S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction ❯ La petite seconde d’éternité ❯ Ne sauraient suffire Pour dire ( Chapter 3 )

Still don't own Scryed.

 

Would not suffice/To tell of

 

Kanami ladled out the stew she'd made for dinner into four bowls, knowing that it would be a while before Mimori returned with Ryuho in tow.

 

“Ryuho-san would never hurt her, Cougar-san. Really.” The girl looked up at Cougar with earnest eyes, knowing - just as everyone else did, but even more so - that while Ryuho had hurt Mimori deeply in the past, he would never, ever raise a hand against her.

 

“That's all well and good, kid, but you saw Ryuho storm out of here,” Cougar said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. “Hell, you were plastered against the refrigerator when he came blowing through.” IfhelaysahandonherI'llfuckingKILLhimIdon'tcareifheIShurt. Scheris sighed, a pang in her heart. Mimori. She shoved a spoonful of stew into her mouth so she could bite her tongue. “Cougar, you know damn well Kanami's right,” Kazuma said as he sidled into the kitchen, his nose twitching at the smell of the fresh stew. “Look, man,” he said while he rummaged for pepper, “I don't get the fascination any more than you do. Shit, I'd love to give that pompous ass another whipping for how he's treated Mimori, among other things . . . .” Kazuma glanced over at Scheris, who was looking more downcast by the moment, and looked back to Cougar. “But Ryuho would never physically hurt her. It's a non-issue, no matter how angry he is.”

 

Cougar shoved his glasses on top of his head. “Well, whatever. I'm still going out to check on those two . . . andIWILLkillhimifIseesomethingIdon'tlike - ” “Cougar,” Scheris piped up, in a shockingly even tone, “Don't. Just. Don't. You'll just piss him off more.” She leaned back against the wall, knowing deep down that it was Mimori, it had always been Mimori. Despite everything … She rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Fuck, Scheris. You have got to be kidding me. You can't tell me that you want Ryu -” Scheris' eyes narrowed dangerously. Cougar bit his tongue for once in the interest of self-preservation, but moved towards the door.

 

Kanami, wise beyond her years, always so even-tempered in a house full of hot heads, looked at Cougar with her big eyes. “No, Cougar-san - please, don't. They'll be back tonight. But please don't. Mimori-chan will be fine, and she'll be angry if you spy on them.” Cougar's eyes narrowed at the slip of a girl, but he knew she was right - assuming Mimori even noticed his presence, which Cougar was fast becoming concerned would not be the case. Snatching a bowl of stew, he slammed back against the pantry. Brooding silence filled the room, oppressive in its heaviness.

 

----

 

Ryuho swayed slightly as he stood looking down at Mimori, not entirely trusting his broken body to hold him up. He allowed himself time to feel how close they were to each other, nearly touching - time to take in her scent. Caught the flash of the crystal pendant, still amazed that she had kept it all these years. He gave himself time to think of all those moments at HOLD that he'd wanted to reach out for her, grab her wrist, make her smile - to turn the clock back just a few years, when everything seemed so much easier. And what had he done instead? Told her to go home (for her own good … Ryuho growled again at his astonishing stupidity), told her that he felt nothing for her - oh god, he could laugh. Nothing. And he was so cool and calm and withdrawn that she believed it, at least part of her. When all he wanted was to keep her desperately close - but to keep her close was to lose her … but had he lost her by driving her away? He knew that Cougar loved her, and perhaps Mimori loved him. After all, Cougar made her laugh and was sweet to her and usually came to save the day. And Cougar adored her and acted like it. Had been acting like it. It had taken amnesia for Ryuho to even warm up to Mimori again. Idiot!

 

It was all he could do not to pull her up roughly into his arms, where he was sure she belonged. Instead, Ryuho Tairen - proud heir to one of the biggest fortunes of the Lost Grounds, former star member of HOLY - dropped to his knees in front of her, staring at Mimori's feet. Everything seemed to slow down as the ruby eyes focused on each foot, looking at the laces on each shoe. He tried to speak, but his voice caught, and he choked on the words, not for lack of wanting to say them.

 

---

 

Mimori was staring down at the forest-green hair she knew so well, her heart in her throat. “Ryu … Ryuho?” she asked tentatively. Is he sick? Well, of course he's sick, but has something overtaken him? Mimori looked up at the ridge of the hill in a panic, waiting to see Cougar or Scheris cresting the hill. Scheris would be hysterical and blaming Mimori, Cougar would be angry, and Mimori felt a sob welling up in her throat at the very thought. Why tonight? Why after this terrible week? What in the world was going on?

 

“Ryuho?” Mimori prodded again. “Are you all right? Are you sick? What are you doing out of bed?” He looked up at her, holding her gaze for the first time, and Mimori was taken aback at the flood of feelings that were swirling in his ruby gaze. Oh, she had seen flashes of emotion occasionally - rarely - but for the first time since she had arrived at HOLD, she saw that shy boy, so sensitive, that she had fallen in love with a lifetime ago. “I'm no sicker than I was when I came out here. It's just that I … I …” Ryuho croaked out, the effort of speaking such words etched clearly on his face.

 

“Ryuho, please stop, get up!” Mimori begged, trying to keep the panic and the tears stuffed down, deep inside. She didn't know what to do, having the object of her adoration literally at her feet, ill as he was. He couldn't have woken up that long ago, and here he was, kneeling before her. Some gesture pulled at Mimori's mind, some long-forgotten ritual … penance? Some picture she had seen years ago, in her meteoric rise through school. Religion. Prostrating one's self to ask forgiveness. “Ryuho, please.” Her voice was pleading, asking him to get up before she burst into tears, because really, this was the last thing she could take right now. She was too tired, spread too thin. She couldn't deal with this, too.

 

“I … I was dying. I was dying back there,” he said, looking up at her again, but she couldn't look him in the eye. “And I saw you. I saw a lot of people, but you - you were the last one, Mimori. And after everything that's happened, I saw you, and you looked up, and you smiled at me.” Mimori couldn't believe this was happening. Her mind was reeling, irrational thoughts coursing through it, and she was convinced this must have been some terrible joke, some awful trick, the final coup d'état on her heart. “And you smiled, and I wanted to reach out to you so badly, but I couldn't … I couldn't move my limbs. But I called out to you, and you smiled. And I realized … I realized how stupid I'd been, how fucking stupid,” anger creeping into his voice. Mimori wanted to plead with him to stop, to stop this charade, her heart really couldn't take this right now - maybe later, maybe next week, not now. Not now, Ryuho, please, not now she begged silently.

 

It wasn't entirely clear if he was talking to her or himself at this point, but the floodgates had opened and Mimori could see he was making no effort to check his emotions. “And the pain, Mimori, the pain was terrible, but as soon as you looked at me, it all went away. And I realized then that I'd always known, since I first met you, that you were the one for me, being near you made everything better, no matter how bad it was. But I couldn't save you back there, the darkness came and you were crying for me to do something and I couldn't - Mimori? Mimori? Mimori?”

 

----

 

Mimori felt a rising wave of panic overtaking her, paralyzing fear, and the tiniest bit of excitement fluttering her heart. She was having a hard time taking in Ryuho's words, trying desperately to make sense of what he was saying, assess his sincerity, figure out why this, why now? A choked sob made its way up to her mouth as she tried to tell him to stop, to get up, to stop making her feel this way. She slapped a hand over her mouth to try and smother the rising tide of hot tears, but it was no use - Mimori started to cry.

 

She covered her face with her hands and slid down the tree to the ground, not caring what Ryuho thought - you've cared for too long, and look how far it got you - and let all the pain, all the sadness, the stress, the worry, all of it, bubble up to the surface and flood out. Her panicked breathing quickened, and just when she thought she was about to suffocate herself, strong arms encircled her and pulled her close.

 

Mimori couldn't have said what Ryuho was murmuring into her hair, what he was whispering into her ear to soothe her while she sobbed into his shoulder. She was crying too hard to pause and consider the fact that it was Ryuho - Ryuho! - who was holding her and stroking her hair. She did know that despite her sobs filling the quiet night air, she felt warmer and safer in these strong arms than she had in years.