Lost & Found - Episode 3 Part 2
Title : Lost & Found
Chapter Title : Eventful Prelude
Setting : Hidarime Tantei EYE - Post Special Drama
Summary : What if at the end, Ainosuke's resolve crumbles, leaving him vulnerable in front of his older brother. What will Ainosuke do? And how will Yumeto react to the drastic decision his baby brother had come onto?
Rating : K+
Disclaimer : The characters n original storyline are not mine. Only the changes in plot are :)
Fukuchi rubbed his temple tiredly as he stood a bit to the side, leaning against the wall right next to the closed door, letting the two overly worried adults to take over his young charge.
He would blame the hospital for this mess… and maybe his rapidly softening heart as well to be honest. He didn’t know what it was exactly that made him so attached to this young boy, aside from obvious, work related reasons. Maybe, just maybe, it was the way Ainosuke-kun carried himself.
Or, more precisely, the huge difference he could saw about it. The description - not the physical ones - of the boy he had gotten from his subordinates did not exactly match the boy’s behavior now.
Ainosuke-kun was now more… compliant. Less likely to run off on his own and was more likely to follow direction.
He didn’t know if these were good or bad.
But one thing he knew for certain though: Tanaka Ainosuke was a force to behold, no matter which character he seemed to have in the mean time.
(Flashback)
Fukuchi rapidly walked to the hospital rooms he had been two days ago, right hand loosely gripped Kaito-kun’s discharged paper. It was not usually police’s job to pick up and get a victim back to his or her house, but this one is an exception.
Kaito-kun lived with only his mother and grandmother. With his mother behind the bars now and his grandmother unable to pick him up, not to mention Kaito-kun’s illness, he had decided that this once was an exception.
His mind wandered to the other boy hospitalized here and he ignored the traitorous voice at the back of his mind that was saying only reason he had agreed to take Kaito-kun home was because he had wanted the chance to check on Ainosuke-kun.
He paused suddenly.
Since when had he started thinking of Tanaka Ainosuke as Ainosuke-kun?
He let out a sigh before resuming his walk, deciding that Kato and Sayama-sensei were responsible for that. The two of them called the boy Ainosuke-kun after all.
Sliding the door open, he stopped for the second time, but now it was because the one he was supposed to meet was not there. Eye twitching with annoyance, he closed the door harder than necessary and was about to complain to the receptionist when a hushed conversation reached his ears.
“I really don’t think it’s a very good idea.”
He frowned at Ainosuke-kun’s quiet voice and silently walked closer to the closed door, just in time to hear someone sighed tiredly and an unfamiliar voice replied.
“Then what are you going to do?”
A beat of silence passed before Ainosuke-kun answered.
“I don’t know. That’s why I asked you…?”
Another tired sigh.
“You didn’t want to stay here and you didn’t want to sneak out either. There’s only two options to this, Ainosuke-kun.”
“But, Masaki-kun, can’t you take me there?
He didn’t have to see Kaito-kun’s - for it has to be him in there with Ainosuke-kun - face to see that the boy was staring at Ainosuke-kun incredulously.
“I can’t sign you out of here, Ainosuke-kun. You will need an adult for that. How about Sayama-sensei?”
“I don’t think she will, with how I acted this morning. She’ll be too worried to even consider saying yes.”
A pause there and he raised an eyebrow. What happened this morning between Ainosuke-kun and Sayama-sensei? It seemed though, that Kaito-kun asked that for him.
“What did you do?”
“I… kind of broke down in front of her.”
Another beat of silence.
“Just stay here and rest. You still have a fever, you know.”
“But-!”
“There’s really nothing else you can do, right? You should concentrate on getting better.”
This time the silence stretched longer than those before.
“I may be able to help them there…”
Fukuchi frowned deeper when he heard that. Deciding that he had heard enough, he slid the door open, catching the two students off guard, and entered.
“Fukuchi-san…?”
He averted his gaze to the one who had called him hesitantly and for the first time, he saw the feeling of helplessness that was shining in the boy’s eyes.
“What do you mean by that, Ainosuke-kun?”
The boy on the bed started fidgeting, his fingers picking the edge of the blanket pooling on his lap. Realizing that he had the boy even more nervous-wreck, he turned his attention to the other boy in the room, sitting on the chair beside the bed.
“Kaito-kun, why aren’t you waiting in your room?”
The called boy started. “Eh? Oh, Ainosuke came there. Then, I thought that’s it’s better for me to come here so he could rest.”
He nodded at the acceptable reason. “Then? What were you discussing about?”
“Please…”
Both his and Kaito-kun’s attention averted to the boy sitting on the bed. The boy himself looked at him pleadingly, biting his lower lip which seemed to tremble slightly.
“Please… Will you take me to Central Pacific Hotel?”
He kept a stoic face in front of them, no matter what he felt. “Why?”
The boy shook his head, clearly distressed. “I - I can’t…”
“Seriously you two!”
The loud voice from the door gathered all of their attention. Fukuchi turned his head to see an exasperated looking nurse making her way to the bedside before forcefully dragging him and Kaito-kun away and out of the room.
“Stop aggravating the patient!”
He was still in a bit of a daze when the door was closed in front of his face. Scowling in annoyance, he gestured to the boy beside him to settle beside the door, waiting until the nurse was done. A few moments passed until a doctor came, nodded at them and walked into the room.
A few minutes in silence and the door opened once again. The nurse seemed to give them a dirty look before storming off. The doctor just smiled at her antic and walked towards them.
“Are you Tanaka Ainosukes’ guardian?”
He pushed himself off the wall. “One of them, yes.”
“Something seems to be bothering him badly and it cannot be good for his condition. He may have a relapse because of it. His fever had already increased from it was this morning.”
A frown found its way back to his face. “So what do you suggest?”
“Make him feel more relaxed will be the best. Maybe taking care of what got him this anxious?”
“To do that will include taking him out of the hospital.”
The doctor seemed thoughtful before nodded in acceptance. “Just get him back here before 9 tonight. I’ll get you the clothes he wore when he was admitted here.”
Fukuchi nodded as the doctor bowed his head at him. As the doctor walked away he turned to the student next to him. “I’ll get you to your house before heading to the Central Pacific Hotel.”
Kaito-kun nodded and followed him back into the room. Walking in, he noticed that Ainosuke-kun was now lying down instead of sitting like before, most likely doctor’s order. Brown eyes immediately sought him out, their gaze pleading without words.
“The doctor gave you permission to go out.”
The same pair of eyes blinked questioningly at him.
“We’ll just have to wait for them to bring your clothes, then we’ll escort Kaito-kun to his home. After that, we’ll head for Central Pacific Hotel.”
The gratefulness radiating from Ainosuke-kun’s expression, somehow, did not make him feel at ease.
(End of Flashback)
Sighing once again, he pushed off the wall and was about to made his way over when the door opened, a police officer bowing to him in greeting.
“Fukuchi-san, all the guests have arrived and checked. Minister Washio has also settled in the Reception room.”
He nodded, acknowledging him. “Thanks for the report, Sakisaka.”
Something seemed to have caught the young policeman in front of him and he had a good guess of what - or more precisely whom - that might be. True to his prediction, his gaze followed the younger’s line of vision to see Ainosuke-kun stared them with wide eyes.
The boy kept staring for a few seconds, before seemingly got out of his daze and gave a little bow, to which Sakisaka returned. The young police officer then turned to him in confusion.
“Why is Tanaka-kun here, Fukuchi-san?”
“Doctor’s order,” was his concise reply. He spun around and headed to the door, throwing the trio one last look before exiting, barely aware that Sakisaka followed him out.
It was high time that he did his job.
xxx
Ainosuke kept looking back to Kato-san as he was dragged by Sayama-sensei, silently asking the police officer to talk some sense into her.
“Sayama-sensei, I don’t think I should sit in there with you. I’m not invited.” He tried to plead, tugging at the hand holding his wrist.
“And I told you it’s fine! Don’t worry, don’t worry.”
He sent another pleading glance at Kato-san, who finally relented and moved to black her path.
“What are you doing, Kato-san? Move away!”
“No, I think Ainosuke-kun is right, you know. Let him rest in the waiting room.”
“But he needs to eat!”
“I’ll buy him something for lunch.”
“What if he’s tired and need to rest?”
“Isn’t it better that he’ll be in the waiting room, then?”
“What if he’s bored?”
“Then he can rest, right?”
“But then he’ll be alone!”
“So as long as there’s someone with him all the time you have no complaint?”
Hand still trapped by his school nurse, Ainosuke just settled on watching how this turn out. He tried to tug his hand out of her grasp, but instead of loosening, the grip became tighter. He swallowed down the whine that threatened to come out.
“It’s just. I’m worried.”
He started when the school nurse suddenly rounded on him, taking both of his hands into hers.
“Promise me you won’t look for trouble.”
He stared, surprised at the abrupt turn in conversation.
“I… I promise…”
The eyes looking into his went misty and before he knew it, he was drawn into a hug by Sayama-sensei. As abruptly as it had started, it ended. His gaze followed his school nurse as she exchange a look with Kato-san before she walked off to the reception room.
A sigh from his side and he turned towards his other guardian.
“Come on, let’s get you settled before Sayama-sensei decided that she didn’t believe me and storm right back out.”
He managed a tiny smile for that.
Kato-san, clearly pleased with himself, grinned back at him and started to lead him away and back into the waiting room. The two of them walked in silence, although he noticed that Kato-san had made a point to walk slower than normal, a gesture that he deeply appreciated.
Entering the room one again, he stumbled onto the many sofas lining the room and immediately curled up on it. Now that he finally able to let his body relax, he realized just how much strain his trip had caused him. Even when he had done nothing strenuous, he was ready to collapse anytime soon.
“You alright?”
He looked up to see Kato-san hovering worriedly over him. A cool hand settled on his forehead and he leaned onto it, savoring the coolness of the touch. His eyes felt heavier by the seconds and he gave in, closing them as the hand started to withdraw.
“Your temperature is still far too warm than I would have liked.”
ldquo;I’ll be fine,” he mumbled, opening his eyes to look up at the police officer and offered him a small smile.
Kato-san frowned and didn’t quite look as if he believed him, but let it go. “I’ll get you something to eat then. Anything you’d like to have?”
He shook his head in negative, gaining a sigh from the older man.
“I’ll buy you something light then.”
Kato-san was already at the door when he remembered that he had forgotten to tell Fukuchi-san about the pork he saw yesterday morning. His mind had been filled with worried over how to get here and how to act around his brother.
He pushed himself off the sofa hurriedly and promptly lost his footing.
And went straight onto the carpeted floor.
Somehow, he could still hear Kato-san shouted in alarm as he lied there, attempting to regain his breath. It hitched though, the moment he felt the now familiar sensation of pictures flashed in front of his eye.
Still dazed and slightly dizzy, he was barely aware that Kato-san had lifted and lied him back down onto the sofa. He blinked a few times, turning his head slowly to where Kato-san was frantically calling his name. Hands were on his shoulders, squeezing lightly.
“Ainosuke-kun? Can you hear me? You really shouldn’t stand up so suddenly like that, you haven’t recovered! Are you -”
“Kato-san?”
The police officer stopped abruptly. He raised his hand to clutch Kato-san’s coat sleeve.
“Who is Taira Kouzou-san?”
He decided that he didn’t like the frown that Kato-san had on his face.
“Why do you want to know, Ainosuke-kun?”
Biting his lip in a moment of indecision, he ducked his head.
“I think…” he looked up to look at the man he had come to see as a guardian, face pinched in worry. “I think he’s somewhat involved with this wedding.”
The frown on Kato-san’s face became deeper and he could feel his heart thumped heavily in his chest.
“I’ll look it up, okay? You just rest and don’t worry, I’ll look into it myself.”
Relieved that he had not been dismissed, he gave a slight smile and settled back down. The police officer gave his head a pat before standing up and turned to leave.
Just as the man reached the door though, he called him once more.
“Kato-san?” He waited until he had his full attention. “Check the pork too.”
The expression Kato-san had on would have been comical if not for the many dreads and worries he was feeling.
k59 : this is fastest i've ever update^^~ i'm feeling somewhat proud of myself XD i'm in a writing mood this week n this came out.. i don't think i'll manage to finish 2 chapter in a week though, so no double update this time (^_^;).. anyway, anyone have the link for full Kuroshitsuji musicals? i can't seem to find them anywhere~!! *distressed*
P.S. i found the 2nd musical XD !! plus english subtitle too~!
P.S.S n now i found the 1st too^^~ n i absolutely love both of the musicals XD especially the 2nd~!