informed that he, Hiroto, and Ray were going to meet the director the next day. Subaru also informed the rest of the group about his and Yuuhi's flight to New York in four days. As much as Genevieve wanted them there as soon as they can, there were no flights available.
"Ms. Laurent said she would've picked us up with her private jet, but she was using it," Subaru laughed when he remembered the message he received from the fashion empress.
The conversations kept going, but it didn't take a long time for the dark-haired Hiroto to notice that Yuuhi didn't speak at all. He secretly took glances through the corner of his eyes to examine Yuuhi. Hiroto understood that she was still tired from the flight, so he didn't want to fret. However, Yuuhi didn't look well at all. She was pale, her eyes seemed dead and were out of color, and even her lips weren't the usual rosy color.
It was too late for Hiroto to realize that he'd been staring at the auburn beauty since Yuuhi already caught him.
"Do I have something on my face?" she giggled, placing a hand on her cheek.
"Oh, no," Hiroto awkwardly laugh.
The smiles Yuuhi would give off always captivated Hiroto. He quickly forgot his worries after she playfully giggled.
Their orders came and broke the awkward feel between the couple. They ate in silence, only conversing every now and then. The food was delicious, as to be expected from a four-star hotel. The four enjoyed wine and talked more about life with no clue that time passed by pretty fast. The still-quiet Yuuhi enjoyed listening to the men's conversation. She learned more about the Chairman, who took her in to become a part of their entertainment family, Subaru, her older brother that went missing after their tragic first meeting, and Hiroto, who slowly changed her.
Yuuhi snuck in a small yawn, turning her head away to be polite from the others. Hiroto checked his watch after noticing Yuuhi's getting tired. The time showed 9:37 pm.
"If you'll excuse us, we'll be heading to our rooms," Hiroto got up after sipping the rest of his wine.
He grabbed Yuuhi's hand and they both bowed to their managers, leaving the restaurant right after. Before the couple headed to the elevators, they made a quick stop to the mini-garden they had in the back of the hotel.
The garden was quiet with only the sounds of the fountain's water splashing accompanying the couple. They sat on one of the benches, Yuuhi's head on Hiroto's shoulder and his arm around hers. They stared at the night sky, seeing stars that they couldn't see well in Tokyo. Words needn't be said to appreciate their time together. The silence between them made them more aware of each other's touch, heartbeats, and breaths. They were two different people, yet they seemed so alike.
Yuuhi closed her eyes, relaxing herself. Before she could let go of her thoughts, she finally remembered what happened to her other medicine bottles.
Quickly opening her eyes, Yuuhi got up to surprise Hiroto.
"I'm going to my room. I almost fell asleep just now, so I'm gonna get some rest," Yuuhi covered up her alarmed thoughts.
"Alright, let's go," Hiroto also got up.
A few minutes later, Hiroto and Yuuhi separated to their rooms to get a night's sleep. Hiroto changed out of his clothes and got into bed right away, but Yuuhi dug into her purse once again.
"They are missing," she thought to herself after going through her suitcase then her purse once more.
She found one more bottle of medicine, but the third one was missing. The two bottles only had 10 days' worth of medicine left. Yuuhi remembered that the bottle she took with her to the plane's bathroom accidentally fell down the toilet, spilling its contents. She wanted to pick the pills up, but it was no use for they were already soaked in dirty water.
Without even realizing it, tears were already rolling down her cheeks, nonstop. She clenched the bottle she found in her hand as she trembled in frustration. With the back of her hand, she rubbed her tears away and got up from the floor. Yuuhi stormed out of her hotel room with the keycard assigned to her. With just four steps, Yuuhi reached Hiroto's door and knocked lightly to keep herself from waking the other occupants.
Yuuhi could hear Hiroto's footsteps from the other side of the door, thanks to the silence that engulfed the halls. Hiroto opened it a second after the sounds of his footsteps stopped.
"Can I…sleep with you tonight?"
The female idol was confused as to why her voice came out shy. She didn't mean for her words to come out the way they had, but she couldn't take them back into her mouth. Her cheeks felt warm and red, both from crying and from the question she had just asked.
"Yeah, of course," Hiroto slid his arm out and placed it on Yuuhi's back, pulling her in.
"Come in," he allowed.
He didn't complain. As a matter of fact, he was guilty of enjoying the sight and sound of Yuuhi's asking him in a very shy and girly manner. From the back of his head, he sensed something wrong. However when Hiroto found that his girlfriend had already tucked herself under the thick blanket, looking like a child, he shoved his worries in the very corner to avoid touching anything delicate that's bothering Yuuhi.
Hiroto turned the lamp's light off and turned to his side, facing the window.
"Goodnight," he quietly said, his eyes closing.
"Goodnight," Yuuhi replied.
She also turned to her side, her back against Hiroto. Unbeknownst to him, Yuuhi quietly showered the pillows with a waterfall of tears.
Author's note:
Hey, everyone! I deeply apologize for the long wait for this new chapter. I have been very busy recently because I just moved to the States! Crazy, right? Well, I am still moderately busy, also with school, but I will try to upload as fast as I can. Thank you so much for your continuous support! Please don't forget to post your reviews because they really make my day and push me to even update faster. Heehee. Thanks, guys! -Mayumi Selnia :3