Savior (Chapter 5)
Light.
One big ball of blinding light managed to budge its way into Hiroto’s mind. He could make out the diffraction pattern; lines of colours spread along its centre like the rings of Saturn. Normally he would only be able to see such sights when he squinted and his eyelashes managed to create fringes across his eyes, but he was sure that his eyes weren’t open at all.
Only moments later his thoughts were dashed. The light was blocked rudely by something that resembled the shape of a human head. Suddenly a switch flicked on in Hiroto’s mind and his circuits set into action; he was conscious. The head had been dark since there was no light to illuminate it, but eventually he could make out the vague features of the nurses face.
“Ogata is awake.” She mumbled to, Hiroto could only possibly imagine, herself. It still hadn’t occurred to him that the woman was a doctor and since she seemed to have no purpose in the room she was beginning to aggravate Hiroto with her presence. Once a taller, far older man made his way into the light, Hiroto managed to conceive the situation. He was in Hospital, he was being treated and he was in serious bother.
“Ah, so you are Ogata Hiroto?” The older doctor asked, cocking his head to one side like a confused old dog. Hiroto nodded drowsily but began to grimace as soon as the pain in his arm kicked in. The idea of hospital had made him realise his pain, after all he wasn’t there for a day trip. He clutched his bandaged arm and wished to himself that he had never realised his situation; hopefully the ignorance would last and he would never feel his pain at all.
The doctor moved around the bed and started clicking his tongue as he observed Hiroto’s charts. It was painfully obvious that the doctor held no sympathy for Hiroto, but considering the man had worked with sick people for what could have been longer than Hiroto’s whole life-time, he tried his best to understand. “You were involved in a car accident... witnesses say you were pushed... the man that ran you over has already appealed to the police... and it seems you have ended up with a broken arm and bad bruising along your left side. You’re a lucky kid Ogata.”
“I would hardly call this lucky.” Hiroto croaked. He gulped down his confusion and frantically glanced around the room for Shou. He was desperate to ask the doctors where he was but they wouldn’t have a clue where the angel was or who he was. He gripped onto the covers with his healthy hand and pursed his lips in frustration. The older doctor placed the clipboard onto the desk at the front of the bed and scratched the side of his head.
“Are you expecting someone?” He asked.
“Oh, no, I’m just... nothing.” Hiroto mumbled.
“Is there anyone we can call?” He asked monotonously, “Parents? Grandparents? Uncles? Aunts? Siblings?”
“No.” Hiroto admitted. He recoiled back into his pillow and repeated the words he hated to use. “I don’t have any relatives.”
“You don’t?” The doctor asked with a voice that had at least an ounce of emotion within it. Hiroto grumbled to himself and felt his head boil.
“No and there isn’t anyone who I want to come.” He concluded.
“I can make arrangements for a friend to pick you up.” The doctor explained, “Where do you live? We can contact them...”
“I just said there’s no one!” Hiroto spat. “And I can tell I’m wasting your time so why don’t you just discharge me?”
The doctor grimaced, unable to argue back with Hiroto but also annoyed at the fact that a kid was allowed to speak to him in such a manner. He walked over to the door and gave Hiroto one last glance.
“Before you go you will have a visit from the police. They want to ask you questions. Regardless of whether you want to see people or not, you’re going to have quite a lot of bother Ogata.”
With that the doctor left the room and abandoned Hiroto with nothing but the sounds of other patients coughing and his own throbbing pain. He shuffled in his bed to try and get into a comfortable position, and surprisingly he found it quite easy. After sleeping for years on a thin mattress laid out on his bedroom floor he found himself feelings quite spoilt sleeping in a hospital bed. He knew it was pathetic but it really was better than living in his apartment. If he could trade living in his usual dump with living in the hospital he would definitely go through with it.
He shut his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t going to get any sleep with the pain in his arm, along with another pain beginning to well up in his side. Instead he wanted to lay and think about what he was going to do once he was out of hospital. He knew it wouldn’t be long until he was kicked out, and after that he would have to go back to his hell hole. The only positive he could take from it all was Shou, but he hadn’t turned up in the hospital yet and the last time he’d seen him it had been a trick.
Could he trust the same image of him again? He still couldn’t get his head around what had happened on the street and he desperately needed Shou to explain. The man who had pushed him was the same man he had seen in the office, and that man was apparently not to be trusted. At first Hiroto thought he would just meddle in Shou’s life once or twice, but he had gone as far as attempting to kill Hiroto. The outside world seemed far more dangerous than it had the day before.
“Hiroto.” Came a whisper from the door. Hiroto’s eyes snapped open and he forced his body up from the deep delve he’d created in the soft, feathery pillows. Shou was stood at the doorway with a deep look of worry on his face. Hiroto had never seen such an intense emotion shown so freely on Shou’s face before and he wasn’t sure whether to pull the same expression back or to be grateful that someone on earth cared.
“Shou...” Hiroto sighed in relief. It wasn’t such a good idea to forget about all of his problems just because Shou had walked into the room, but he couldn’t help doing it. This was probably the first time Shou had turned up when he’d truly needed him, and even the thought of it made the air he breathed in taste a little sweeter than before.
Shou walked over to his bed and glanced around the room. There were two other beds out of the 4 in the room that were occupied, so Shou decided it was probably better if the curtains around Hiroto’s bed were closed while they talked. He grabbed onto the green material and pulled the curtain around the rail on the ceiling. The scratchy, ringing noise created by the rail caused a few patients to react to the movement in the corner, but thankfully none of them noticed that they were moving all by themselves.
“It will be easier to talk this way.” Shou explained. He sat next to Hiroto’s bed on the old chair in the corner and sighed. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop Murai before he got to you.”
Hiroto shook his head vigorously despite the pain it caused.
“No it’s not your fault at all, it’s all mine.” He sighed, “I wasn’t careful at all...” He rolled his eyes and ground his teeth together. He needed to be strong when he said what he was about to say because it was a harsh truth that he needed to admit himself and not just to Shou. “You told me to be careful and I wasn’t, I shouldn’t get so involved with you so quickly when I don’t even know anything about you...”
There was silence. Shou had hung his head so there was no indication of how Hiroto’s words had affected him. Shou’s emotions had been a mystery to Hiroto for a while which was quite a surprise since Shou was ‘supposedly’ not supposed to have any. The clearest thing about Shou other than his pure intentions was his confusion to his own feelings. It was almost saddening to watch but it confused Hiroto enough to let it continue.
“You shouldn’t be involved with Murai anyway.” Shou managed to mumble. Something had happened to him when Hiroto had said those words and he felt the desperate need to release the build up inside his chest. It had been happening very frequently but he had chosen to ignore it, however, it seemed to be a feeling that was impossible to dismiss. “And it is only natural to grow close to your guardian as it is our job to protect you.”
Hiroto began stroking the bandage on his arm. The coarse material made a scratching noise when his nails glided over them. It took him a while to respond to Shou despite knowing what he wanted to say.
“I’m close to you because I want to be, not because I have to be. You’re honest and caring and you’ve managed to earn my trust in a matter of days. No one has ever managed to do that, and I refuse to believe it’s because you’re an ‘angel’. It’s because you’re a good person.”
Shou’s head dropped again. Hiroto moved over to try and get a better look at him but he couldn’t; his blonde hair was covering his face. He couldn’t contain the well of emotion in his body. He’d continued to do his best to keep it within himself and to deny the fact that they were taking over but it was almost impossible. Day by day he was becoming more and more human, and day by day he was learning to accept that it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
Of course, Shou would feel the bad feelings such as the feelings he was encountering at that very moment, but after those emotions there would be happiness. Because he wasn’t used to feeling such a way he had almost forgotten about the bliss that he would feel once the sadness was gone, after all they were much less devastating to his strong mindset. It was only when he was with Hiroto that he could decipher between the good and the bad; Hiroto’s downfalls and his happier moments, being in pain and being healthy, or crying and laughing. He wanted to experience the happy side of life no matter how hard it was to get to sometimes, how much trouble he would have to go through to get there, and how forbidden it was from angels like him.
A droplet fell from his cheek and onto the arm of the chair. Furiously Shou wiped the tears from his eyes and did all he could to take away the visible affection from his eyes. He knew what the tears were and he knew exactly why they were happening, but having it happen to him was completely different from knowing the science behind it. Hiroto saw the action and pulled a face. “Are you crying?” He asked inquisitively.
“Excuse me?” Called a voice from behind the curtain. The nurse from before poked her head through the curtains and looked at Hiroto. Quickly she glanced around the enclosed area and pulled a puzzled face. “I thought there was someone in here with you.”
“No, there isn’t.” Hiroto managed to snap back while staring directly at Shou.
“Oh ok.” The nurse replied, “Well there is someone here to see you, apparently he is a classmate called Sakamoto Takashi, do you know him?”
Hiroto visibly jolted. Sakamoto was at the hospital? Why did he want to see him? He gulped and nodded slowly.
“Yeah I know him.” Hiroto answered back hesitantly.
“Ok, I’ll send him right in.” The nurse walked off behind the curtains and the click of her heels echoed off down the corridors. Hiroto couldn’t stop staring at the empty space in the curtain. What does he want to see me for? Sakamoto’s been acting strangely for a while...
He looked back at Shou who seemed to have composed himself. He wasn’t looking at Hiroto but he was focusing on the curtain instead. His eyes looked red as if he’d been crying for hours, but it had hardly been a minute since he saw Shou’s hand move to wipe his tears away.
“Sakamoto...” Shou mumbled, “Do you know why he is here?”
“No idea...”
“It could be a trap.” Shou muttered to himself. Hiroto snapped his day dreamy gaze over to Shou and scowled.
“Would Murai do the same thing twice in a row?” He asked Shou. Shou simply shrugged and stood himself up.
“We can’t be too careful.”
Shou was right, but Hiroto wasn’t totally convinced. He laid back down on his bed and pondered about what Sakamoto might want to talk to him about. It was quite possible that he just wanted to know if Hiroto was alright, after all he’d been strangely bothered about Hiroto’s well-being lately. But if he wanted to know if he was ok then he could have easily asked at reception - no - he definitely wanted to talk.
Eventually the curtain opened and Sakamoto walked in. As usual he was wearing baggy clothes to hide the skeletal frame of his body and he slowly pulled off his huge sunglasses that concealed almost all of his face. He gave Hiroto a somewhat emotionless look and sighed.
“Hi.” He greeted.
“Hi...” Hiroto mumbled back uneasily. “What are you doing here? I find it kind of strange that you’ve come to ‘see how I am’.”
Sakamoto pulled a face and shifted around nervously.
“Sorry, I know this is weird of me to just turn up at hospital, but I have something to tell you before anything gets any worse...”
Gets any worse? Hiroto thought. What did Sakamoto know about what had happened to him? He leant forward to get a better look at Sakamoto and raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“I have something to confess to you.” He sighed. “I know about your angel.”
Hiroto froze. The pain in his body had frozen too, and time wasn’t moving like it had been seconds before. Every second left the only, single pain in Hiroto’s body that he could feel, and that was the pain in his head.
“You...” He stammered. He glanced over to Shou who looked equally as stunned. “B- but how do you know?”
“I have an Angel myself, one I wasn’t entrusted with, he just suddenly appeared in my room because he wanted to help me out.” Sakamoto bit his lip and shoved his hands in his pockets. It looked like he wasn’t supposed to be admitting what he was, and by the look on Shou’s face Hiroto guessed that Sakamoto was doing something very wrong. “His name is Tora, and he’s told me all about you.”
Hiroto kept himself upright with his free arm. He stared at Sakamoto with a lost face; unknown of how to feel or think. Sakamoto had an angel for himself which meant that they were in the same boat - Sakamoto needed saving from something...
“H- how does he know?” He asked Sakamoto desperately. “What has he told you?”
“He used to look after your mother but... after she died he had to wait on earth until her natural lifetime ended. He looked for someone who needed him, and he chose me. He’s told me quite a lot, after all, he knows almost everything about you... but that’s not important Ogata there’s something else...”
Hiroto nodded. All sense had been knocked out of him and he decided to go along with the flow of what Sakamoto was telling him. Sakamoto sighed and walked closer to the bed. “He’s very powerful, and he’s watching your angel. I don’t know what he has against him but I know he’s killed angels before. I haven’t had much of a problem with it, I mean, I hadn’t even known how an angel really changes things for people. But now that I know what’s happened to you and how your angel is going to help you I don’t want you to lose the chance of getting a better life...”
“Wait.” Hiroto interrupted. He shook his head and stared at the white quilts beneath him. “You’re saying that you care about my future? My life? Whether Shou lives or dies? Why should you?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Sakamoto moaned, “Anyone with a brain would feel sympathy for your situation! But more than anything I guess I can relate... I know it won’t make much of a difference to you but I know what it’s like to lose someone dear.” He gripped onto the bar of the bed and directed his vision to the floor, unable to look Hiroto in the eye.
Hiroto chose not to press the issue, after all it looked like Sakamoto still had problems revolving around his losses. He looked over to Shou and found the angel lost in his own thoughts.
“Why does Tora want to kill Shou?” Hiroto asked quietly.
“I don’t know... something to do with breaking a code, but I don’t know what that is.” Sakamoto explained. “The only reason why he’s not with me right now is because I tell him to go about his own business most of the time... He’s been with me for a while and I honestly can’t stay with him too long until he needs to do something else...”
Silence hit the hospital room once again.
“I guess there’s no way I’ll be able to see Tora...” Hiroto sighed. “I wouldn’t be able to stop him, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him... Sakamoto could you please get more information from him?”
“I can try.” He replied. “Is Shou with you right now?”
Hiroto nodded and glanced over at Shou who had done exactly the same thing at the same time. Sakamoto stared into the seemingly empty space too, wondering just who or what was stood in the corner of the room. Instead of asking any more questions he chose to leave and leave Hiroto to stay with his angel in peace and quiet. “I just wanted to warn you. I know you’d been getting into trouble and I didn’t want more to happen to you. I hope to see you in School soon anyway...”
“Ok.” Hiroto nodded. “I’ll talk to you later Sakamoto, and thank you... for warning us.”
Sakamoto smiled and walked out through the curtains, slipping his sunglasses back on as he did. Once he had disappeared Hiroto stared at Shou in fear. What Sakamoto had told him had shaken him and he wasn’t sure whether he would be calm until Shou had explained the whole situation to him.
“What did he mean?” He asked Shou. “Why would this Tora want to kill you?”
Shou sat back down and looked away. He couldn’t tell Hiroto the truth so he had to come up with some kind of excuse quickly.
“He must be killing without a motive.” Shou explained, “Using some kind of ‘code’ as his excuse. I haven’t done anything wrong so there is no need to kill me.”
Hiroto crept further into his covers and shuddered. He didn’t know that there were so many bad angels around. He looked back up at Shou and pulled a confused face.
“I didn’t even know you could be killed, if you are an angel...” He mused.
“It’s not a normal death...” Shou explained. He sat forward and clasped his hands together. “It’s not a comfortable death either.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hours had passed. Hiroto wasn’t sure what time it was but it was definitely the end of one day and the beginning of another. He had been laid talking to Shou for a while, and in short bursts he had napped. Every time he would wake up with terrible pains in his side, but once he spotted Shou sat in the same old chair he would find his pains begin to soothe.
But after a while he began to worry. The police hadn’t arrived yet, but they would, and they would want as much information as possible. After that he would be sent home but he would do anything to spend another day in hospital. He didn’t want to sleep in his dirty old mattress and live in his disgusting apartment. He would have to face his landlord again and he didn’t want to live in the same building as him let alone have to pay the guy to live there at all.
Although, he guessed, there wouldn’t be much money to give his landlord for much longer...
He looked over at Shou for the first time in what must have been an hour. He had been asleep previously and Shou had simply watched over him like a hawk. He wasn’t sure what or who was going to hurt him other than the injuries already inflicted on his body, but never the less he was grateful that someone was so worried about him.
“Shou?” He called. Shou propped himself up and looked over at Hiroto as he waited for him to continue. Hiroto could see the glint in Shou’s eyes when he looked over and it gave Hiroto a warm feeling as if he were safe wrapped up in Shou’s line of sight. “I don’t think I want to leave Hospital.”
“Why?” Shou asked confused. “I thought you would want to leave.”
“This is the most comfortable bed I’ve slept in for years.” Hiroto explained, “I haven’t had food like the food they serve here in even longer... even a hospital is better than the place I live.”
Shou moved up to him and stared at him almost centimetres away from his face. Hiroto felt the same feelings creep up on him similar to when they were in the alleyway, but because he was tired he managed to keep them at the back of his mind.
“Don’t lose hope, you’re not going to stay this way forever. Something will happen for you, something will change. I will keep the faith for you if you can’t keep it yourself.”
Hiroto smiled lazily. He hadn’t expected such a comeback but Shou tended to be quite deep with what he said. Along with that he was completely honest so he knew that the angel wasn’t saying it to keep him happy. He managed to shut his eyes again happily, without a doubt that things would get better. It was almost definitely a lie, after all he couldn’t believe that things were going to be better than the hospital for a very long time, but as long as Shou believed in him he felt confident that something, anything was going to happen that would keep him going.
At that very moment, that something was Shou.
“Thank you Shou.” Hiroto mumbled. Almost immediately after, he fell into a deep sleep.
Shou smiled and went to stroke the side of Hiroto’s cheek. Once he realised what he was doing he quickly recoiled. After Sakamoto had walked into the room and explained what was going on with Tora he had felt incredibly nervous. He wasn’t even sure himself why he wanted to act the way he did, touching, stroking, hugging... those things were signs of affection that he shouldn’t have been feeling let alone showing. He stood up and walked out of the room to take a quick stroll down the corridor and clear his mind.
Once he stepped foot into the dark, almost empty corridor, he realised that there was someone stood at the very end. He chose to dismiss it since there were so many people in the hospital, but eventually the said body spoke broadly to him.
“So, you’re looking after Ogata now are you? I hope he’s ok...”
Shou snapped his gaze up and found the mysterious body to be that of Murai Naoyuki’s. He strolled confidently down the corridor with a smug smile on his face. “I’m actually quite surprised he didn’t get hurt that bad, I guess I should try harder next time.”
“You...” Shou growled. He felt his body raise temperature like a boiling kettle ready to whistle loudly. He clenched his fists and stormed towards Murai with twice the other mans speed and momentum. “You bastard!”
Once Shou had made it to about half a meter away from Murai he stopped and glared at the man who had tried to kill Hiroto. The smug smile had not managed to fall from his face and instead of being threatened by Shou he chose to laugh his actions off.
“You’re getting more human by the minute it’s quite frightening.” Murai sighed. “Although it’s not a bad thing, after all don’t you think you’re supposed to feel this way about Ogata?”
Shou unclenched his fists and gritted his teeth together. He couldn’t look at Murai but he couldn’t say no to him either; he couldn’t deny his anger after showing it so visibly.
“Don’t hurt Hiroto to prove a point.” Shou grunted.
“But its working isn’t it?” Murai grinned, “I knew you wouldn’t be difficult to persuade, you’re different to the other angels...”
Shou span around and started marching towards Hiroto’s room. He didn’t want to hear what Murai had to say, and if he was close to Hiroto he would know for sure that he was ok and out of Murai’s reach. As he walked Naoyuki span Shou around and pulled him towards him. “What are you running away from?! Are you scared? Are you scared to admit the truth!?”
“What truth?!” Shou shouted, unable to control his anger.
“The truth that you love Ogata!” Murai shouted back. He shook Shou as he shouted, shaking his own body as he did so. His hair covered his face and all was visible was his mouth; baring his teeth dangerously at Shou to show the significance.
Shou fell back from Murai’s grasp. The words had been thrown at him already. He knew well that if he admitted it and if he acted upon it he would be found and killed almost instantly. He staggered across the corridor and stared at Murai as if staring into the face of death itself.
“No... No I don’t!” Shou cried.
“You just don’t want to die!” Murai laughed, “You’ve lived all this time and you’re scared to let it all slide! Admit it! Admit you love him!”
“No!” Shou whimpered. He felt his whole body go limp. The amount of feelings running through his body was immense and he felt like he was being tortured. He held onto the blue walls after feeling what seemed like shortness of breath. He’d never been so worked up before and he seemed to have started hyperventilating.
“Fine.” Murai snapped. He walked over to Shou and picked him up from the wall. “Just look at me and remember this: I’m alive. I did it and I’m still here. I admitted it and I fought for it and I won, and most of all I don’t regret a thing I’ve ever done.”
He dropped Shou to the floor and started making his way out of the hospital. Shou watched his feet move across the polished surface and tried his best to regulate his breathing. A pain in his chest caused him to curl up on the floor, and the moment that Murai was gone he felt himself explode into tears he’d never experienced before.
This time there was no one to hide them from. This time he was free to cry.
.
One big ball of blinding light managed to budge its way into Hiroto’s mind. He could make out the diffraction pattern; lines of colours spread along its centre like the rings of Saturn. Normally he would only be able to see such sights when he squinted and his eyelashes managed to create fringes across his eyes, but he was sure that his eyes weren’t open at all.
Only moments later his thoughts were dashed. The light was blocked rudely by something that resembled the shape of a human head. Suddenly a switch flicked on in Hiroto’s mind and his circuits set into action; he was conscious. The head had been dark since there was no light to illuminate it, but eventually he could make out the vague features of the nurses face.
“Ogata is awake.” She mumbled to, Hiroto could only possibly imagine, herself. It still hadn’t occurred to him that the woman was a doctor and since she seemed to have no purpose in the room she was beginning to aggravate Hiroto with her presence. Once a taller, far older man made his way into the light, Hiroto managed to conceive the situation. He was in Hospital, he was being treated and he was in serious bother.
“Ah, so you are Ogata Hiroto?” The older doctor asked, cocking his head to one side like a confused old dog. Hiroto nodded drowsily but began to grimace as soon as the pain in his arm kicked in. The idea of hospital had made him realise his pain, after all he wasn’t there for a day trip. He clutched his bandaged arm and wished to himself that he had never realised his situation; hopefully the ignorance would last and he would never feel his pain at all.
The doctor moved around the bed and started clicking his tongue as he observed Hiroto’s charts. It was painfully obvious that the doctor held no sympathy for Hiroto, but considering the man had worked with sick people for what could have been longer than Hiroto’s whole life-time, he tried his best to understand. “You were involved in a car accident... witnesses say you were pushed... the man that ran you over has already appealed to the police... and it seems you have ended up with a broken arm and bad bruising along your left side. You’re a lucky kid Ogata.”
“I would hardly call this lucky.” Hiroto croaked. He gulped down his confusion and frantically glanced around the room for Shou. He was desperate to ask the doctors where he was but they wouldn’t have a clue where the angel was or who he was. He gripped onto the covers with his healthy hand and pursed his lips in frustration. The older doctor placed the clipboard onto the desk at the front of the bed and scratched the side of his head.
“Are you expecting someone?” He asked.
“Oh, no, I’m just... nothing.” Hiroto mumbled.
“Is there anyone we can call?” He asked monotonously, “Parents? Grandparents? Uncles? Aunts? Siblings?”
“No.” Hiroto admitted. He recoiled back into his pillow and repeated the words he hated to use. “I don’t have any relatives.”
“You don’t?” The doctor asked with a voice that had at least an ounce of emotion within it. Hiroto grumbled to himself and felt his head boil.
“No and there isn’t anyone who I want to come.” He concluded.
“I can make arrangements for a friend to pick you up.” The doctor explained, “Where do you live? We can contact them...”
“I just said there’s no one!” Hiroto spat. “And I can tell I’m wasting your time so why don’t you just discharge me?”
The doctor grimaced, unable to argue back with Hiroto but also annoyed at the fact that a kid was allowed to speak to him in such a manner. He walked over to the door and gave Hiroto one last glance.
“Before you go you will have a visit from the police. They want to ask you questions. Regardless of whether you want to see people or not, you’re going to have quite a lot of bother Ogata.”
With that the doctor left the room and abandoned Hiroto with nothing but the sounds of other patients coughing and his own throbbing pain. He shuffled in his bed to try and get into a comfortable position, and surprisingly he found it quite easy. After sleeping for years on a thin mattress laid out on his bedroom floor he found himself feelings quite spoilt sleeping in a hospital bed. He knew it was pathetic but it really was better than living in his apartment. If he could trade living in his usual dump with living in the hospital he would definitely go through with it.
He shut his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t going to get any sleep with the pain in his arm, along with another pain beginning to well up in his side. Instead he wanted to lay and think about what he was going to do once he was out of hospital. He knew it wouldn’t be long until he was kicked out, and after that he would have to go back to his hell hole. The only positive he could take from it all was Shou, but he hadn’t turned up in the hospital yet and the last time he’d seen him it had been a trick.
Could he trust the same image of him again? He still couldn’t get his head around what had happened on the street and he desperately needed Shou to explain. The man who had pushed him was the same man he had seen in the office, and that man was apparently not to be trusted. At first Hiroto thought he would just meddle in Shou’s life once or twice, but he had gone as far as attempting to kill Hiroto. The outside world seemed far more dangerous than it had the day before.
“Hiroto.” Came a whisper from the door. Hiroto’s eyes snapped open and he forced his body up from the deep delve he’d created in the soft, feathery pillows. Shou was stood at the doorway with a deep look of worry on his face. Hiroto had never seen such an intense emotion shown so freely on Shou’s face before and he wasn’t sure whether to pull the same expression back or to be grateful that someone on earth cared.
“Shou...” Hiroto sighed in relief. It wasn’t such a good idea to forget about all of his problems just because Shou had walked into the room, but he couldn’t help doing it. This was probably the first time Shou had turned up when he’d truly needed him, and even the thought of it made the air he breathed in taste a little sweeter than before.
Shou walked over to his bed and glanced around the room. There were two other beds out of the 4 in the room that were occupied, so Shou decided it was probably better if the curtains around Hiroto’s bed were closed while they talked. He grabbed onto the green material and pulled the curtain around the rail on the ceiling. The scratchy, ringing noise created by the rail caused a few patients to react to the movement in the corner, but thankfully none of them noticed that they were moving all by themselves.
“It will be easier to talk this way.” Shou explained. He sat next to Hiroto’s bed on the old chair in the corner and sighed. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop Murai before he got to you.”
Hiroto shook his head vigorously despite the pain it caused.
“No it’s not your fault at all, it’s all mine.” He sighed, “I wasn’t careful at all...” He rolled his eyes and ground his teeth together. He needed to be strong when he said what he was about to say because it was a harsh truth that he needed to admit himself and not just to Shou. “You told me to be careful and I wasn’t, I shouldn’t get so involved with you so quickly when I don’t even know anything about you...”
There was silence. Shou had hung his head so there was no indication of how Hiroto’s words had affected him. Shou’s emotions had been a mystery to Hiroto for a while which was quite a surprise since Shou was ‘supposedly’ not supposed to have any. The clearest thing about Shou other than his pure intentions was his confusion to his own feelings. It was almost saddening to watch but it confused Hiroto enough to let it continue.
“You shouldn’t be involved with Murai anyway.” Shou managed to mumble. Something had happened to him when Hiroto had said those words and he felt the desperate need to release the build up inside his chest. It had been happening very frequently but he had chosen to ignore it, however, it seemed to be a feeling that was impossible to dismiss. “And it is only natural to grow close to your guardian as it is our job to protect you.”
Hiroto began stroking the bandage on his arm. The coarse material made a scratching noise when his nails glided over them. It took him a while to respond to Shou despite knowing what he wanted to say.
“I’m close to you because I want to be, not because I have to be. You’re honest and caring and you’ve managed to earn my trust in a matter of days. No one has ever managed to do that, and I refuse to believe it’s because you’re an ‘angel’. It’s because you’re a good person.”
Shou’s head dropped again. Hiroto moved over to try and get a better look at him but he couldn’t; his blonde hair was covering his face. He couldn’t contain the well of emotion in his body. He’d continued to do his best to keep it within himself and to deny the fact that they were taking over but it was almost impossible. Day by day he was becoming more and more human, and day by day he was learning to accept that it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
Of course, Shou would feel the bad feelings such as the feelings he was encountering at that very moment, but after those emotions there would be happiness. Because he wasn’t used to feeling such a way he had almost forgotten about the bliss that he would feel once the sadness was gone, after all they were much less devastating to his strong mindset. It was only when he was with Hiroto that he could decipher between the good and the bad; Hiroto’s downfalls and his happier moments, being in pain and being healthy, or crying and laughing. He wanted to experience the happy side of life no matter how hard it was to get to sometimes, how much trouble he would have to go through to get there, and how forbidden it was from angels like him.
A droplet fell from his cheek and onto the arm of the chair. Furiously Shou wiped the tears from his eyes and did all he could to take away the visible affection from his eyes. He knew what the tears were and he knew exactly why they were happening, but having it happen to him was completely different from knowing the science behind it. Hiroto saw the action and pulled a face. “Are you crying?” He asked inquisitively.
“Excuse me?” Called a voice from behind the curtain. The nurse from before poked her head through the curtains and looked at Hiroto. Quickly she glanced around the enclosed area and pulled a puzzled face. “I thought there was someone in here with you.”
“No, there isn’t.” Hiroto managed to snap back while staring directly at Shou.
“Oh ok.” The nurse replied, “Well there is someone here to see you, apparently he is a classmate called Sakamoto Takashi, do you know him?”
Hiroto visibly jolted. Sakamoto was at the hospital? Why did he want to see him? He gulped and nodded slowly.
“Yeah I know him.” Hiroto answered back hesitantly.
“Ok, I’ll send him right in.” The nurse walked off behind the curtains and the click of her heels echoed off down the corridors. Hiroto couldn’t stop staring at the empty space in the curtain. What does he want to see me for? Sakamoto’s been acting strangely for a while...
He looked back at Shou who seemed to have composed himself. He wasn’t looking at Hiroto but he was focusing on the curtain instead. His eyes looked red as if he’d been crying for hours, but it had hardly been a minute since he saw Shou’s hand move to wipe his tears away.
“Sakamoto...” Shou mumbled, “Do you know why he is here?”
“No idea...”
“It could be a trap.” Shou muttered to himself. Hiroto snapped his day dreamy gaze over to Shou and scowled.
“Would Murai do the same thing twice in a row?” He asked Shou. Shou simply shrugged and stood himself up.
“We can’t be too careful.”
Shou was right, but Hiroto wasn’t totally convinced. He laid back down on his bed and pondered about what Sakamoto might want to talk to him about. It was quite possible that he just wanted to know if Hiroto was alright, after all he’d been strangely bothered about Hiroto’s well-being lately. But if he wanted to know if he was ok then he could have easily asked at reception - no - he definitely wanted to talk.
Eventually the curtain opened and Sakamoto walked in. As usual he was wearing baggy clothes to hide the skeletal frame of his body and he slowly pulled off his huge sunglasses that concealed almost all of his face. He gave Hiroto a somewhat emotionless look and sighed.
“Hi.” He greeted.
“Hi...” Hiroto mumbled back uneasily. “What are you doing here? I find it kind of strange that you’ve come to ‘see how I am’.”
Sakamoto pulled a face and shifted around nervously.
“Sorry, I know this is weird of me to just turn up at hospital, but I have something to tell you before anything gets any worse...”
Gets any worse? Hiroto thought. What did Sakamoto know about what had happened to him? He leant forward to get a better look at Sakamoto and raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“I have something to confess to you.” He sighed. “I know about your angel.”
Hiroto froze. The pain in his body had frozen too, and time wasn’t moving like it had been seconds before. Every second left the only, single pain in Hiroto’s body that he could feel, and that was the pain in his head.
“You...” He stammered. He glanced over to Shou who looked equally as stunned. “B- but how do you know?”
“I have an Angel myself, one I wasn’t entrusted with, he just suddenly appeared in my room because he wanted to help me out.” Sakamoto bit his lip and shoved his hands in his pockets. It looked like he wasn’t supposed to be admitting what he was, and by the look on Shou’s face Hiroto guessed that Sakamoto was doing something very wrong. “His name is Tora, and he’s told me all about you.”
Hiroto kept himself upright with his free arm. He stared at Sakamoto with a lost face; unknown of how to feel or think. Sakamoto had an angel for himself which meant that they were in the same boat - Sakamoto needed saving from something...
“H- how does he know?” He asked Sakamoto desperately. “What has he told you?”
“He used to look after your mother but... after she died he had to wait on earth until her natural lifetime ended. He looked for someone who needed him, and he chose me. He’s told me quite a lot, after all, he knows almost everything about you... but that’s not important Ogata there’s something else...”
Hiroto nodded. All sense had been knocked out of him and he decided to go along with the flow of what Sakamoto was telling him. Sakamoto sighed and walked closer to the bed. “He’s very powerful, and he’s watching your angel. I don’t know what he has against him but I know he’s killed angels before. I haven’t had much of a problem with it, I mean, I hadn’t even known how an angel really changes things for people. But now that I know what’s happened to you and how your angel is going to help you I don’t want you to lose the chance of getting a better life...”
“Wait.” Hiroto interrupted. He shook his head and stared at the white quilts beneath him. “You’re saying that you care about my future? My life? Whether Shou lives or dies? Why should you?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Sakamoto moaned, “Anyone with a brain would feel sympathy for your situation! But more than anything I guess I can relate... I know it won’t make much of a difference to you but I know what it’s like to lose someone dear.” He gripped onto the bar of the bed and directed his vision to the floor, unable to look Hiroto in the eye.
Hiroto chose not to press the issue, after all it looked like Sakamoto still had problems revolving around his losses. He looked over to Shou and found the angel lost in his own thoughts.
“Why does Tora want to kill Shou?” Hiroto asked quietly.
“I don’t know... something to do with breaking a code, but I don’t know what that is.” Sakamoto explained. “The only reason why he’s not with me right now is because I tell him to go about his own business most of the time... He’s been with me for a while and I honestly can’t stay with him too long until he needs to do something else...”
Silence hit the hospital room once again.
“I guess there’s no way I’ll be able to see Tora...” Hiroto sighed. “I wouldn’t be able to stop him, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him... Sakamoto could you please get more information from him?”
“I can try.” He replied. “Is Shou with you right now?”
Hiroto nodded and glanced over at Shou who had done exactly the same thing at the same time. Sakamoto stared into the seemingly empty space too, wondering just who or what was stood in the corner of the room. Instead of asking any more questions he chose to leave and leave Hiroto to stay with his angel in peace and quiet. “I just wanted to warn you. I know you’d been getting into trouble and I didn’t want more to happen to you. I hope to see you in School soon anyway...”
“Ok.” Hiroto nodded. “I’ll talk to you later Sakamoto, and thank you... for warning us.”
Sakamoto smiled and walked out through the curtains, slipping his sunglasses back on as he did. Once he had disappeared Hiroto stared at Shou in fear. What Sakamoto had told him had shaken him and he wasn’t sure whether he would be calm until Shou had explained the whole situation to him.
“What did he mean?” He asked Shou. “Why would this Tora want to kill you?”
Shou sat back down and looked away. He couldn’t tell Hiroto the truth so he had to come up with some kind of excuse quickly.
“He must be killing without a motive.” Shou explained, “Using some kind of ‘code’ as his excuse. I haven’t done anything wrong so there is no need to kill me.”
Hiroto crept further into his covers and shuddered. He didn’t know that there were so many bad angels around. He looked back up at Shou and pulled a confused face.
“I didn’t even know you could be killed, if you are an angel...” He mused.
“It’s not a normal death...” Shou explained. He sat forward and clasped his hands together. “It’s not a comfortable death either.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hours had passed. Hiroto wasn’t sure what time it was but it was definitely the end of one day and the beginning of another. He had been laid talking to Shou for a while, and in short bursts he had napped. Every time he would wake up with terrible pains in his side, but once he spotted Shou sat in the same old chair he would find his pains begin to soothe.
But after a while he began to worry. The police hadn’t arrived yet, but they would, and they would want as much information as possible. After that he would be sent home but he would do anything to spend another day in hospital. He didn’t want to sleep in his dirty old mattress and live in his disgusting apartment. He would have to face his landlord again and he didn’t want to live in the same building as him let alone have to pay the guy to live there at all.
Although, he guessed, there wouldn’t be much money to give his landlord for much longer...
He looked over at Shou for the first time in what must have been an hour. He had been asleep previously and Shou had simply watched over him like a hawk. He wasn’t sure what or who was going to hurt him other than the injuries already inflicted on his body, but never the less he was grateful that someone was so worried about him.
“Shou?” He called. Shou propped himself up and looked over at Hiroto as he waited for him to continue. Hiroto could see the glint in Shou’s eyes when he looked over and it gave Hiroto a warm feeling as if he were safe wrapped up in Shou’s line of sight. “I don’t think I want to leave Hospital.”
“Why?” Shou asked confused. “I thought you would want to leave.”
“This is the most comfortable bed I’ve slept in for years.” Hiroto explained, “I haven’t had food like the food they serve here in even longer... even a hospital is better than the place I live.”
Shou moved up to him and stared at him almost centimetres away from his face. Hiroto felt the same feelings creep up on him similar to when they were in the alleyway, but because he was tired he managed to keep them at the back of his mind.
“Don’t lose hope, you’re not going to stay this way forever. Something will happen for you, something will change. I will keep the faith for you if you can’t keep it yourself.”
Hiroto smiled lazily. He hadn’t expected such a comeback but Shou tended to be quite deep with what he said. Along with that he was completely honest so he knew that the angel wasn’t saying it to keep him happy. He managed to shut his eyes again happily, without a doubt that things would get better. It was almost definitely a lie, after all he couldn’t believe that things were going to be better than the hospital for a very long time, but as long as Shou believed in him he felt confident that something, anything was going to happen that would keep him going.
At that very moment, that something was Shou.
“Thank you Shou.” Hiroto mumbled. Almost immediately after, he fell into a deep sleep.
Shou smiled and went to stroke the side of Hiroto’s cheek. Once he realised what he was doing he quickly recoiled. After Sakamoto had walked into the room and explained what was going on with Tora he had felt incredibly nervous. He wasn’t even sure himself why he wanted to act the way he did, touching, stroking, hugging... those things were signs of affection that he shouldn’t have been feeling let alone showing. He stood up and walked out of the room to take a quick stroll down the corridor and clear his mind.
Once he stepped foot into the dark, almost empty corridor, he realised that there was someone stood at the very end. He chose to dismiss it since there were so many people in the hospital, but eventually the said body spoke broadly to him.
“So, you’re looking after Ogata now are you? I hope he’s ok...”
Shou snapped his gaze up and found the mysterious body to be that of Murai Naoyuki’s. He strolled confidently down the corridor with a smug smile on his face. “I’m actually quite surprised he didn’t get hurt that bad, I guess I should try harder next time.”
“You...” Shou growled. He felt his body raise temperature like a boiling kettle ready to whistle loudly. He clenched his fists and stormed towards Murai with twice the other mans speed and momentum. “You bastard!”
Once Shou had made it to about half a meter away from Murai he stopped and glared at the man who had tried to kill Hiroto. The smug smile had not managed to fall from his face and instead of being threatened by Shou he chose to laugh his actions off.
“You’re getting more human by the minute it’s quite frightening.” Murai sighed. “Although it’s not a bad thing, after all don’t you think you’re supposed to feel this way about Ogata?”
Shou unclenched his fists and gritted his teeth together. He couldn’t look at Murai but he couldn’t say no to him either; he couldn’t deny his anger after showing it so visibly.
“Don’t hurt Hiroto to prove a point.” Shou grunted.
“But its working isn’t it?” Murai grinned, “I knew you wouldn’t be difficult to persuade, you’re different to the other angels...”
Shou span around and started marching towards Hiroto’s room. He didn’t want to hear what Murai had to say, and if he was close to Hiroto he would know for sure that he was ok and out of Murai’s reach. As he walked Naoyuki span Shou around and pulled him towards him. “What are you running away from?! Are you scared? Are you scared to admit the truth!?”
“What truth?!” Shou shouted, unable to control his anger.
“The truth that you love Ogata!” Murai shouted back. He shook Shou as he shouted, shaking his own body as he did so. His hair covered his face and all was visible was his mouth; baring his teeth dangerously at Shou to show the significance.
Shou fell back from Murai’s grasp. The words had been thrown at him already. He knew well that if he admitted it and if he acted upon it he would be found and killed almost instantly. He staggered across the corridor and stared at Murai as if staring into the face of death itself.
“No... No I don’t!” Shou cried.
“You just don’t want to die!” Murai laughed, “You’ve lived all this time and you’re scared to let it all slide! Admit it! Admit you love him!”
“No!” Shou whimpered. He felt his whole body go limp. The amount of feelings running through his body was immense and he felt like he was being tortured. He held onto the blue walls after feeling what seemed like shortness of breath. He’d never been so worked up before and he seemed to have started hyperventilating.
“Fine.” Murai snapped. He walked over to Shou and picked him up from the wall. “Just look at me and remember this: I’m alive. I did it and I’m still here. I admitted it and I fought for it and I won, and most of all I don’t regret a thing I’ve ever done.”
He dropped Shou to the floor and started making his way out of the hospital. Shou watched his feet move across the polished surface and tried his best to regulate his breathing. A pain in his chest caused him to curl up on the floor, and the moment that Murai was gone he felt himself explode into tears he’d never experienced before.
This time there was no one to hide them from. This time he was free to cry.
.