Tokyo Babylon Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Souls ❯ V ( Chapter 5 )

Subaru only got sufficient sleep with the aid of sedatives, and upon waking he could not remember dreaming. He'd awoken once in the middle of the night, when a nurse came in to check on him, but she just gave him a couple of pills and told him to go back to sleep. He was groggily eating breakfast when the first wave of visitors hit.

Four people walked in, two guys and two girls. Subaru thought they looked to be around his age--until he realized that his age was mid-twenties and these four were teenagers.

The youngest, one of the girls, rushed into the room to his side. "Subaru-san! You're okay! Thank goodness! When they wouldn't let us in before, we were all so worried." She looked like she would tackle him with a hug, but she was remarkably careful when she did embrace him.

Subaru looked at her and smiled, but he couldn't keep the bewildered look from his face. "Good morning," he said cautiously, blinking at all of them.

The girl backed up, grinning from ear to ear in relief. "You're awake, and eating and you look a lot better than I thought you would. I'm so glad! They said you'd be discharged within the week, and I think we were all relieved to hear that."

The other girl, older and with long, straight hair, turned an intense gaze on the other girl. "They also said that he has amnesia. He probably doesn't remember any of us."

To Subaru, it was interesting to watch how the others reacted to this girl's statement. The younger girl wilted just slightly, nodding and taking another step back. The taller of the two guys nodded solemnly even though he'd been wearing a grin just as infectious as the younger girl's had been. The shorter boy had been searching Subaru's face intently, but at the word amnesia he looked stricken and turned his head to look away. He'd been hanging back, behind the other three, and something about that boy's violet eyes inspired a great empathy in Subaru.

"I s'pose we should introduce ourselves then," the tall guy said brightly in a distinct Kansai accent. "I'm Arisugawa Sorata. This vision of beauty is my future sweet lover, Kishuu Arashi."

The long haired girl, Arashi, looked like she was about to hit Sorata, so the other girl jumped in to introduce herself before a fight could break out. "I'm Nekoi Yuzuriha, from Mitsumine Shrine. It feels weird to introduce myself to you again though! We've been working together for a while."

"We have?"

Yuzuriha nodded enthusiastically. "Seals or Dragons of Heaven. We've all gotten to know each other through adversity, working toward the same goal."

Subaru nodded his understanding, remembering what he'd been taught about the coming day. He supposed that was upon them now, and he'd never learned all that much about what would happen. Why should he? That was supposed to be a distant point in his future. An abstract eventuality. There was no way he would expect to wake up and find himself suddenly in the middle of it all.

Subaru looked at the last member of the group expectantly. He was the only one who hadn't said anything yet, and the only one who hadn't been introduced. The boy stuck his hands in his pockets--Subaru saw only then that he had bandages up his arms, poking out from his long sleeved jacket--and looked guardedly at Subaru. "Shirou Kamui."

Did Kamui hate him for some reason? Was he mad that Subaru had gotten himself hurt? Subaru just looked at this boy and felt like there should be more than a curt nod and brief introduction like that. He felt a little sad, like he'd lost something precious but wasn't sure what it was, exactly.

"Thank you all for your kind gifts yesterday," Subaru murmured politely. Internally he was still puzzling out why Kamui looked so upset...yes, upset was a good word. He really didn't have any other idea what to say to these people anyway, after the silence that had met Kamui's words.

Yuzuriha bounced, glowing. She chirped out a quick "you're welcome" and grinned from ear to ear. This seemed to be a standard expression for her.

Kamui and Arashi both looked confused though. Almost as one they looked at Sorata, who was looking playfully abashed. He raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, grinning and looking at the other two. "That would have been me. Miss was busy yesterday, and Kamui was in the hospital again too, so I figured I'd sign their names too 'cause I knew they'd send something if they could."

Arashi nodded, looking reluctantly grateful at Sorata's thoughtfulness. "I had planned on getting something later," she said softly, with the slightest hint of a kind smile.

Kamui stared at the floor though, looking ashamed for some reason. He still didn't say a word though, and was obviously not going to meet Subaru's eyes if he could help it.

"I wanted to give you the teddy bear in person," Yuzuriha said brightly. "I just thought, in a place like this, you would feel alone. Nobody should have to feel alone. I almost picked up a bunny rabbit, but this teddy bear caught my eye instead, and it seemed to need someone to love it. Inuki helped me pick it out," she added with a wink. She then bent slightly, and Subaru noticed a dog sitting protectively at her side. How had he missed that before?

Inuki padded over to Subaru's bedside and lifted his head, clearly asking to be petted. Subaru did so, and realized through the contact that this was a spirit dog--a guardian for this girl. Inuki's eyes were intelligent and kind, and Subaru felt comfort in his presence. No wonder Yuzuriha was such a happy girl, with such a companion.

Yuzuriha reminded Subaru of Hokuto so much, and he again wondered why she wasn't here. It wasn't like her to simply blow off something like this. She would show up sometime today, right? Or she'd call with her excuse. At the outside, she would send a card along with someone they knew, and give her reasons through them. She'd never been inconsiderate. In fact, she'd always been a little overwhelming in how she took care of him. So, it didn't make sense that she wasn't here now.

Unless they'd had a fight?

It would have had to be a very big fight though, in order to keep her away when Subaru was hospitalized. He couldn't imagine what on earth they'd have a disagreement over so much to do this though. Maybe Grandmother would know....

Sorata had plopped down at the end of the hospital bed casually while Yuzuriha took the chair to his side. Arashi stood next to Sorata, and Subaru began to wonder if she was capable of bending at the hip long enough to sit down. Well, logically it had to be possible, but she was so stiff it was painful to look at. The three of them talked casually with Subaru, filling him in on their backgrounds and sharing some of the more entertaining things they'd been through together. It was punctuated with little silences that seemed to be filled with silent mourning, as they said things that called up memories none of them were ready to talk about. Through it all, Kamui still stood across the room, just within sight, looking miserable and alone.

Yuzuriha was the first to leave, and it seemed she'd picked up a hint from somewhere along the line because Subaru noticed Sorata smile and nod in subtle satisfaction. It wasn't long after that that Sorata made his excuses and escorted Arashi out. On the way out he all but pushed Kamui toward Subaru's bed, with instructions to watch over him. Kamui blushed, looking miserable, but walked over to the chair that Yuzuriha had abandoned. He didn't sit though. He just stood in front of it, eyes still downcast, looking sullen. It was obvious that Kamui didn't want to be here. Subaru wondered again what he had done.