Title: Maybe This Time
Pairing: Akame, Kame/Aizawa Kosaku, Kame/ Shouhei (Original Character)
Summary: Jin left Johnny’s again, without saying goodbye to his best friend/lover Kame, because he needed to sort things out in his life. Torn between dragging his lover back to Johnny’s and keeping the band intact, Kame was convinced by his band mates to let Jin go and do whatever he wanted. Two years later, Jin is back but things were different with Jimusho… and even bigger changes in Kame’s life…
Chapter Twelve
~flash back~
Insistent knocking shook Kame out of his slumber. He immediately opened the door and found Tohru and Kenji on his doorstep, face streaked with tears.
“What happened? Are you okay?” he kneeled in front of the twins worriedly.
Tohru tugged Kame’s right hand. “Please, M-mommy collapsed! We don’t know what happened.”
Kenji sniffled.
Kame’s heart beat fast. He let the kids guide him to their apartment. He saw Rikka sprawled dawn the kitchen floor and he let go of the twins’ hands to check for the young mother’s pulse… it was slow and barely there. He tried to be calm so as not to frighten the young ones. “Kenji-kun, can you hand me your landline phone?”
Kenji scrambled to get the device from the living room and handed it to Kame. The older man dialed 119 calmly, smiling a little to make the kids relax a little. “Hi, ambulance please?” he gave their address and contact number to the operator, and was informed to wait five minutes for the ambulance to come from the nearest medical facility. He thanked the operator and hung up.
“Is… m-mommy alright?” Kenji’s voice cracked a little.
Kame ruffled both Tohru and Kenji’s hair. “I’m not sure.” He answered honestly. “But we’re going to make sure she’ll be alright, okay? Can you be strong for mommy?”
The two kids nodded, stifling their tears.
“Your mommy will be proud of you two.” Kame smiled. He wanted to carry Rikka’s body somewhere comfortable but he was afraid that would complicate things for her so he didn’t. Instead, he hugged the small figures of the two fear stricken boys to comfort them.
Five minutes seemed to be an eternity for the two boys and an adult man waiting for the ambulance. When the medics arrived, they informed him that only one family member could ride the ambulance with Rikka. He decided to take the kids to the hospital in his car instead. They ran into Taichi on their way to the car park. The kids knew who he was and told him that their mom was taken to the hospital and Taichi offered to come with them. Kame agreed and nodded his thanks.
When they arrived in the hospital, they were told to wait as the doctors are stabilizing Rikka. The kids were restless while both Taichi and Kame tried to calm them down.
An hour passed and one doctor came out to meet them. “May I know your relationship with Rikka-sama?” Taichi and Kame looked at each other.
A little after, Taichi answered. “We’re her neighbors. How is she?”
The doctor frowned. “I’m sorry; I can only divulge information to family members.”
Kame’s temper rose. “Look, the only family member she has around is her kids so you can tell us.”
The doctor looked conflicted. “I’m only allowed to talk to family members.”
“Kamenashi-kun is right. She doesn’t have any blood relatives except for the kids. Anything you can tell the family members, you can say it to us. We’re all she has.” Taichi said as calmly as he could.
The door to the emergency room opened and revealed Rikka in a stretcher, still unconscious.
“Mom!” the twins shouted.
“Shhh.” Kame carried Tohru and Taichi took Kenji in his arms. “It’s okay, she’s sleeping. Let’s allow her to rest, okay?”
Kenji nodded obediently while Tohru looked at Kame straight in the eye. “Are you sure she’s sleeping peacefully? She looks… she looks like she’s hurt.”
Kame and Taichi was amazed at the young boy’s perceptiveness.
Taichi smiled. “I’m sure she’s sleeping peacefully.”
“She can be transferred to a private room.” The doctor informed them.
Kame put Tohru down and smiled at the boy. “Come on, let’s follow your mom back to her room.” He gestured at he doctor to lead them there.
The young boy’s grip on Kame’s hand hurt. It seemed like the older twin didn’t believe that his mom was okay. Nonetheless, he followed Kame’s lead to his mom’s room. Taichi was still holding Kenji in his arms.
Upon reaching the room, Kame and Taichi told the boys to stay by their mom’s side while they talk to the doctor. The boys meekly stood beside the hospital bed, gazing at their only parent with worry.
Outside, the doctor started informing them about Rikka’s situation. “We need to run tests.”
“Is it something serious?” Taichi asked.
“We still don’t know. We’re trying to locate medical records of Rikka-sama but so far, no luck yet.”
“What are we supposed to do now?” Taichi continued asking.
“I need to have some papers signed for us to proceed with the tests.”
“I can sign those papers. We can’t delay those tests. About the hospital fees, I can pay for them.” Kame finalized.
The doctor nodded and gestured for Kame to follow him. Taichi bobbed his head to assure Kame that he will be staying with the kids. When he was done signing the documents needed, Kame headed back to Rikka’s room and found Taichi, Kenji and Tohru huddling around the bed.
Taichi smiled when he spotted Kame. “Rikka just woke up.”
Kame smiled back, headed to the bed, and stood right beside Tohru. “Hey, how are you? Are you feeling better?”
Rikka tried to sit up, but all of them forced her to lay still. “I’m okay. Thank you for helping us out. I… I can’t stay here long; I have to go to work or I won’t be able to pay the hospital bill.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it all covered, just rest.” Kame assured the young woman.
“I don’t know… we barely know you…” Rikka hesitantly said.
Taichi smiled at Rikka. “If you don’t want him to pay, I can pay for it. Just listen to him and rest, okay?”
Rikka doubtfully agreed.
Taichi turned to the boys. “Are you hungry? It’s already 11am. What do you say about an early lunch?”
“But…” Tohru protested. “I don’t want to leave mom alone here.”
“Yeah, me too.” Kenji seconded.
“I’ll be okay here. Go and have lunch with Taichi-san.” Rikka ordered the boys. “If… that’s okay with you Taichi-san?”
Taichi nodded.
“I’ll stay here with your mom. Let Saotome-kun take you out for lunch.” Kame presented.
“And you won’t leave mom alone?” Kenji asked to make sure his mom wouldn’t be alone.
“Yes. Go and have lunch, okay?”
“Okay…” the twins trailed after Taichi.
Heavy silence followed once they were gone.
“I apologize greatly for the inconvenience this caused you.” Rikka decided to cut the silence.
Kame shook his head. “I’m telling you, it’s no big deal. I’m glad I can help out.”
“I’ll pay you back, I promise.”
Kame laughed softly. “You will never back down with this issue, will you?”
Rikka shook her head. “I hate to be an inconvenience to anyone.” She softly said.
“Well, fret not because you’re not.” Kame assured. “Now can we please stop with this conversation? I want to help and you’re not inconveniencing me.”
Rikka bowed her head, locks of hair covered her beautiful face and Kame had to tuck those behind her ears. The woman looked shocked at the gesture and Kame just smiled.
~end flashback~
-----
“Kazu-chan?” Taichi waved a hand in front of Kame’s face to catch the older man’s attention.
Kame shook his head in attempt to clear his mind. “Sorry. I blanked out again, didn’t I?”
The younger of the two nodded. “Yeah, is there anything wrong?”
“I’m-- I’m just remembering Rikka.”
“Oh.” Taichi was silent.
“We didn’t have the chance to visit her grave today.”
“We will soon. I’m sure she understands that Ryuu’s condition comes first.”
“I’m afraid Taichi... really afraid... I don’t think I can handle it if I lose Ryuu to the same illness that took Rikka.”
Taichi didn’t have any consoling words. He too was afraid that Ryuu might be sick beyond their imagination.
Back to Chapter Eleven ∫
On to Chapter Thirteen -----
A/N: Just to keep things straight. Hayato is Tohru and Ryuu is Kenji. I based their names from Slam Dunk’s Shoyo Captain and Vice Captain *laughs* I just noticed in Chapter Three that I wrote them as HayaRyuu instead of their real names and I was like O.o
Did you like the update? I know there was no Akame interaction at all but I figured I should write Rikka’s past before writing the present. Writing something like this... hurts too much. I lost my mother to grave illness and her first year death anniversary is approaching so fast so writing this makes me cry. Even if my emotions are not fully conveyed in this fic, I cry when I write it. Weird?
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