Snow Petals - Chapter Eleven -
[Multi-Chapter] Snow Petals
Pairings: MaruDa, RyoDa, Akame, TaNaka (one-sided), Jin/Ueda/Ryo friendship, Junno/Maru/Koki friendship, Jin/Kame/Koki/Pi friendship…
Rating: 14-A?
Warning: violence, abuse, swearing, stalking, alcohol abuse, some mentions of drugs (it was just a tranquilizer!), character death, some gore… who knows what else’ll come up.
Summary: There he was, running again, hoping again, escaping again… can he make it this time? If he can’t, he’ll really kill him this time. But what if the help of a compassionate stranger gives him and his friends the desperately needed strength to overcome him? What if all it takes is a helping hand and the help of a newcomer to heal the scars left from the fight?
(Bad summary but just read it and you’ll understand muaha)
Disclaimer: I don’t own these guys! Well, so far I own Shoji and Hideo and whichever other OC’s pop up but otherwise, nope! Well, Ryo’s like an OC… but that doesn’t matter.
| Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chap. 2 - 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 |
| Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 |
Chapter 11
They reach the hospital soon enough and they’re allowed to Yuichi’s room. “He’s just gotten out of surgery,” the nurse explains. “He’s still unconscious.”
They nod silently. When they enter the room, Koki is there, knuckles clasped in front of him so tightly they’re bone white. His legs are bouncing fast in an effort to tunnel his stress, his anxiety, his fear for his friends… “Tatsuya!” he jumps up when he sees the three at the door. “Jin… Kame… what... where’s… is he…”
They all know who “he” is.
Tatsuya shakes his head, bites his lip again.
Koki sinks to the floor, staring straight ahead. “When the medics… weren’t doing anything, I thought, I guessed… how long?”
Kame croaks out, “minutes after you left.”
Koki’s eyes go wide as saucers. “T-That long?” he chokes out.
Tatsuya collapses against the door, hugs his arms tight against himself. “T-that… long…” he affirms. “He was awake… that… long,” he whispers brokenly.
Koki hangs his head in silence. Jin gathers Tatsuya into his arms again, holds him gently as he sobs anew. Jin just stands there, mute, tries not to remember the scene on the side of the road, tries to remember instead the times when they were kids, when Ryo was healthy. He tries to remember when he and Ryo would play soccer and Tatsuya would laugh and they would chase each other across the field and fall and Ryo would climb the gym to hide or tackle Jin or… He struggles to keep the memories in mind to blot out the new ones that are tearing his mind apart.
Kame, feeling lost, goes over to Koki and helps him to his feet. “Koki… how is Yucchi?” he asks softly.
Koki looks at him blankly for a moment, before turning his face to the bed. “His lung was punctured…” he says. “They managed to drain the blood and fluid and save it; he was really lucky, they said, that he had as little damage as he did. They said it was a miracle he underwent the surgery so well and he’s responding well. He’s got a lot of painkillers in him right now and he’ll be unconscious for a few days… but he’ll heal, maybe even perfectly,” he stops his rambling and turns back to Kame and his eyes are watering. “When they told me the good news I started crying all over again, I was so happy. I think I passed out… ‘cause when I came to, I was in here, on the other bed,” he points, “and Yucchi was just laying there, sleeping almost peacefully. He called for Tatsuya a few times on the way here and after when he was asleep… but he’s been quiet since.”
“He c-called for m-me?” Tatsuya asks shakily.
Koki looks at him, but his gaze is still blank. He nods. “He kept asking if you were safe, if you got away, then he just kept mumbling your name in his sleep. I think he tried to call us in the club even when Ryo had a hold of him. There’s no way Ryo could’ve done that much damage if he wasn’t already grabbing him…”
Tatsuya fights back more tears at the mention of the name and walks over to the bed shakily. “Yuichi, I’m so sorry I did this to you…” he murmurs.
Kame lays a hand on his shoulder. “You didn’t do this to him,” he says. He leaves it at that.
A soft knock sounds on the door. Jin turns to see a nurse. “I was called to do a check-up?” she asks softly.
Jin’s breath catches. His eyes flit over to Tatsuya. “C-could we have… a man, please? It won’t be an easy check-up to see…” he struggles to explain.
She looks confused, but nods. “I’ll bring a doctor straight away, sir.”
“Thanks you,” he says, his voice hoarse.
A few minutes later, a doctor comes in. “Who needs help?” he asks.
Tatsuya stands from where he was staring out the window at the snow, forehead against the glass. “Me, sensei.”
The doctor nods. “If you could sit on the other bed here please. Do you mind if the others are here?”
Tatsuya shakes his head. “Please let them stay.”
“Alright,” the doctor gently takes Tatsuya’s wrist and checks his pulse, then tugs a band off the wall. “I’m going to check your blood pressure now,” he informs Tatsuya, who nods again silently. “A little low, but almost just right. Have you had any alcohol this evening, sir?”
“Yes,” he answers. Kame tells the doctor exactly how much, remembering what he served him.
The doctor frowns disapprovingly, but shrugs. “Alright. I’ll just listen to your chest now. If you could remove your shirt-” he sucks in a gasp when Tatsuya does, revealing what’s left of his bruises and scratches. “What…”
“They’re a week or two old now, except the ones on my side just here, and my chest…” Tatsuya murmurs meekly. “They’re healing well.”
“What…”
“Can’t you tell the signs of an abusive partner when you see them?” Koki spits, somehow frustrated with the doctor’s shock. “Don’t worry, the guy’s gone now,” he growls, but his voice wavers dangerously and cracks a little.
“Koki…” Kame murmurs soothingly.
Koki flinches, then looks disgusted with himself. “I-I’m sorry…” he hangs his head.
Jin walks up to him, thumps him on the back. “It’s… okay,” he says quietly. “We understand.”
The doctor takes a breath and checks Tatsuya’s lungs, listening carefully. The young man winces at the cold metal and brings in a sharp gasp when the doctor presses a little too hard where his healed rib is still a little tender, but otherwise sits listlessly. At last, after a few more little tests, the doctor sits back. “You’re fine, but for the surface… injuries and the healed rib. I can have a nurse bring some extra water up for you but if you three want food, the cafeteria won’t be open much longer,” after a pause he adds, “feel free to stay the night, though I shouldn’t be saying that. Especially you,” he turns back to Tatsuya, “you should definitely stay here.”
Tatsuya nods.
“I… can go get some food,” Kame says. “Koki… want to come with me?”
Koki nods mutely and the pair leaves. There’s a moment of silence as Jin seems to struggle to the surface, to rouse himself from a daze. “I’m… sorry,” he suddenly says, still staring off into space.
“What?”
“I’m sorry,” he repeats. “I lied to you. We won’t be playing soccer together like we used to… and the others won’t be jealous of how close we are, and Ryo won’t be happy and healthy again and he won’t love you like he used to and he won’t laugh like he used to and he won’t-- he won’t sing like he used to and he won’t-”
“Stop!”
A pause.
“Please… just stop…please,” Tatsuya begs, his hands over his ears. “Don’t make me listen to any more. Don’t make me wish… don’t make me hope… don’t make me love him again,” he whispers. “Jin… please, my heart is hurting so much… it’s tearing in two… please don’t make me remember,” he pulls his knees up close, his bare arms hugging them tight. He bites his wrist so hard he almost draws blood as he seeks to muffle the need to scream, to do something. “Jin… make it stop…” he pleads weakly. “Make it stop… it hurts so much I can’t breathe. It hurts so much I can’t think… I can only think of him and I don’t want to think of him, I don’t want to think of anything! Jin, please, please make it stop!” he huddles in a ball, his fingers digging into his hair, as if to rip the thoughts straight from his head. “Make it stop… I don’t want this! I don’t want it to choke out anymore, I don’t want to be numb again, I’m scared of being numb again! I don’t want-” Two strong arms wrap around him and he chokes out a sob.
“I’m sorry…” Jin whispers. “I’m so sorry…”
Tatsuya gasps a deep shuddering breath, but the intense throbbing in his chest won’t let the tears stop.
“Tatsuya…” the mumbled call would be lost, was there any sound in the room.
“Yu-Yuichi?” Tatsuya tears himself from Jin’s grip and rushes to the bed. “Yuichi, are you awake? So you need something? Can you hear me?”
But the other is unconscious.
After a moment of apprehension, of anxious waiting, Tatsuya’s hands grip the covers in claws and he sucks in a breath. He looks back up and raises a trembling hand to brush Yuichi’s short bangs from his eyes. He fixes the covers over the other, turns his arm so the I.V. doesn’t shift. Then his hand falls back to his side, shaking again.
A gentle knock at the door and Kame and Koki return. “I know you don’t want to eat,” Kame says, “but you should really eat something.”
Tatsuya looks up dully, nods obediently and takes the food with a murmured “thanks”. He sits back on the bed and eats in silence.
“Is he… okay? Considering,” Kame asks Jin, standing next to him. Jin’s standing back near the window, where Tatsuya was earlier.
“He’s… I don’t know, Kazu. How do you describe someone in his position?” he says, defeated.
“And… what about you?”
Jin’s eyes flash to Kame’s, then back out the window in a blank, faraway stare. But he’s forcing that detached look, and Kame can tell. He can tell by the way Jin’s shoulders are forced back as it strapped down, the way Jin’s mouth is in a taught line like when he’s forced to stand on a sprained ankle during a photo-shoot for hours and hours at a time, only his eyes reflect a flash that says the pain is a thousand times deeper. “I’ll… get over it,” Jin says with false confidence. Quieter, he adds, “Eventually.”
Kame nods. “That’s all we can hope for,” he says, and wraps an arm around Jin’s waist. The other unconsciously does the same.
Suddenly, Jin turns to Kame and something in his eyes is desperate. “I- I love you Kazuya… I really do… I couldn’t bear losing you…” he says in almost a whisper.
Kame doesn’t recognize the thickness clogging Jin’s voice, turning it almost raspy. He brushes his lips against the taller man’s, just a feather of a touch. “I love you too, Jin. But we should go. We need rest- we all do.” Jin closes his eyes and sighs softly, nods. A tear slides down his cheek and Kame brushes it away tenderly. “Koki,” Kame turns to the man who’s staring blankly at Yuichi’s bed again, “we’re going to go… will you stay here with Tatsuya tonight?”
Koki looks up, not really seeing. He nods. Tatsuya stands. “Junno… was going to meet us somewhere, wasn’t he? How will he know…?” he asks.
“I’ll call him,” Kame assures him. “I’ll make sure he knows. But you’d better sleep, if you’re done your food. No one’s expecting it to be a nice sleep, after… what’s happened, but you should try. Your body needs it, okay?”
Tatsuya nods.
Kame frowns, bites his lip. Then he goes up and hugs him. “This will all just be like a bad dream soon… it’ll pass. It might not be soon, and it might not be smooth getting there, but it will pass.”
Tatsuya grips Kame tight for a moment before releasing him. “Goodnight,” he says. “Tomorrow?”
Kame smiles gently but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Tomorrow,” he affirms.
Tatsuya nods. “Could… could you bring some of my- our, Yuichi’s too- things from the apartment?”
“Do you have a key?”
Tatsuya shakes his head, but Koki stands. He holds one out. “I do.”
Kame takes it, grips Koki’s shoulder briefly. “Thank you. And take care of yourself… and these two,” he says.
Koki nods.
“Bye,” Kame says.
“Bye.”
The other two leave and Koki sits back in his chair. “I’m sorry we couldn’t stop him,” he says. His voice is dead.
Tatsuya bites his lip. “Don’t… please,” he pleads softly.
Koki nods, rests his head on his knuckles. Tatsuya buries under the sheets and thanks to the food, the alcohol, and likely the shock of the night’s happenings, he soon falls asleep.
Koki glances back to where Tatsuya sleeps, his brow furrowed and his nose blotchy from crying. Koki tugs the sheets up around Tatsuya’s chin, straightens his hair, refills his glass of water, all in a gentle, familial way. Then he turns back to Yuichi’s form, unconscious on the bed. He hesitates, then bends down and kisses his friend softly. “I’m sorry, Yu. I’ll be hurting you again… but he needs you more,” his voice breaks on the last and he bites his lip. A tear runs down his cheek. “I know I didn’t give you the chance… but maybe it’s better now, that way, nee?” his lips waver into a smile, but the smile gutters out like a flame and he chokes, falls to his knees beside the bed. “I guess it’s better that way,” he says again. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I have to break your heart again, but please let him fix it, nee?”
On to | Chapter 12 |