Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Poison ❯ Chapter 2: Melancholic ( Chapter 2 )

Title:Poison
Author: Nekocin
Warnings: OoC [possible on Touya's part], scenes aren't of chronological order, not really an OC. but an OC from Yuugioh.
Pairings: none, implied S+S
Rated: PG13
Additional notes: this is going to have weird twists of scenes.
Disclaimer: the character Kaiba doesn't belong to me. I'm just using him for a bit in this story.

~...~ - Flashback
XXX - not so important scene change

Chapter 2: Melancholic

The first thing that woke him up is the alarm tugging his chest. There's something wrong.
For some reasons unknown he feels as if he has been in a coma for a long time, which doesn't make sense -because he knows he's not. And at the same time his head is hurting slightly. An arm runs carefully across the soft mattress on which he's found himself lying upon.

This is not his bed... his own sheets are slightly wrinkled because he hasn't had the time to do the laundry - this one's straightened.

What's going on?

He turns his body slowly to lie on one side and starts fingering with the pillows on which his head is lying. He breathes in the lingering scent slightly and stops in mid-breath. This is definitely not his bed. The scent tastes almost sweet in the air.

He immediately pushes himself in a sitting position. But he isn't prepared for the immediate pounding in his head. He groans out while unconsciously cradling his head. Thousands of sledgehammers are slamming down on head at the moment, flattening it almost literally.

What had happened last night? His head hurts.

"Swallow this" an out-of-nowhere hand pops something what seems like a painkiller into his mouth. An immediate glass of water is near his dry lips. He doesn't quite get the part from where this illusion has come from. He hasn't grown another pair of extra arms, has he? It makes no sense while is headaches.

He simply gulps down the water, almost greedily.

"Take it easy, take it easy" someone says faintly to him as he feels the gentle rubs on his back.

"My head..." he groans involuntarily and closes his eyes briefly. It hasn't taken long before the pounding on his head has subsided. Touya lets out a relieved breath and tries to collect his thoughts.

"What's happened?"

"Last night you've gotten quite a lot of admirers who buy you drinks. Unfortunately, those drinks were far stronger than your usual order. I'd found you passed out on your table when I needed to close up"

Touya blinks. That voice... the BARTENDER?

His head whips up and he stares at the casually dressed guy from the bar. Tsukishiro is sitting on a chair next to the bed, holding a glass as he looks concerned at him.

"You!"

Tsukishiro looks a bit startled, but smiles continuously. "Apparently, you're quite surprised seeing me here"

Touya shakes himself out of his stupor and easily slides on his serious poker face.

"Where am I?" he takes his opportunity to look around. A built-in closet in the far wall, and two night tables are noticeable in the room. The rest of the bedroom looks so bare.

"My apartment. I know it's not much. I hadn't enough time to decorate the interior these last few days"

The room looks kind of familiar. Touya nods slightly and absently looked down at his wristwatch. 11:30 AM?!
He lets out an immediate gasp.

"I've got to go to work!" Pushing the heavy duvets aside, Touya climbs out of the bed and frantically searches his pockets with both hands. Tsukishiro stays at a distant when Touya has pushed himself off the bed.

"Are you sure? I believe you need to take a break. Sleeping the headache off is much better than overworking yourself"

"I've a lot of work to do at the office and-"

"I insist, there's no harm in resting while you're feeling unwell"

"I can't. I've to work. It's the only thing what's left for me to live for"

"I have no any idea what you're trying to say, but-"

"Do you know the way to Daidouji's Toy Company?"

Tsukishiro sighs. "You'll wither like flowers if you keep this up, do you know that?"
Touya blinks.

Tsukishiro holds the empty glass closely and stands up. "Daidouji's Toy Company is three blocks away if you take the main street. If you're looking for your wallet, it's on the night table next to the bed"
And Tsukishiro walks out of the bedroom.

Touya grabs his wallet, checks the content rapidly and seemingly satisfied, he stuffs it in his trench coat's pockets. Tsukishiro hadn't taken the time to undress him, before tucking him into bed last night. Now his clothes look all wrinkled.

Wait a minute-

3 blocks away if one takes the main street?

That's his usual route to work. At this hour traffic would be heavy, he'll lose another twenty minutes or more to that. Daidouji-sama will not be happy with him being late. He starts pacing around in the room, his bare feet muffled by the thick carpet on the floor.

What's he going to do?

"Do you have a phone around here?"

"Yes, it's right inside the first drawer" Tsukishiro reappears and heads for the night table next to the bed. Touya raises an eyebrow when Tsukishiro takes out the phone.

What's a telephone doing inside the night table for?

"May I-?"

"Yes, you may. Just don't ask why the phone's there" Tsukishiro cuts him off, smiling both politely and embarrassed at him, and passes him the telephone.

Touya wordlessly stares at him, nods once and tucks the phone near his ear.
It hasn't taken long before Daidouji-sama starts lecturing him about getting to work on time if not, just call her why he couldn't be present. But as soon as she gets word of him having a hangover, she starts demanding him to stay at home for the time being.

After the long, suffering lecture Touya bids her good day, not before promising he'll get some sleep, and hangs up. He stares at the phone for a moment and then remembers again whose room he's invading.

He turns to look at Tsukishiro, who's been hovering silently and [almost] worriedly behind him, standing near the end of the bed. Tsukishiro looks back at him with those concerned eyes...

"Thank you for letting me use your phone" Touya bows slightly, speaking softly and unsure.

"It's no problem. Uhm... do you want something to eat? Eggs? Bread? Pancakes?" Tsukishiro offers immediately, smiling yet again.
Though for some reason, Touya thinks the smile is a bit distant and sad.

What's he trying to accomplish by smiling like that at him? Had something happened last night?

"No, thank you. I'll take my leave now. I apologize for intruding in your home. Thank you" Touya says curtly. He makes his way out of the bedroom, into the living room, towards the front door, slowly but firmly. This may be quite impolite in Touya's opinion, but there isn't much he can do to help himself out of this unexpected situation.
"Have a nice day, Tsukishiro-san"

He's just about to grab the handle of the front door, when he feels a light tug on the hem of his coat's left sleeve. Touya looks over his shoulder, slightly surprised, at the bartender's pale hand gripping his sleeve. Hazel eyes behind a pair of glasses look sympathetically at him.

"You can come to me if you need anything, Kinomoto-san" Tsukishiro smiles softly and lets go.

Touya frowns. What's Tsukishiro trying to say? He doesn't quite know how to respond, but somehow... the little voice encourages him to say something nice in return. Besides it's only fair, right?

"It's only fair if this is reversed, Tsukishiro-san. But I'll think about it" he says truthfully, knowing fully well that it's come way too lame from his mouth. He suddenly sounds like a teenager making some nonsense promise.

But, Tsukishiro is a teenager himself [he's overheard that fact from recent conversations among the costumers... not that he really cares], so maybe it's okay to say things like this.

Tsukishiro's smile widens as if Touya's done him a great favor.

"Have a nice day, Kinomoto-san"

Touya nods, feeling a bit unsure and turns round to open the front door, taking his leave. As he walks down the halls, passing a few decoration plants that are nearby every door he's seen so far in his line of view, he has suddenly noticed again that the place looks familiar.

...

"This is..."

No doubt this hall is very familiar.

Tsukishiro's apartment is in the same building as his. Eh?!

~He slumps over the counter, murmuring incoherently and takes no notice when the bartender is standing in front of him, behind the counter, looking worried.

"Are you all right, Kinomoto-san? You shouldn't drink stuff which your system cannot handle"

"Mmhmm..." he mutters and pulls his head up with a lot of effort. His eyes look blearily up at the bartender.

"I think you had enough for tonight. I'll get you some painkillers and water, okay?" the bartender reaches for the half-empty glasses next to the man, intending to keep the rest of the drinks away from his costumer.

A tanned hand suddenly shoots forward and grabs the bartender's slender wrist. The bartender gasps in surprise, tenses for a moment and relaxes. The grip isn't even painful.

"Don't leave! It's lonely when I don't have anyone to live for anymore" his costumer slurs out almost desperately.

"W-what are you saying, sir?" the bartender stammers, looking almost frightened at his costumer. The costumer's system is way too complex to have heavy alcohol penetrate his walls. Even if he has just come for the Light Moon Beam drink, his costumer has been so... complex, interesting and quite lonely.

It won't take long for the heavy, alcoholic drinks, which his other costumers had treated this client 'generously', start to kick in then...

He has no idea what kind of drunk this costumer would be. Would he be an angry drunk? A violent drunk? A crying drunk? A silly drunk?...

His client looks down, drunkenly, at his other hand, which is shivering uncontrollably.

"Everyone has left me. First 'kaa-san, then 'tou-san and now-"~

Touya doesn't remember what has happened the other night. But he's an idea that he's drunk himself almost to death.

He's heard about drunks doing drastic actions before. So he wonders...
Had he done something quite out of character?

Had he become some raving lunatic, who finds it unfair that the world of growing up way too soon is cruel?

And worse, had he done something to the bartender?

Had he used violence to venture his growing anger on the poor teenager, who's just trying to save up money for his studies?

He shakes his head lightly, banishing these disturbing thoughts.

After reaching to his apartment, which is several floors above Tsukishiro's floor, Touya has gone straight to bed like he's promised Daidouji-sama.
He pulls the covers over his shoulder, presses his head closer into his pillows and unconsciously breathes in his own unique, lingering scent.

His own scent is like the warm sun, bathed with colorful fragrances; the scent of his soap and a bit of salty perspiration... unlike Tsukishiro's pillows, which holds the smell of the lingering autumn breeze -with peach perhaps.

-Never mind-

He's not sure why he's thinking about the other's pillows.
Maybe it's because of the solitary peace he's found while lying on them even if for a moment...

4:30 AM

Early in the morning, Touya has found himself awake and that isn't thanks to his alarm clock. He's just woken up by chance.

He prepares himself for work; dressing the required suits, gathering the manila folders in his briefcase and quickly eating some pancakes, he's cooked, as breakfast.

Driving his way to work will go relatively smooth, because almost half of the working population in the city is still either sleeping or preparing themselves for work.
Touya has decided to take the underground train instead.

XXX

"Good morning"

He nods to the guards behind the counter at the main hall and heads for the elevators' side.

The main hall is very quiet without the usual murmurings of his colleagues conversing to each other in the mornings, he notes. Getting up this early is rare, but not unpleasant; he finds it peaceful to come this early... somehow... and he's not even a morning person.

His train ride has been smooth too; he hasn't been squished between a lots of bodies...

Touya reaches his office. Immediately, he pulls out his folders, starts up his laptop and resumes his work on unfinished projects... in a much slower pace than usual.

At some time he checks his schedule briefly.

9:00 - he'll have a meeting with a certain KC game company's CEO from Domino city. [Since Daidouji-sama is busy with her own schedule, she's requested him to represent Daidouji's Toy Company at the meeting with KC's CEO, Mr. Kaiba.

12:00 - he's to post most of his new project to Daidouji-sama for some critics whether or not his designs will be accepted.

13:00 - 14:00 - he's permitted to lunch away.

Maybe he could take his time to buy an organizer in that one hour too. Who knows how much he really needs one, considering the fact that most of his works are in a disorganized pile of papers on his desk... especially when his agenda looks so messy with the postponed meetings and to-do orders scribbled down here and there, hastily.

15:00 - he has to update most of Daidouji Toy Company website on news about recent new products.

Why hasn't his colleagues gotten that right to change the web pages' layouts and graphics? He has hardly the time to be creative with the Daidouji Toy Company's homepage-

UGH! He needs a drink.
Not the Light Moon Beam or anything related to alcohol.
No.
A cup of coffee will keep him working like an athlete, who has a high stamina, using a lot of energy. He really needs to lay off that drink...

... there's a little side note at the end of the schedule page.

8:00 AM - he's to call Sakura. He's to call her because Sakura has wanted to tell him something important.

Touya wonders absently if she's having problems already.
Never mind... he really shouldn't dwell on that. Maybe he shouldn't heed that to-do one...

He re-checks if he has the intended meeting papers and files, and impatiently looks at laptop's screen time.

It's almost time. Just a few minutes and he'll call his younger sister.

His chest hurts whenever he thinks about having lost her. He's not sure when he's ever felt this anxious before.
Had she lost something? Had she forgotten something at their once-known house? Had she been hurt? [If she had been hurt, he would really kill that -bastard-] Did she have something important to say? - His worries have suddenly been released, once again.

His heart is already getting panic attacks. But the attacks, however, couldn't be compared to the one he has gotten when his office phone rang; his heart has increased its pace tenfold!

Touya lets out the strained breath he's been holding and picks up the phone, after collecting his haphazard thoughts again.

...the call is probably about the toys shipments taxes...
"Daidouji Toy Company. Kinomoto speaking" he greets automatically.

"Onii-chan~!" the one word that has instantly sent his thoughts astray. The pain in his chest has spread out in full blast.

Touya grits his teeth silently.

"Sakura, I thought-"

"Yes, I know. I've just been waiting too anxiously for your call" Sakura's response has come out immediately, enthusiastically even.

"... So, what is it you want me to call for?"

"I've been trying to call you since last week. But no one was home. Where have you been by the way? You're not overworking yourself, have you?"

Since last week?

He doesn't recall having gotten any calls from her... or maybe he's been away from home, way too much that he's forgotten to check his answering machine.

Touya doesn't want to tell her that. He doesn't want to tell her about his whereabouts at night either.

"..."

"Never mind. I'm glad aunt has given you my request to call me" Fortunately, Sakura has misunderstood the silence coming from his side.

"Why do you want me to call for?" he repeated his question.

"Oh! Ne onii-chan, you've left our engagement party so abruptly that I forgot to tell you something very, very important. The wedding will be on the first week of the next month. Syaoran and I have agreed to do both Japanese and Chinese style, so don't be surprised when we hold 2 wedding ceremonies" Sakura prattles on excitedly through the phone, never knowing how much those words are capable of piercing him through the chest, cruelly.

"Please come to our wedding... We've ordered a lot of food and cakes for the wedding party-" [So she remembers how many times they had fought over food, any food for that matter, in the past. Especially cake.]
"-so please come. You can bring your friends along too if you want, we won't mind-"
Now she sounds sad and hopeful altogether. What else can he do? He doesn't want Sakura to worry about him too.

He doesn't want anyone to worry about him.

"Are you sure all that cake is enough, kaijuu? Next month is the beginning of summer. I guess all monsters need to eat a lot too when it's hot. Be sure to buy extra, because you'll never know if you'll want more too" he cuts in smoothly instead and permits himself to smirk.

That will get her mind off her worrying over him. Really. Sometimes he wonders if all this worrying has come from him. He's, after all, been the one who took care of her, when she's been a toddler; he's been the one who's always worrying about her health, her environment... even her love life.

Touya hears some grumbling, which is followed by an ear-piercing "I'm not a Monster!" shout. He's immediately pulled the horn away from his ear as his smirk widens.

The old trick still works on her, even after all these years.

"I'll think about it" he answers neutrally and hangs up, after hearing the soft, confused "Hoe?" from his sister.

...The wedding is next month... that's 2 weeks away.

Must he go? Or will he just decline the invitation? It is, after all, Sakura's wedding; she's going to expect his presence.

After that day, she'll be Li's wife; she'll be happy-

but will he be happy to accept, knowing that her happiness resolves around her husband?

~He's drinking his second glass of Light Moon Beam, while munching on apiece of strawberry shortcake. It's a bit unusual to find something sweet to eat... surprisingly even that Madam Butterfly has these sorts of treats.

This bar is more than just a bar for people who want to drink something for a change, or who want to have fun.

The utter loneliness, which he feels these last few nights, will be lovingly coaxed by the sweetness of the cake... and the bitterness in his drink.

Life's full of dull and yet excited nights.

The regular karaoke goers are relatively tolerable as soon as he's gotten accustomed to their teenagers' clicks. They're still young and full of life.

Who is he to spoil their fun?
He himself had been a teenager once too, but only without any real friends, who wanted him to have fun and loosen up a bit even if for just one night.

It's kind of nice to watch them goof around with their karaoke songs.

"Hai, here you go, Kinomoto-san"

He turns to look at the three glasses filled with cognac in front of him and then at the smiling, polite bartender.

"For me?"

"Courtesy from the -Ladies in Red- in the east corner" the bartender gestures lightly to the said corner. Indeed there are three ladies in red there. They smile sweetly at Touya and hold up their drinks in acknowledgment.

He looks at them neutrally and turns his attention back to the glasses in front of him.

"Ah, I see you've beaten me in popularity, sir" the bartender jokes lightly, chuckling earnestly, and places more glasses filled with unknown alcoholic drinks next to the other three extras glasses.

"You don't have to drink them all if you cannot handle them"

"Where have these come from?" Touya mutters absently, almost glaring at the drinks.

"Courtesies from most of my costumers I'm afraid" the bartender starts wiping the glasses he's just washed. He looks amused when Touya looks at a loss at the drinks in front of him.

"They usually seek companionship in someone who's on the same boat like they are" the bartender comments unnecessarily and puts away the glasses.
At last, he walks away to serve another costumer and has forgotten about the guy, who's gotten a lot of free drinks for the moment.

XXX

"Everyone has left me. First 'kaa-san, then 'tou-san and now... my imouto-chan. You know, I've protected her ever since 'kaa-san's death. Sakura, my imouto-chan, had been under my care for quite a long time and she's about to get married to some big-shot guy. It's not like I don't want that guy to be my in-law, it's just... Sakura and I will drift apart once she marries. I don't want to let her go just yet. She's my sister. If she leaves, I have no one left. I've no one to live for" he starts babbling, slurring his words slightly as he looks sadly at his other tanned hand on his lap.

"Maybe there's this special person for you elsewhere too" Tsukishiro murmurs softly and places a comforting hand on top of the hand holding his wrist. ~

END Chapter 2

Terms:

'kaa-san -- mother
'tou-san -- father
imouto-chan -- little sister
hoe -- Sakura's famous sound whenever she's confused, flustered or surprised.

Endnotes:

- I like to thank those who'd left their comments in their reviews. *hugs* ~<3 :muchos love to you all:
- I know I'm late for the update. I've been lazy when it comes to typing actual chapters down while my notebook looks so... ugly with the various adding and stripes.
- I'd wanted to send this chapter on my birthday, but since I've been busy with another story, got delayed by the computer [it froze several times] and all, I've to postpone the typing several times.

:smiley face:cin