[10_orders] The Accident
Mukuro is just starting his shift at the pet shop when he receives a call from one Haru Miura. He stares at the display in surprise for a moment, blinking as he debates whether or not to answer. But he can’t ever recall the girl calling him before - and surely she wouldn’t do so without a very good reason.
“Hello-”
“Mukuro-san!” Miura’s hysterical voice blares from the tiny speaker. “Mukuro-san, you have to come to the hospital!” It almost sounds like she’s crying.
“What? Why?” Mukuro demands sharply. Miura starts babbling and the bluenet quickly interrupts, “Slow down. What happened, Miura-chan?”
“I-it’s Chrome-chan! We were walking to school together like always and we saw a cat crossing the street - sh-she jumped in front of a car to protect the cat!” Miura explains tearfully.
That sounds like just the sort of selfless, idiotic thing his cute little sister would do. “Is she all right? Which hospital, Namimori General?”
“H-Haru doesn’t know. She’s in Namimori General - the ambulance took her five minutes ago but Haru-”
Mukuro doesn’t bother listening to the rest of whatever the irritating girl is babbling and hangs up. Ken is watching him worriedly from behind the counter.
“I have to go,” Mukuro says abruptly, untying the apron that makes up the shop’s uniform and tossing it onto the counter.
“Is Chrome-chan ok?” Ken asks, looking worried.
“I don’t know,” the bluenet snaps tersely. “Tell Birds I’m at the hospital.”
The blond nods silently, and Mukuro stalks out. Namimori General is about a ten minute walk from Birds’ pet shop, but the bluenet runs there in about two. The staff are infuriatingly unhelpful, repeating that Chrome is still in surgery and that her injuries are ‘serious’ - though what serious entails is another story.
Mukuro waits with Miura and Sasagawa for two tense hours, during which time the former babbles incessantly. Sasagawa sits quietly, wringing her hands. The bluenet ignores them both, his gaze glued to the door to the operating room.
He’s grateful when Sasagawa’s older brother comes in and takes the two girls away - though the look of pity that the white-haired male sends his way only serves to piss Mukuro off.
Finally, about fifteen minutes after Miura and Sasagawa leave, the surgeon emerges. The bluenet jumps to his feet.
“Are you the next of kin?” the man asks.
“Yes. How is she?” Mukuro demands. “Can I see her?”
“She’s stable, but her injuries were serious.”
“What the hell does that mean?” the bluenet snarls, the frustration at his helpless in this situation boiling over.
“There was extensive damage to her right eye - she’ll be blind in that eye for the rest of her life. As well, she suffered several broken ribs - however, nothing vital was damaged internally. Her right arm is also broken. More importantly, she suffered a serious concussion... At the moment, she is in a coma.”
Mukuro stiffens, his mind going blank. “Will she be all right?”
The doctor sighs softly. “Her condition is stable, as I’ve said - but whether she will regain consciousness is uncertain. However... It’s not quite as dismal as I’m making out to be. I’m confident she will wake up.”
“When?” Mukuro asks, hating the note of desperation in his voice.
He receives a helpless shrug in reply. “I can’t say. It could be today, it could be a month from now...” It could be never, Mukuro finishes mentally.
“... Thank you,” the bluenet mutters. “Can I see her now?”
The man leaves Mukuro with directions to Chrome’s room and a feeling of slight relief. He’d feel better if he knew Chrome was going to be ok.
The hospital room is empty apart from his silent, motionless sister, though there is another bed. Mukuro sinks into the chair beside her bed. After a moment of hesitation, he reaches out and grasps her left hand. Her grip is slack, and it takes a greater effort than he would have expected to not hold her hand in a crushing grip. The steady beeping of her heart rate is almost soothing, and it reassures Mukuro that his sister is, for the most part, all right.
Time stretches on. He receives a text from Ken, which he tersely responds with an assurance that Chrome is ok, but she is going to recover. He also sends a brief text to Miura in the same vein.
A nurse comes in to check on Chrome and offers to bring him something to eat, but the bluenet declines. He remains at his sister’s side for the rest of the day, watching intently for any sign of change. Chrome remains comatose, however.
In spite of himself, Mukuro starts worrying about how he’s going to pay her hospital bills, and any other expenses associated with the accident. He can’t afford to skip any more days of work, and it’s not like Birds or M. M. give him any sick days or something like that. M. M. would probably be understanding about this - not to mention she is very fond of Chrome - but Birds is, frankly, a creepy bastard. He wouldn’t cut Mukuro any slack.
Around the middle of the day, a boy around Chrome’s age is brought in and placed in the other bed. He looks like he took a serious beating, the bluenet notes distantly, then returns his attention to Chrome’s inert form. No one comes to visit the boy, which suits Mukuro fine, as does the fact that the boy doesn’t speak despite being groggily conscious.
Hibari stalks in about fifteen minutes after school ends. “Herbivore. What are you doing here,” the prefect demands, glaring down at the boy in the second bed. Mukuro arches an eyebrow and watches the exchange with interest.
“I-I,” the boy stammers, trembling.
“There’s no room for weaklings in the Discipline Committee,” Hibari states.
“B-but, I didn’t even want to be in the Discipline Committee, Hibari-san!” the boy protests. “My tutor-”
Upon hearing the admission, Hibari’s expression becomes even more foreboding while remaining largely stoic. It’s mostly in the narrowing of his dark eyes, Mukuro muses. “I don’t care about your excuses. If I ever catch you pretending to be a prefect again, I’ll bite you to death.”
“Y-yes, Hibari-san. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry!”
“Quiet,” Hibari orders, pulling out his tonfa. The boy squeaks in fear then goes limp as he passes out. The prefect then turns to walk out - and stops, his eyes widening briefly when he spots Mukuro sitting there. His gaze flicks to Chrome lying motionless on the bed. “... Rokudo,” the prefect greets, not sounding quite so cold as he usually seems. It could just be Mukuro’s imagination, though.
“Have I been promoted from herbivore,” Mukuro drawls, more out of reflex than any real desire to annoy the prefect.
“Is that student going to be all right?”
“Your concern is touching, but unwanted,” the bluenet snaps, annoyed. “Not to mention hypocritical.”
Hibari, irritatingly, doesn’t rise to the bait. It would have been a welcome distraction. “What happened?”
“Car accident,” Mukuro says shortly, not sure why he’s telling the prefect this.
Hibari nods, hovering almost uncertainly near the foot of Chrome’s bed. “Don’t cry,” he says, seemingly out of the blue, because Mukuro’s eyes are totally dry. What the hell? Is this Hibari’s twisted idea of comfort, or something like that?
“...She’s not dying, asshole,” the bluenet snaps, bristling. “It’s a coma, not- not- The doctor said she’ll wake up.” He hates how uncertain he sound, falling back on what the surgeon said because he doesn’t have any other assurances that Chrome will be ok.
Hibari nods once, little more than a jerk o f his head. “Of course.”
Mukuro narrows his eyes, not sure if Hibari is serious or humouring him. After a moment, he looks back at Chrome’s still form.
“I’m not going to cry,” Mukuro snarls, gripping Chrome’s hand more tightly, as if that can make her wake up sooner. “So stop staring, prefect.” Absurdly, he can feel tears prickling at his eyes - as if this day could get any worse. He hasn’t cried since... he can’t even remember.
Hibari nods again, awkwardly. The bluenet sees the jerky motion out of the corner of his eye. “You need to call the office to inform them about this, so they can fix her attendance record,” Hibari informs him.
Mukuro stares at him in disbelief. “Is that a joke?” he finally asks, tears forgotten.
The prefect shrugs. “I hate seeing weaklings cry.”
“Fuck you,” the bluenet says, flatly. “Get out.”
“There’s still room for new recruits in the Discipline Committee,” Hibari reminds him, tossing the words over his shoulder as he walks to the door.
“Close the door behind you,” Mukuro snaps, relaxing minutely when he hears the soft click of it closing. Chrome remains as motionless and unresponsive as ever.
“Hello-”
“Mukuro-san!” Miura’s hysterical voice blares from the tiny speaker. “Mukuro-san, you have to come to the hospital!” It almost sounds like she’s crying.
“What? Why?” Mukuro demands sharply. Miura starts babbling and the bluenet quickly interrupts, “Slow down. What happened, Miura-chan?”
“I-it’s Chrome-chan! We were walking to school together like always and we saw a cat crossing the street - sh-she jumped in front of a car to protect the cat!” Miura explains tearfully.
That sounds like just the sort of selfless, idiotic thing his cute little sister would do. “Is she all right? Which hospital, Namimori General?”
“H-Haru doesn’t know. She’s in Namimori General - the ambulance took her five minutes ago but Haru-”
Mukuro doesn’t bother listening to the rest of whatever the irritating girl is babbling and hangs up. Ken is watching him worriedly from behind the counter.
“I have to go,” Mukuro says abruptly, untying the apron that makes up the shop’s uniform and tossing it onto the counter.
“Is Chrome-chan ok?” Ken asks, looking worried.
“I don’t know,” the bluenet snaps tersely. “Tell Birds I’m at the hospital.”
The blond nods silently, and Mukuro stalks out. Namimori General is about a ten minute walk from Birds’ pet shop, but the bluenet runs there in about two. The staff are infuriatingly unhelpful, repeating that Chrome is still in surgery and that her injuries are ‘serious’ - though what serious entails is another story.
Mukuro waits with Miura and Sasagawa for two tense hours, during which time the former babbles incessantly. Sasagawa sits quietly, wringing her hands. The bluenet ignores them both, his gaze glued to the door to the operating room.
He’s grateful when Sasagawa’s older brother comes in and takes the two girls away - though the look of pity that the white-haired male sends his way only serves to piss Mukuro off.
Finally, about fifteen minutes after Miura and Sasagawa leave, the surgeon emerges. The bluenet jumps to his feet.
“Are you the next of kin?” the man asks.
“Yes. How is she?” Mukuro demands. “Can I see her?”
“She’s stable, but her injuries were serious.”
“What the hell does that mean?” the bluenet snarls, the frustration at his helpless in this situation boiling over.
“There was extensive damage to her right eye - she’ll be blind in that eye for the rest of her life. As well, she suffered several broken ribs - however, nothing vital was damaged internally. Her right arm is also broken. More importantly, she suffered a serious concussion... At the moment, she is in a coma.”
Mukuro stiffens, his mind going blank. “Will she be all right?”
The doctor sighs softly. “Her condition is stable, as I’ve said - but whether she will regain consciousness is uncertain. However... It’s not quite as dismal as I’m making out to be. I’m confident she will wake up.”
“When?” Mukuro asks, hating the note of desperation in his voice.
He receives a helpless shrug in reply. “I can’t say. It could be today, it could be a month from now...” It could be never, Mukuro finishes mentally.
“... Thank you,” the bluenet mutters. “Can I see her now?”
The man leaves Mukuro with directions to Chrome’s room and a feeling of slight relief. He’d feel better if he knew Chrome was going to be ok.
The hospital room is empty apart from his silent, motionless sister, though there is another bed. Mukuro sinks into the chair beside her bed. After a moment of hesitation, he reaches out and grasps her left hand. Her grip is slack, and it takes a greater effort than he would have expected to not hold her hand in a crushing grip. The steady beeping of her heart rate is almost soothing, and it reassures Mukuro that his sister is, for the most part, all right.
Time stretches on. He receives a text from Ken, which he tersely responds with an assurance that Chrome is ok, but she is going to recover. He also sends a brief text to Miura in the same vein.
A nurse comes in to check on Chrome and offers to bring him something to eat, but the bluenet declines. He remains at his sister’s side for the rest of the day, watching intently for any sign of change. Chrome remains comatose, however.
In spite of himself, Mukuro starts worrying about how he’s going to pay her hospital bills, and any other expenses associated with the accident. He can’t afford to skip any more days of work, and it’s not like Birds or M. M. give him any sick days or something like that. M. M. would probably be understanding about this - not to mention she is very fond of Chrome - but Birds is, frankly, a creepy bastard. He wouldn’t cut Mukuro any slack.
Around the middle of the day, a boy around Chrome’s age is brought in and placed in the other bed. He looks like he took a serious beating, the bluenet notes distantly, then returns his attention to Chrome’s inert form. No one comes to visit the boy, which suits Mukuro fine, as does the fact that the boy doesn’t speak despite being groggily conscious.
Hibari stalks in about fifteen minutes after school ends. “Herbivore. What are you doing here,” the prefect demands, glaring down at the boy in the second bed. Mukuro arches an eyebrow and watches the exchange with interest.
“I-I,” the boy stammers, trembling.
“There’s no room for weaklings in the Discipline Committee,” Hibari states.
“B-but, I didn’t even want to be in the Discipline Committee, Hibari-san!” the boy protests. “My tutor-”
Upon hearing the admission, Hibari’s expression becomes even more foreboding while remaining largely stoic. It’s mostly in the narrowing of his dark eyes, Mukuro muses. “I don’t care about your excuses. If I ever catch you pretending to be a prefect again, I’ll bite you to death.”
“Y-yes, Hibari-san. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry!”
“Quiet,” Hibari orders, pulling out his tonfa. The boy squeaks in fear then goes limp as he passes out. The prefect then turns to walk out - and stops, his eyes widening briefly when he spots Mukuro sitting there. His gaze flicks to Chrome lying motionless on the bed. “... Rokudo,” the prefect greets, not sounding quite so cold as he usually seems. It could just be Mukuro’s imagination, though.
“Have I been promoted from herbivore,” Mukuro drawls, more out of reflex than any real desire to annoy the prefect.
“Is that student going to be all right?”
“Your concern is touching, but unwanted,” the bluenet snaps, annoyed. “Not to mention hypocritical.”
Hibari, irritatingly, doesn’t rise to the bait. It would have been a welcome distraction. “What happened?”
“Car accident,” Mukuro says shortly, not sure why he’s telling the prefect this.
Hibari nods, hovering almost uncertainly near the foot of Chrome’s bed. “Don’t cry,” he says, seemingly out of the blue, because Mukuro’s eyes are totally dry. What the hell? Is this Hibari’s twisted idea of comfort, or something like that?
“...She’s not dying, asshole,” the bluenet snaps, bristling. “It’s a coma, not- not- The doctor said she’ll wake up.” He hates how uncertain he sound, falling back on what the surgeon said because he doesn’t have any other assurances that Chrome will be ok.
Hibari nods once, little more than a jerk o f his head. “Of course.”
Mukuro narrows his eyes, not sure if Hibari is serious or humouring him. After a moment, he looks back at Chrome’s still form.
“I’m not going to cry,” Mukuro snarls, gripping Chrome’s hand more tightly, as if that can make her wake up sooner. “So stop staring, prefect.” Absurdly, he can feel tears prickling at his eyes - as if this day could get any worse. He hasn’t cried since... he can’t even remember.
Hibari nods again, awkwardly. The bluenet sees the jerky motion out of the corner of his eye. “You need to call the office to inform them about this, so they can fix her attendance record,” Hibari informs him.
Mukuro stares at him in disbelief. “Is that a joke?” he finally asks, tears forgotten.
The prefect shrugs. “I hate seeing weaklings cry.”
“Fuck you,” the bluenet says, flatly. “Get out.”
“There’s still room for new recruits in the Discipline Committee,” Hibari reminds him, tossing the words over his shoulder as he walks to the door.
“Close the door behind you,” Mukuro snaps, relaxing minutely when he hears the soft click of it closing. Chrome remains as motionless and unresponsive as ever.