It was a good thing that Misaki had decided to not visit again right away.
After the last conversation with Munakata, Saruhiko was not the greatest of people to be around. He was fuming for a while, thinking that everyone seemed to be ganging up against him at this point. He was fine, dammit! He had made so much progress over the past few weeks, and he'd only continue to get better. He didn't need to be with someone else…he didn't need someone else taking care of him. He wasn't weak like that!
It pissed him off.
And to make matters worse, the one person Munakata wanted him to stay with was Misaki? Really, that was just a train wreck waiting to happen.
After all, Misaki hated him, and Saruhiko in return hated Misaki. They were no longer friends, and therefore should not care about each other. Even so, there was everything Munakata and had said when they had their last conversation:
He found you…
He saved your life…
He never left your side…
'I made a promise!'
That's what Misaki had shouted as he'd been dragged out of the room. Saruhiko could still hear the words echoing in his ears. What promise? What promise did they possibly have with each other that meant anything at this point? Why did he care so much?
It was confusing, and it made his head hurt.
So he kept pushing it away. He'd told himself that it was all just stupid and impossible. There's no way he would go and live with Misaki – not again. There was no way Misaki really even wanted to take him in the first place. Impossible.
He couldn't concentrate, and he most definitely couldn't try to think it through. His physical therapy became a great distraction to the thoughts of what awaited him when he'd soon be discharged from the hospital; and each day showed more and more improvement. To Saruhiko it still seemed like things were almost back to normal. He didn't need to depend on anyone else, and he most certainly wouldn't. Especially if that person he was about to depend on was going to be Misaki.
He walks back from his physical therapy alone. He's progressed that much that the nurses allow him to do so. The only thing accompanying him is a crutch to support him just in case he needs it. It was the only condition to being allowed more freedom.
As the Blue walked down the hallways, he could feel eyes on him. They were watching with caution, making sure he would make it back to his room without trouble. And, as always, he did—opening his door and shutting it behind him once he was inside. A sigh escaped his lips. He was tired of all of this. He wanted a change of environment.
He set the crutch aside and got back into bed, leaning back and closing his eyes; but all too soon came another interruption, as he heard a knock on the door. "What?" he snapped irritably, wanting nothing more than a little bit of peace after one of his therapy sessions.
The door slid open, and he expected it to be Munakata coming back to try and change his mind; but he wasn't so lucky. Instead walked in the last person he wanted to see…
"Who the hell let you in here?"
He sees Misaki's eyes widen in shock a little, looking surprised by the tone. "Your dumb king did. How do you feel?"
Saruhiko looks surprised as well, and a little bit confused. Munakata let him in? Was the bastard hiding somewhere? "Don't change the subject. . . Why would he let you in?" he asks, only realizing after that the two did seem to be working together against him if that offer to stay with Misaki was real.
Yata shrugs. "I asked him to."
"You asked him to…?" Again, none of it made any sense. A sigh passes his lips as he turns his head to look anywhere but in Misaki's direction. Fine, he'll try something else. "Why do you keep coming back?"
From the corner of his eye he can see Misaki hesitantly move toward the chair and pull it awkwardly to his bedside. "I promised." Yata whispers.
"Promised what? Promised who?" he snaps, fists clenching in his lap. "I don't need your help."
Yata flinches, and it doesn't phase Saruhiko at all. "Promised…..you." His bright eyes slowly look over Saruhiko. "You're in the hospital." He states simply.
The blue rolls his eyes. "No shit." he growls. It was nearly laughable. "You haven't promise me anything. You're wasting your time."
He flinches again, looking hurt this time; but once again, Saruhiko didn't look like he cared. "I did….when you were….dying. It's my time so why do you fucking care?" He mumbles.
That gets him to shut up, if only for a moment. Saruhiko still hasn't quite come to full terms with the 'almost dying' thing. To him it only felt like he had been asleep for a while—hours maybe. However, in actuality, he'd been asleep for nearly a week and on the brink of death for hours. His hands go limp, fingers uncurling. "I don't care. I just want it to make sense."
"Then ask! Kicking me out of the room after everything I went through got you what, huh?! Answers?!" Yata's voice raises a little and he stops. Saruhiko winces, a look of physical pain crossing his face. Yata takes a deep calming breath as he massages his temples. "Sorry….didn't mean to yell. I'm sure this…is all overwhelming." When the Blue instinctively retreats, shying away from where Yata sat, he continues. "Fuck…no Saru please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Don't…" Yata stares down at his hands. "I didn't mean that."
He couldn't understand why he reacted the way he had just now. It's not like Misaki scared him... He just felt vulnerable. What had happened to him-though he couldn't remember it completely-had traumatized him; and he hated that he couldn't fully control his actions. "Just...don't..." he says lowly, sounding weak.
"I'm sorry….I'll….I'm ok…I didn't mean to yell and I'm sorry. Can we…try this conversation again? Please? I-I'll even walk in again if you want me to."
Another sigh passes, this one sounding much more irritated than the one before. There was no point in starting over. Walking out the door and back in wouldn't solve anything. It would only look childish. "Look...I've been told that you're the one who found me...you're the one who saved me. I get it, okay? What I don't get is why? Why bother?"
"Why….?" The vanguard lets the sentence trail off, looking away uncomfortably. "Well um…I just…." He swallows audibly. "When I saw you like that….thought you were dying….dead even….all our years together suddenly just…I saw all of it. Every moment in class, on the roof….fighting together…playing games. I couldn't….I couldn't let you go. I just…" His fists clench and he stops, remaining quiet.
Everything seems to stop, and for a while it's like he can see those happier memories again. Saruhiko hadn't been lucky enough to revisit those moments. "Those times are over now. We're different people. We're enemies. There's no going back." Which is why he was trying so hard to refuse staying with him. They weren't meant to be together. Not anymore.
"Only because you made it that way." Yata's voice is barely above a whisper, said more to himself than to Saruhiko, but the Blue heard it loud and clear. The remark is returned with a click of his tongue. He turns his head away again, refusing to look at the other even as he continues. "But….I want to help. Munakata-san told me that he…um…already gave you my offer."
"I won't do it." he replies flatly.
Yata presses his lips together, fingers twisting together anxiously. "I can cook for you…take time off work….I can help."
"I'm not going to do it." He replies again.
"What? Do you think living with someone stupid like Bangs is better? Saru they won't let you go on your own."
"I'm not going to be living with anyone! Not you, not Akiyama, not anyone." Now it's his turn to raise his voice. "They don't understand that I'm fine. I can make it by just fine on my own. I don't need help!"
"Saru you're not fine!" He stands up and moves closer to the bed, eyes pleading. "Saru you didn't see the state you were in when they brought you here. It was…bad."
"It was bad then. I'm better now..."
"They said you're walking with a crutch. I bet you're nowhere near the shape you're normally in."
"That doesn't mean I can't take care of myself!" he snaps again. He wasn't weak. He could handle it. He didn't need someone to hold his hand through everything.
"Ok…then prove it." His tone was slightly challenging. "Then show them you're fine living with someone and they'll let you go. You can tell me what you want forever but I'm not the doctor and they're not letting you live by yourself until they're sure you're capable of it. Now you can either live with damned Bangs who probably can't cook for shit or….you can stay with me." His tone softens at the end. "You can let me cook for you, give you your own room, and help you get back on your feet."
He looks up at Misaki with complete shock on his face. The Blue hadn't expected something like that to come out of Yata's mouth that way. The look of shock soon turned into a glare, eyes narrowing as it's directed at the vanguard. "Get out."
Yata grits his teeth. "Fine. But I'll be back. This isn't over and I told you….I made a promise. I don't make promises I don't keep and no matter how much you hate me…you know that's true." He sighed. "Make sure you eat ok? And…drink all your liquids." He doesn't wait for a reply and leaves before Saruhiko can say anything else.
The blue is left alone once again, but the quiet doesn't seem as welcoming as it had before. With the echoes of yelling and back and forth bantering sounding in his ears, the quiet seems almost foreign to him. He was more surprised that no one had bothered to come in and try and stop them. They were fairly loud, and he expected someone overheard them. So why did no one bother to step in?
And where was Munakata in all of this? If he was the one to let Yata in then surely he'd be around somewhere, right? The nurses wouldn't just let Yata in knowing Saruhiko didn't want him here. Munakata would have had to be here personally, but his superior never walked through the door after. He was left alone for the rest of the day, no more interruptions or distractions from the outside. His door remained shut.
It was another week later that he finally saw Munakata again. His date of discharge was approaching sooner than anyone really expected, but there had been no further settlement of where he'd be staying. Luckily for him, Misaki hadn't come back, but Munakata was the one there to fill the void.
The King had walked in on Saruhiko getting his bandages changed. The wound on his side that had almost taken his life was healing at a very slow pace. However, unless he stressed himself out, there was no more bleeding; but the wound still needed constant care. It was only another reason for him to not live alone.
Munakata sat himself in a chair, waiting until the nurse was finished before excusing herself and leaving. "How are you feeling, Fushimi-kun?" he asked, small hint of a smile on his face. This was how their conversations always started. It was almost routine at this point.
"I'm fine. They said it's getting better." It's the same answer he gives every time, but the Captain always seems happy to hear good news of improvement.
"They've told me they can release you at the end of this week, or early next week. You still need to come back for physical therapy, but you don't have to stay here anymore." It was great news—something Saruhiko should have been happy about. After all, he so desperately wanted a change of environment. But knowing what was coming next made the good news become pointless. "However, they refuse to release you until they know you have living arrangements made. I will not allow you to live on your own. Your options are to live with one of your fellow clansmen or accept Yatagarasu's offer and live with him. If you refuse both then our only other option is to transfer you to Scepter4's infirmary, and they will take care of you there."
Though Munakata knew that wouldn't be the favored option. He knew just as well as Saruhiko that transferring from one hospital room to another was not the kind of change in environment that the Blue was looking for. No, he needed to get away from the overbearing white walls, the smell of antiseptic, and the overbearing and overprotective nurses holding him back. "If you really want to know, staying with Yatagarasu is your best option, Fushimi-kun."
"I didn't ask. Didn't want to know." He replies back irritably.
"He's been here since day one. He—"
"Don't give me the same speech again." He interrupts. He didn't need to hear it over and over again. About how Yata found him, saved him. He heard it enough, and he believed it—though he still couldn't see the benefits to saving an enemy.
"Then what is your answer, Fushimi-kun?"
He takes a moment to really think about it. What could happen between the two if he goes, or what would happen if he choose to stay with Scepter4? Of course it seemed like the pitying eyes of his other clansmen would drive him to insanity, but staying with Misaki might do the same. Then he remembered the challenge. If he could live with Yata and proved he didn't need him, then they would have to let him go. After a long pause, he closes his eyes and sighs, only to look back at his Captain.
"Fine. I'll do it. I'll go live with Misaki."