Sukisho Fan Fiction ❯ 10 years ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

10 years

 

By Sapadu

 

A/N: Once again, a thank you to everyone reading, as well as a thanks for your patience if my chapters become slowed- college finals are coming up, and I do have other work to do, fic-wise and other-wise.

 

I don't own the series, game, or anything. ...Still... much to the dismay of some, I'm sure...

 

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Fujimori Sunao awoke with a poke to his ribs.

 

"Oi, Fujimori... Okiro!"

 

Sunao turned over and tried to hide his head, before he realized that, if someone was shouting at him... it meant he wasn't alone. Blearily, he rolled back over and blinked at the face hovering over his.

 

"...Ha...shiba?" He mumbled, before remembering that he'd crawled in during the night.

 

"Okiro ze! Chikoku suru zo!" Sora repeated... Sunao remembered how he'd said those exact same words the first day they met again...

 

Wait... late?

 

Sunao shot out of bed in an instant, panicking. Oh God! What time was it if Hashiba was already awake? Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!

 

"Oi... you're not late yet..." Sora interrupted Sunao's hunt for a timepiece, "I woke you up with enough time..." After a pause, Sora then added, "But only because I woke up really early and couldn't fall back to sleep..."

 

Sunao wasn't comforted as he found a clock with the time glowing on it- 5:15.

 

"HASHIBA!" Sunao shouted, making a mad dash for the balcony, vaulting over it, and only dimly hearing Sora call that he'd made breakfast.

 

Hashiba Sora, thus, was left with two plates of food, one of which he now felt certain was not going to be eaten, and grumbling about a lack of gratitude from a certain ex-roommate. With a sigh, he sat down to try and enjoy his breakfast alone. However, just a few moments later, Sora heard a knock on his door.

 

Somehow, Sora was both not surprised, and very surprised, to see Sunao on his doorstep. Very surprised because he hadn't expected the other man to come back and not surprised because... well, who else would it have been?

 

"You said you made breakfast, Hashiba." Sunao said, cocking an eyebrow, and Sora's face must have looked like he'd needle Sunao about being greedy or mooching, because he immediately added, "I just don't want any food to go to waste- it would be..."

 

Sora rolled his eyes- as soon as Fujimori had started, he'd known it would be an excuse like that.

 

"Hai, hai... just come in before it goes bad..." Sora groused, holding the door open for Sunao to enter. He did so and quickly toed off his shoes before sitting down to eat, as Sora joined him at the other side of the table.

 

Sunao had barely taken a bite before he looked up and stared at Sora, who blinked with curiosity.

 

"Nani yo... Fujimori?" Sora asked, with a frown, as Sunao let the ends of his chopsticks drop from his lips.

 

"...It's good... Hashiba..." He said, picking up some of his rice and eating it quickly. For some odd reason, the good flavor of the rest of the breakfast needed to be drowned out with the bland rice- maybe just because he wasn't used to having something taste so good.

 

"Nanami-chan taught me how to cook it." Sora explained, scooping up some omelets and eating them quickly to avoid looking Sunao in the face. Sunao scowled slightly, as he knew what the other was doing, and turned to his soup, draining the bowl before finishing, and excusing himself.

 

"Thank you, Hashiba- it was very good." Sunao's voice was somewhat icy again, but he got into his shoes and took off. Sora sat, somewhat stunned at what had transgressed, before finishing at his own pace.

 

"Somehow... I don't think that's what it's like for Nii-chan and Nanami-chan when THEY have breakfast together..." Sora muttered to himself, resentfully.

 

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"Shinichirou... are you just not hungry today?" Nanami asked, as his lover just poked at the mackerel that Nanami had grilled for breakfast.

 

Shinichirou seemed to wake up, and finally started eating.

 

"...No... I'm fine..." He insisted. In truth, Shinichirou's mind was somewhere completely different. Even though he was sure Nanami's cooking was wonderful as usual, it tasted like ash in his mouth. And the normal morning noises were muffled by a kind of layer of gauze.

 

"You look pale- are you sure that you're fine?" Nanami fussed, putting a hand on his forehead. Shinichirou shook it off.

 

"...I'm just thinking..." Shinichirou mumbled, starting to eat a bit more enthusiastically. Nanami frowned, as though able to sense that his lover was lying.

 

"Nani ni tsuite?" He asked, sitting down and gripping Shinichirou's hand.

 

Shinichirou stared off into space before he finally started to speak.

 

"...Do you think... there's something that we're missing?" He said at last, and Nanami's eyes widened.

 

"Do iu imi desu ka?" He asked, not liking the sound of that, at all. Shinichirou paused, easily, as he had only started eating to appease Nanami, so he didn't think it was something wrong with his cooking that was stopping him.

 

"...Ever since Sunao reappeared, things seemed to have been happening... It might not be something to be too surprised over... but the fact that Ran is still with him, after all this time, is still something that I wouldn't have expected..." Shinichirou began, running his hand through his hair, "...The thing is, he's never willingly spending time with Sora, even though he claims he thinks of him as a friend- either us, Sora, or Sunao's own fiancé has to force him into it... It makes me wonder if there's something Sunao's not telling us..."

 

Nanami didn't react well to this idea.

 

"...Shinichirou... do you think..." Nanami asked, as Shinichirou put a hand on top of Nanami's folded ones and squeezed, reassuringly.

 

"...I just don't understand why... and he even admitted that he deliberately didn't contact Sora for these past ten years, despite having the means to do so..." Shinichirou continued, glaring down into his bowl of miso, as though it were responsible for all their troubles.

 

Nanami squeezed back.

 

"...Shinichirou... I think... I don't believe it's because Fujimori-kun means to harm us again..." He said, and Shinichirou looked up to meet his gaze, "...The last time... Fujimori-kun was sent to become close to us and then betray us... I don't believe he would be doing that if he was trying to push Hashiba-kun away..." Nanami's voice quivered, but he kept talking.

 

"I realize it might be sentimental and naïve... but... right now... if Fujimori-kun is trying to help protect all of us from something... he needs our trust now, more than ever." Shinichirou lifted his other hand and put it on Nanami's shoulder, as it started shaking with the rest of the nurse, "It might be foolish... but I want to believe that Fujimori-kun doesn't mean us any wrong this time..."

 

"Nanami..." Shinichirou whispered, pulling his hand away from Nanami's grip to pull him into a hug. Nanami stiffened, but then buried his face against his lover's shirt, sighing.

 

"...Maybe you should call in sick yourself, today..." Shinichirou suggested. Nanami shook his head, before standing up and leaving the table and Shinichirou for work.

 

With a sigh, Shinichirou started to clean up for Nanami, forcing himself to finish his breakfast, even though he neither tasted it, nor felt hungry.

 

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It began to rain around lunch. Sora normally wouldn't have cared, except it was actually pouring- to the point that he could see sheets of it stream down the windows and, from what he could tell, the fields for sports clubs outside were flooded. After about an hour of the rain, the intercom turned on, announcing that all clubs, outdoor and indoor were canceled for the day so students could get home safely. A half hour after that, an announcement came that if the storm didn't stop or lessen within reasonable time, students would be sent home early.

 

Since Sora was halfway through a class as that announcement came up, he couldn't help but look out the window. The rain was literally so heavy that he couldn't see out the window, except the blur of color that was the dark storm clouds.

 

Only a few minutes after that, the power went out. Sora had to shout to make the students settle down enough to gather their things and go home. He was also somewhat relieved, especially as he went downstairs to the infirmary to find Nanami shakily getting his own things together.

 

"Nanami-chan... Do you need someone to walk you home?" He offered. Nanami jumped a little, but smiled all the same.

 

"...A-aah... Demo... Hashiba-kun..." He added, gesturing out the window, "...Did you bring an umbrella with you?" Sora blushed and scratched the back of his head.

 

"...Um... no?" He finally answered. Nanami smiled and pulled an umbrella out of his desk drawer.

 

"It's a good thing I keep this in here, then..." He noted, picking up his briefcase and following Sora to the school entrance. The two of them surveyed the road- there was solid concrete, gravel, and brick, but also a lot of grass and greenery, which was quickly turning to greenish mud, and flooding onto the otherwise wet, but not puddled walkways.

 

"Even with the umbrella, our shoes, socks, and feet are going to get swamped." Sora grumbled, looking down at his blue sneakers, as though feeling sorry for them. Nanami smiled as best he could and opened the umbrella.

 

"Then we should walk quickly."

 

The two set out, mostly in silence, as the thunder of rain on the umbrella drowned out most any noise, before Sora suddenly wondered, out loud,

 

"I wonder if Fujimori took an umbrella to work, today..." Nanami almost tripped as Sora spoke. His voice had been so soft, that Nanami doubted if he'd heard it, but it was unmistakable.

 

"Hashiba-kun..."

 

Sora was staring at the clouds off in the distance without leaving the shelter of the umbrella.

 

"Fujimori, aistu.... he was really bad with water back then... I wonder if he's gotten over it..." Sora mumbled, continuing to walk. He left Nanami and took off at a run for his apartment at the point on the sidewalk where they went their separate ways. The rain was so thick, he could barely see in front of him, and he got inside the lobby of the complex, thoroughly soaked, but at least he was inside and nothing important in his briefcase was wet.

 

Sora curled up under his blankets, completely undressed as even his boxers had gotten soaked in the few seconds he'd run from the umbrella to the doors. After shivering for a moment, it suddenly occurred to him.

 

"What if Fujimori can't even get home?" This thought was disturbing enough, but the mental image of Fujimori trapped by the impenetrable rain in Sora's imaginary picture of where he worked- which, by no coincidence, resembled the old laboratory- was what made Sora get up and reach for his phone, for once grateful that Nakou had given him her number.

 

"Just in case you want to talk or ask me to pass on a love-letter!"

 

She'd winked and smiled at him, probably not realizing how right she was about the love-letter part.

 

Well... kind of...

 

The phone rang a few times before someone picked up.

 

"Hello?" Sora blinked at the accented English that came through. And, even though the storm was effecting his reception, Sora could have sworn he recognized it as Matsuri's voice.

 

"...Matsuri.... did I get the wrong number?" Sora asked, speaking up just in case. Matsuri's voice sounded frantic in reply.

 

"Were you calling for Nakou-chan? She's here!" He said. Sora blinked. Well, even if it was a wrong number, at least he found her.

 

"I need to talk to her." Sora said, and heard a rustling as the phone was handed over and could have sworn he heard Matsuri tell Nakou 'He wants to speak with YOU- not ME!' in his mock wounded voice, and Nakou laugh, before her voice replied to him.

 

"So-ra! Do you have a love-love message you want me to give to Nao-kun?" Were her first words. Sora bit back a growl- he had to be nice, since he was asking her for a favor.

 

"Iya... 'Kedo... I need to know Fujimori's phone number... onegai shimasu..." He added the last two words as an afterthought, figuring it couldn't hurt to ask politely. Nakou paused on the other end.

 

"Nao-kun's phone number?" She asked, and when Sora affirmed this, Nakou paused before saying, "I have his cellphone number... I don't know if he has a phone in his office or anything, though..."

 

"Ii dai yo..." Sora pressed, urgently. Nakou gave him the number and Sora quickly bid his goodbye, hanging up and dialing the number given to him.

 

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Nakou stared at the phone, before hanging it up, still seated at her table, before leaning forward and resting her head in her arms. Matsuri stayed standing, one hand on the table, the other on his hip as he pondered what he'd heard from the conversation.

 

"Sora is worried about Nao-kun..." Nakou finally said, straightening and handing Matsuri the phone to put back in it's cradle, "He wanted to know what his phone number was, and he also seemed in a hurry about it, too..."

 

Matsuri's eyes grew dark and he looked away.

 

"...It's because of the weather..." He mused, and when Nakou inquired, he explained, "When we were in high school, one of our requests was to fill in for members for a boat race. Demo, Nao-kun... he couldn't do it... because he was afraid of water..." Nakou's eyes widened and she took a glance out the window at the curtains of rain coming down, "Sora stood up for Nao-kun when the other members harassed him for it... and I don't think either of them ever really forgot about it..."

 

Nakou clenched her hands, which were folded on the table.

 

"...So, while Nao-kun could have been stuck at work because of this weather... we've just been sitting here, talking about other things..." She murmured, raising Matsuri's eyebrows, before he smiled.

 

"Daijobu, daijobu..." He cheered, putting a hand on her shoulder, sitting down in the chair next to her at the round table, "If Sora's worried over it, I doubt he'll let anything happen to Nao-kun."

 

Nakou turned to stare at Matsuri, who winked at her, confidently, before she smiled back.

 

"Sou desu, ne?" She agreed.

 

*^(*$^%#^%()(*^^#@

 

"Perhaps you should rest for a bit." One of the other white coats was talking. Oh, wait... white coats couldn't talk... it was someone wearing it... The whole world felt.... what was the word? Dizzy? No... but that was what HE felt like...

 

Fujimori Sunao shakily stood up from the wastebasket which he had just finished vomiting into. Stupid Hashiba... it HAD to have been that food which was making him so sick. At least, that was what Sunao was going to tell anyone that asked.

 

He sat down on a bench in the coat room, staring out the window at the rain, before looking away with a violent shudder. That was when he heard something like beeping. What was that beeping, anyway? Did someone's timer go off? Was it an alarm... no, alarms were much more loud than that... so... what....

 

A hand nudged him and Sunao jumped.

 

"Your phone's ringing. Answer it." Someone said- Sunao's head was still spinning so that he didn't see clearly who it was, but he could tell the person was annoyed.

 

Running a hand over his face, Sunao shakily stood up and fished his cellphone out of his coat pocket.

 

Stupid white lab coat- he was only given one to wear outside. He wasn't a scientist or doctor like the rest of the people here... It was just a symbol of prestige, just to fool other people....

 

Sunao flipped his phone open.

 

"Moshi moshi..." He mumbled, somewhat incoherently, and turning down the volume- so the other person wouldn't be able to hear and so his ears wouldn't hurt if the other person shouted.

 

"Fujimori!" The voice sounded familiar... Sunao's eyes widened, "Fujimori, are you there?"

 

"...Oh, hello..." Sunao finally replied, "Why are you calling?" Please, oh please, oh please, oh please let Hashiba be smart enough to not need his name said. There was a pause, as though Hashiba was considering the issue, but when he spoke again, decided he didn't need to press.

 

"Fujimori, I'm just worried- it's raining really badly out there, now, and I just want to be sure you'll get home okay." Sora said, over the receiver. Sunao gulped.

 

"...I'll be fine... tell you what, if it gets really bad, I'll call you and let you know, then I'll... I don't know, call a taxi or something..." Sunao tried to sound neutral, at least, knowing very well that his ex-roommate wouldn't buy it.

 

"Fujimori, if you can't get home, call me and I'll get Nii-chan to come pick you up- got that?" Sora pushed, and Sunao paused for a moment, nodding and pretending that the other was talking.

 

"Okay, ja ne." He finally said, and hung up quickly.

 

"Who was that?" The other person asked. Sunao's hand shook as he replaced his phone in his coat pocket, but otherwise gave no indicator of anything.

 

"My fiancé. She's worried about how I'll get back to my apartment with the weather." He replied, and was very pleased that his voice didn't quake. The other person gave the weather outside a good look, before brushing past Sunao and returning to whatever he'd been pulled away from.

 

"Well, if the power goes out, we'll be closing early, anyway..."

 

Sunao held back a shudder.

 

)&)(^&$%$@$^^$&*

 

Sora glared at the phone as he listened to the incessant beeping on the other end which meant Fujimori had hung up.

 

"Fujimori no aitsu..." He grumbled, before deciding the best course of action would be to call Shinichirou- if Sunao needed a ride in this rain, Shinichirou would be the one to provide it.

 

This time, Sora had to try a few times before someone answered.

 

"Hai?" Someone growled on the other end. Ah- that would be Shinichirou.

 

"Niichan, I need to ask you something...." Sora said, figuring it would be best to get straight to the point. He heard his foster father spit something very rude and a voice that sounded like Nanami in the background protesting his obscenity.

 

"You can wait." Shinichirou finally said, with an air like he was going to hang up.

 

"It's important." Sora insisted, wondering what the hell had happened that had pissed him off so badly.

 

There was a pause and finally, Shinichirou spoke again.

 

"Start talking."

 

Sora sighed and began to explain his prior phone call to Sunao. After a pause he heard Shinichirou growl.

 

"If you're just calling to ask for a favor like that, you owe me for this." He snapped, before Sora continued.

 

"It's not just that, but how Fujimori was talking. He answered the phone and once he started talking, he didn't ask something like 'What do you want, Hashiba' or something like that. Through the whole conversation, he was talking really odd- like someone else was listening and he couldn't let them know it was me who he was talking to."

 

There was another pause, and Sora had a feeling that this time, he'd said something that was actually worth the breath.

 

"...Sora... when did you call Sunao...?" Shinichirou asked. Sora took a look at his clock before he shrugged, then remembered that Shinichirou couldn't see that.

 

"...I dunno, really... just before I called you... course, I had to wait a few times..." Sora grumbled that last bit to himself, but he heard Shinichirou snort.

 

"Sora, if Sunao calls you again, don't ask him any questions about it- if you do, he'll be even less likely to answer." Shinichirou instructed, and Sora rolled his eyes.

 

"Wakateiru..." He grumbled, and then the connection was severed- probably because of the storm, but Sora didn't care. Now, he just had to wait, and try to hold down his stomach.

 

)&(*%&$^&^()%*

 

"Shinichirou... nande...." Nanami asked as he sat up, pulling the blankets up to cover his chest in a very feminine gesture. Shinichirou let out a long sigh, before putting the phone back on the hook and turning back around. He pushed Nanami back down, covering the petite body with his own and stilling Nanami's shaking.

 

"...Sunao, again..." He said, "He's been acting suspiciously, even over the phone, according to Sora, now..." Shinichirou paused as Nanami's skinny arms slowly inched around his waist, "...And, later, he might call back if Sunao can't walk home in the weather..."

 

Nanami peered up into Shinichirou's face with a vulnerable expression.

 

"Shinichirou..." Nanami whispered, before Shinichirou put a hand behind his lover's head, pulling him closer for a silencing kiss. Shinichirou's hand slipped from being tangled in Nanami's chestnut hair to caress the side of his face, Shinichirou finally pulling away as he felt something suspiciously like a tear touch his fingertips, which he brushed away.

 

"...Shinichirou..." Nanami whimpered, as his beloved pulled him closer, kissing down his neck.

 

"What you said earlier... about how you didn't deserve to have me after everything that you caused... what did I say to that?" Shinichirou whispered, his other hand on Nanami's hips, pressing them closer to his own, which made Nanami gasp and writhe just a little before he answered.

 

"...If I deserved you... didn't matter..." Nanami whispered, breath hitching as Shinichirou kissed along his collarbone.

 

"I changed my mind- it's not that it doesn't matter. It's that it's not true." Shinichirou mumbled against Nanami's chest, "And I intend to prove it."

)(^&#%@&&^(*&%&*

 

A/N: See? Molestation! Oh, and Shinichirou was just upset that Sora interrupted their playtime.

 

)&(^^$%#%*&^(*%^$(*(&*)

 

Sora was surprised when his cellphone rang just an hour later.

 

"Moshi moshi..." He said, and on the other end, he thought he heard something like whimpering.

 

"...Sora... you have to come, now..." A voice said, quietly. Sora blinked, trying to place the voice.

 

"Onegai... I'm scared... and Nao's scared, too..." The voice pleaded, and Sora finally understood.

 

"RAN?" He shouted into the speaker. Sora could practically hear Ran flinch away from the loud noise, and tried again, "Ran... where are you and Fujimori right now?" This time, his voice was a little more gentle.

 

Ran sniffled.

 

"The facility... the grounds around it are flooded... Nao didn't bring an umbrella..." Ran was mumbling somewhat incoherently, before Sora interrupted.

 

"No, where is the facility?" He said, and when Ran told him, Sora almost tripped over himself trying to find paper to write directions onto.

 

"Okay- I'll call Niichan and we'll come get you two..." Sora hung up and after quickly dialing Shinichirou's number and explaining, Sora was more than relieved that Shinichirou was as good as his word and made it by in less than two minutes.

 

They reached the facility within ten minutes and were not so surprised to see that the building seemed to be literally surrounded by a deep puddle of water, dammed up by the wall of bricks that surrounded it. Sora was glad he had the sense to put on a raincoat and boots this time, and ran out of the car towards the doors with an umbrella.

 

"FUJIMORI!" Sora shouted, throwing the door open. He could see Sunao sitting on the floor, huddled in his coat, before he looked up and Sora saw red eyes staring back at him.

 

"Ran..." He muttered, walking over as water dripped on the floor.

 

"The power went out... everyone else is gone." Ran mumbled, expression blank. Sora extended a hand to help Ran up, which he took.

 

"Fujimori's still scared of water..." Sora mused, giving Ran a sympathetic look. Ran narrowed his eyes.

 

"Aren't you still afraid of fire?" He demanded. Sora glanced away, before unfolding the umbrella .

 

"Get on my back- it really is swamped out there." He told Ran, not looking at him, but Sora could tell that Ran was giving him a disgusted look- well earned, since his raincoat was drenched- but did so as Sora pushed the doors open and took off for the car at a run.

 

Shinichirou had covered the back seats with plastic as the two climbed in and slammed the doors.

 

"Sora- the school called Nanami while we were here. They're closed tomorrow because of the flooding." Shinichirou informed them as the slow ride back to the apartments started. Sora blinked, for a moment, wondering why Shinichirou was bringing it up.

 

"As such... you two are staying with us overnight- just in case." Shinichirou continued, as they approached the apartment he and Nanami shared. Sora made a noise as though he was going to shout, except Ran interrupted.

 

"That's okay... Nanami wants to be sure we aren't sick, is that it?" Shinichirou paused, then turned around, eyes widening as he saw Ran.

 

"Omae wa..."

 

)&(*%#^&^%*$^%#^&

 

It was dinner time before Sunao came back out, and promptly proceeded to have a semi break-down and freak out, muttering unintelligible reasons why he HAD to be back at his apartment. It was only when Nanami checked his temperature that he was proclaimed, indeed, to have a fever.

 

"Sou ka..." Sunao muttered as Nanami read off his temperature at 38.4 C, "...I guess I really am sick, then..." He finally said, before accepting the cold cloth Nanami provided to put over his forehead.

 

"What do you mean 'I guess', Fujimori?" Sora demanded, sipping his tea and giving Sunao a scathing look. Sunao turned his head enough to glare at his former roommate from under the cold cloth.

 

"Earlier today, I threw up and I thought it was because of HASHIBA'S not-properly-prepared breakfast. But, it seems it was just whatever gave me the fever." Sunao snapped, and Sora slammed down his mug.

 

"Hey- I'M not sick, so it's just because you haven't been eating or something that you got sick from it- don't blame it on me, Fujimori!" Sora shouted back, causing Sunao to flinch away, clutching at his head.

 

"Don't shout, Hashiba..." He growled, turning so he didn't look at Sora anymore. By this point, Nanami had returned with some hot soup, which Sunao stared at for a moment before reluctantly starting to eat, until his phone rang. After a few moments of staring, Sunao picked it up, retreated into the bathroom and answered it. Sora and Nanami stared after him, wondering what it could have been that he needed such absolute privacy for.

 

Sunao emerged, wobbling, with his phone closed and clutching the drying cloth to his forehead.

 

"The facility will be closed tomorrow so there can be repairs to the water damage." Was all he said, before sitting back down and continuing to eat. Sora frowned at Sunao's lacking explanation, but couldn't heckle him about it.

 

"I'm glad, Fujimori-kun. That means you'll have tomorrow to recover from whatever it is giving you this fever." Nanami replied, with a smile. Sora glanced at his surrogate mother's face, and could see the smile didn't quite seem sincere.

 

"Gochiso-sama..." Sunao mumbled, putting down his spoon. Sora looked back at his ex-roommate, then down at the bowl, to see it was still half full. He shot Sunao a glare.

 

"Oi- if you're sick you should eat all of that." Sora said, impatiently. Sunao didn't meet his gaze.

 

"I'm just not hungry, Hashiba."

 

"You had no problem coming to my apartment this morning, saying that you didn't want food to go to waste."

 

"That was different." Sunao insisted, glaring at the table. Sora lost his temper and stood up, slamming his hands down on the table as he did so.

 

"Different how? Nanami-chan's cooking is better than mine, so you should have let MY food go to waste, not his." Sora insisted, shouting again, almost to deliberately make his roommate flinch away. Nanami had to interfere to stop them.

 

"Maa maa... If Fujimori-kun is sick, he shouldn't eat too much or he'll upset his stomach." Nanami urged, trying to placate Sora's temper. After a moment of glaring, Sora looked away, snappishly. It was then that Shinichirou entered.

 

"You two can stay in the guest room- just don't argue or make any noise, because sound carries really well in this place." He told them and Sunao was more than pleased to adjourn to the room.

 

It was much to his chagrin, however, that he discovered there was only one bed.

 

"Oh, well... Hashiba can sleep on the floor." Sunao muttered to himself, crawling under the covers and starting to doze.

 

He was awoken, however, when he felt something sink down on the bed next to him. Almost out of instinct, Sunao kicked at the intruder, only to have his ankle grabbed by a firm hand. Rolling over, Sunao caught sight of a single blue eye and a single mismatched one.

 

He gaped for a moment, before finding words.

 

"...Yo... ru..." Sunao finally whispered, receiving only a glare for it.

 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yoru demanded, pushing Sunao back down with a kind of force that meant he was angry. Sunao shivered for a moment, staring wide-eyed up at the alter-ego of Sora that they both thought had disappeared, completely.

 

"If you destroy yourself, you destroy Ran- how dare you?" Yoru hissed again and Sunao almost desperately tried to push Ran forward.

 

Dame.

 

Sunao gulped, incredibly afraid of what Yoru would do if it wasn't Ran.

 

He's talking to YOU. Yoru wouldn't lecture me about this, because I take care of myself. You don't.

 

Well, so much for THAT idea...

 

"Explain." Yoru said in a harsh whisper. Sunao looked away, guiltily.

 

"...Ore.... I just don't want Hashiba to get involved again..." Sunao finally stammered. Yoru blinked, and his gaze softened a little, "...Because... he's been worried about me, even though I've just caused him trouble..."

 

"Sora's forgiven you for that. He doesn't hold petty grudges." Yoru replied, and there was an unsaid 'Unlike you' that Sunao swore he could have heard.

 

"It's not just for that time... but since we met again... I've only made everyone worry about me... Hashiba... Masturi-chan... and everyone else..." Sunao mumbled, retreating just a little. Yoru gave Sunao a strange look, almost as though he could see right into his head, before Sunao finally said, "Do you want to see Ran?"

 

"...Aah..." Yoru replied, almost noncommittally. In practically an instant, Sunao's pink eyes turned into Ran's red eyes, before Yoru's arms were full of the body that Ran and Sunao shared.

 

"Yoru..." Ran cooed, happily, "...Yoru..." Yoru smiled and let his lover mumble his names a few more times,

 

"Daijobu ka, Ran?" Yoru mumbled, holding Ran a little closer. Ran shivered, but nodded, sighing with relief.

 

"I knew you couldn't be gone, Yoru... I just knew it..."

 

Yoru just kissed Ran.

 

)(&(&*$#^&%(*&$%#^

 

Sometime around midnight, Shinichirou looked over his shoulder at the wall between the room he and Nanami shared and the guest room, glaring with annoyance at the very loud, disturbing noises, which sounded incredibly like someone one screaming 'Yoru' coming through the plaster.

 

Nanami pulled Shinichirou back down, snuggling against him with a little sigh of contentment.

 

"We should have guessed, huh?" Shinichirou muttered, distastefully, as Nanami chuckled a little.

 

A/N: Yep- Yoru's back! He was never gone to begin with.

 

I've got the actual plan all worked out- in terms of which chapters correspond with which episodes. Pretty simple, actually...

 

Ch. 1 & 2- Episode 1. Duh.

 

Ch. 3- Episode 2

 

And from there on, the chapters correlate to the episodes. I realize that the whole thing with the chibi-tachi's is out of place, but... creative license. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out why I say chapters correlate the way they do.

 

Oh... and don't ask WHY I'm doing it. Just don't.

 

Translations:

 

Okino!- Get up!

 

Okino de! Shikoku shizen zo!- I said, get up! You're gonna be late!

 

Doyuu imi desu ka?- What do you mean by that?

 

Ii dai yo- It'll work fine.

 

Sou desu, ne?- I've heard so many different translations of this, but it equivocates to agreeing with someone, like 'I guess you're right' or 'I suppose that's true'