I tried to open my eyes as I regained consciousness but found that I couldn't.
My hand moved up instantly to touch the thing that was preventing me from opening my eyes and my fingers came into contact with a bandage.
I was about to rip it off when a hand caught mine gently, making me jump. 'No, you don't.'
'Tsunan?'
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you,' he said, releasing my hand when he was sure I wasn't going to touch the bandage again. I was lying on a hard even bed, the smell of the room seeming familiar to me.
'Where are we?' I asked.
'We're at the organization. You lost consciousness due to the pain.'
The pain… yes. My eyes weren't hurting me much anymore.
'What took over you, Shun, to make abuse of your ability like you did?!' he scolded me, severely. 'You could have lost your eyesight!'
'I shouldn't have. I'm sorry,' I apologized, regretting sincerely. Then, touching my bandaged eyes in dread, I asked him, in a whisper, 'How-How bad are they?'
'You'll have to keep them bandaged for at least a week to allow your eyes to recover. We absolutely need to avoid putting strain onto your eyes.'
'A week?!' I panicked.
'Consider yourself fortunate that your eyes aren't more damaged that they are! And you're banned from using your ability until further notice,' he stated, his tone stern.
I nodded, sheepishly.
He sighed. 'Come on! I'll take you back home!'
I sat up, throwing my legs over the edge of the bed. 'Alright. Thank you.' Something occurred at me at that moment. 'Wait! And Cho! How is she?'
'Her injury is quite serious. She won't be able to walk for a long time.'
'I see,' I murmured, grimly, before I asked, 'And Heihachi?'
'He's waiting for you at home.'
'What about the mission?'
'Don't worry about it. Master Kagami took care of everything. The Kyōkotsu has been given a grave and prayers.'
I nodded, relieved.
Taking my hands, he helped me get down from the bed and walk.
'How long have I stayed unconscious?'
'We're already tomorrow. It's six o'clock in the morning.'
I paused down, astounded. 'You've watched over me the whole night?!'
'Yes.'
***
At Tsunan's place...
'Shun!' exclaimed Heihachi, and I heard him cross the living room to me. 'How are you feeling? Do your eyes hurt you?' he demanded, worriedly.
'Just a little.'
'I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! If I had gone with you to look for Cho, this wouldn't have happened!'
'Don't say that! It's not your fault. It's me who have been imprudent,' I told him. 'I should never have abused of my ability.'
I heard him swallow hard. Something told me that he had been on the border of tears.
'Do you want to go upstairs to rest?' Tsunan asked me.
'No. I think I'll lie down a bit on the sofa instead.'
'Okay.'
He led me to the sofa of the living room where he made me sit and put my feet up for me before he went to fetch me a thin quilt and covered the lower half of my body with it.
I thanked him, blushing a little. 'You must be tired. You should go to sleep. '
'She's right. I'm going to stay with her,' Heihachi told the doctor.
'I could stay with you for some more,' Tsunan offered to me.
'It's okay,' I reassured him, giving him a smile.
'Alright,' he said.
He helped me lie down and placed a small cushion under my head, pulling the thin quilt further up over me.
'Sleep well,' I whispered, with another blush.
***
I was feeling so exhausted that I slept off too, until Heihachi shook me out of my slumber.
'Shun, wake up!' he called, shaking my shoulder gently. 'You have a visitor.'
I sat up, sleepily, croaking out, 'Who is it?'
'It's me, Cho!' replied a feminine voice.
Puzzled, my mind cleared up instantly. 'Cho?'
'Hello!'
'He-Hello!' I stammered, more than surprised.
'I'll be in the kitchen!' Heihachi informed us and his footsteps receded.
'I'm going to sit over here!' said the girl, and I heard the sound of a crutch move and then, the sofa across of me, shift. The girl had sat down.
It needed to be the afternoon right now.
'How are your eyes?' she asked me, pleasantly; a tone she had never used with me before.
'They're going to be fine if I keep them bandaged for a week,' I replied. 'And you, your ankle?'
'I'll have to walk with a crutch for some time.'
A small silence fell between us. I was so disconcerted by her visit that I didn't know what to say.
'In fact, if I have come, it is to tell you that...' I heard her take a deep breath, her tone suddenly agitated. 'You're worthy of being a rival for Tsunan's love!'
My face heated up at her words.
'Well, now that it's done… See you later!' she told me, very swiftly, and I heard her get to her feet in a jerk and hurry away as fast as her crutch would allow it. I didn't have to see the girl to know that she was blushing madly.
I heard her came to an abrupt stop under the veranda, and somebody said, 'Woah! Be careful not to fall!'
The voice belonged to Hatsu.
I guessed that the ginger-haired girl had bumped into him. She began to hurry away again until I couldn't hear the sound of her crutch anymore.
'Well, well! What a surprise to see her here!' said Hatsu, his voice drawing closer. 'Oh?! What's up, Shun? Your face is all red! What did she tell you like this?' I was sure that he was grinning crookedly. 'Let me guess! It concerns Tsunan!'
I flushed up deeper, my face on fire.
He giggled and came to a stop a few feet away from me.
His tone becoming serious, he inquired, 'How are you feeling? I came to see you at the headquarter but you were unconscious. Tsunan told me that you'll have to keep this bandage for some time.'
'Yes. For a week. And I'm banned of using my ability until further notice,' I admitted, sheepishly.
'I had feared the worst. I'm glad that you're gonna be fine. Where's Tsunan?'
'He's sleeping in his room.'
'And… Heihachi?'
I didn't miss the strange catch in his voice when he said the younger male's name.
'He's in the kitchen.'
'Will you excuse me a minute? I'm going to talk to him.'
I nodded.
He moved away in direction of the kitchen but I didn't hear Hatsu's voice, neither Heihachi's coming from the room, and only the footsteps of one person could be heard again- that of Hatsu- when he came back into the living room.
'Hatsu? Didn't you find him?' I asked, in bewilderment.
'No,' he replied, grimly.
I was pretty stunned. Heihachi was there a few minutes ago. Where did he go?
Can it be that he's avoiding the blond male?
I remembered that at the ryokan, Heihachi had similarly vanished when Hatsu had phoned.
Did something happen between them?
'I'll leave you now. My greetings to Tsunan.'
With this, he was gone.
***
At dinnertime...
'You-You're good!' I complimented Tsunan as I tasted the dish he had made, mesmerized.
It was the very first time that I had right to his cooking.
He cooks so well!
It was delicious!
'Say, Tsunan,' said Heihachi, hesitantly, as he was eating with us at the low table in the dining room. 'Can I stay here for the night?'
I was surprised by the dark-haired boy's request, but it confirmed my suspicions that something happened between Hatsu and him.
Tsunan agreed.
***
The following day, I received many visits while Tsunan was gone to work.
Master Kagami visited me early in the morning on his way to the organization. Yama-san, Gakkuri and Natsuhiko arrived shortly after and they spent a few hours with me.
Shiragiku, Shuko and Ayame visited me at lunch.
It made me glad that Shuko and Shiragiku were spending some time together. I was a bit surprised that Ayame decided to accompany them, though. He didn't speak much, only asking me about my health politely.
I was further surprised by Shirane's visit afterwards. He stayed only for a few minutes.
On Heihachi's side, there had been no change in his spirit. He had secluded himself in his bedroom upstairs and hadn't left it even for a minute.
This preoccupied me a lot.
I wondered if Hatsu had told Tsunan about what happened between Heihachi and him and if I should seek to know about it from the doctor. I decided to ask the dark-haired boy directly, first.
Taking support of the side wall in the corridor, I made my way up to Heihachi's sleeping quarters slowly. I realized that the door of his room was open when I couldn't feel anything under my touch anymore.
'Heihachi?' I called to check if he was still in there.
'Shun?! What is it? Did you need something?' he asked and I heard some movement, then his hurried footsteps, as he rushed up to me. Taking my hands, he led me somewhere in the middle of the room and made me sit down.
It was on a futon.
I supposed that he had been lying down when I arrived. This wasn't a good sign.
'I wanted to talk to you,' I told him, anxiously, without beating around the bush. 'Heihachi, did something happened between Hatsu and you? Did you two have a fight?'
He didn't answer.
For a minute, I feared that he had turned into a bat and flew out of the window.
'No, we didn't fight,' he said, reluctantly, 'It's just that...'
'What is it?'
He took his time again to reply.
'Well, during the annual festival, we drank a lot and when we got back home after the party, we… well, we slept together.'
'You-You slept together?' I asked, puzzled. It took me a whole minute to understand the meaning of what he said and when I did, I had a nosebleed.
'Crap!' he exclaimed in a panic and tucked into my hand a piece of tissue paper. I brought it under my nose, apologizing for my reaction.
I heard the futon shift beside me then; Heihachi having sat down.
'I had never felt attracted to boys until I met Hatsu and I realized that I'm not as straight as I believed. The fact is that, I like him a lot.'
'Then, what's the problem?' I inquired.
'I fear that my feelings aren't reciprocal. I fear that I was just a good lay for him. Ever since that night, we haven't seen or talked to each other; I've done everything to avoid him. I don't dare to face him to discuss about what happened.'
I considered what he just said for a minute, before I told him, honestly, 'Heihachi, I really think that Hatsu and you should discuss about what happened open-heartedly such that you can be fixed. I know that you're scared, but think about Hatsu; I'm sure that this whole situation is difficult for him. Think about it; you spend the night with someone and that person disappears at your wake! I know Hatsu long enough now to know that he's not the kind of guy that would go unaffected by such a thing!'
'It was really stupid to run away like I did. I shouldn't have done that,' he admitted, guiltily.
The doorbell rang at that moment.
'I'll get it!' he declared, leaving the room.
I got to my feet too, slowly making my way to the door and up the corridor.
'Shun! It's Katsuya!' called the dark-haired boy, from the living room. 'Oi, what are you doing?!' he demanded at me then, climbing up the staircase. 'One more step and you were tumbling your way down head-first!'
'Sorry! I should be more careful!'
He helped me make my way down the staircase into the living room.
'Good afternoon, Katsuya!' I greeted the latter.
'Hello, Shun! I've learnt about what happened to you. Aren't your eyes hurting you too much?' he inquired.
'No, I'm taking medication for the pain,' I told him, pleasantly. 'Thank you for visiting me.'
'Are you sure that you're alright? I find you quite pale. Would you like to go out for a while?'
'Uh, I don't know...' I hesitated, not sure it was good idea for me to leave the house.
'I promise you that we won't go very far!' he insisted.
'Well, okay. Why not?' I gave in. 'Heihachi was going out anyway.'
The latter began to say, 'But-'
'Go talk to him!' I urged, the dark-haired boy, with an encouraging smile. I knew that all that he needed was a small push.
'Alright, I'm going,' he told me, then to Katsuya, 'You take care of her.'
He left and the ginger-haired boy and I set out of the house too for a walk. We arrived in the public park of Shiratori and we sat down for a moment talking to each other, until he received a phone call and moved slightly away to answer it.
'What?!' I heard him exclaim loudly, his tone shocked. 'Alright! I'm coming right away!' His voice was closer when he called at me, 'Shun, I have an emergency. I need to go immediately. Wait for me here, I'll come back in a while to fetch you!'
'Uh, ye-yes, okay!' I replied, in a fluster.
I wondered what happened that caused the boy to leave so promptly. It made me nervous. Also, I didn't feel reassured to find myself all alone in a public area in my present state.
I hoped that Katsuya was going to come back very soon.
***
On the other side…
Pressing his eyes shut and holding his breath, Heihachi knocked on the familiar apartment door.
'Coming!'
At the sound of Hatsu's voice on the other side of the door, Heihachi's eyes snapped open and his heart felt, as if, it was trying to claw its way out of his chest in excitement.
He resisted the urge to bolt for the lift to get out of there and disappear.
The door opened and he felt his insides twist at the sight of the blond male standing in front of him. The latter had frozen into place, his eyes widening at the younger male in shock, surely not having expected to see him.
Heihachi noticed that Hatsu had dark circles under his eyes and that he was wearing the old gray-blue long-sleeved t-shirt and black trouser, that the blond male usually wore for sleeping.
It didn't resemble the older male not to pay attention to his look, even at home.
'Heihachi...' whispered Hatsu, before he moved out of the way to allow the boy in. 'Please, come in!'
The dark-haired boy stepped inside hesitantly and Hatsu closed the door after him. A small silence fell between them until Hatsu said, in a half-strained voice, 'I wanted us to talk about what happened after the party of the annual festival.'
Heihachi stared at him for a minute, without speaking.
God, he really likes this guy! The idea that what happened between them was all about sex for the blond, was insupportable for Heihachi.
The dark-haired boy felt all his courage go down the drain in the instant and frustrated by the terrible thought, he accused, 'You want to talk about "what happened"?! You should rather say "what you did"! You've abused of me, that's what you did! I was completely drunk that night and you've taken advantage of me!'
His words had come out in a blurt and when he realized what he said and looked up at Hatsu's face, he caught the latter's stupefied expression.
And Hatsu wasn't the only one to be stupefied; Heihachi was stupefied with himself too.
'What?! What's up with you to say such a thing?' gasped Hatsu, and Heihachi could read in the blond's eyes how hurt the latter felt at hearing this.
Becoming frustrated again, the dark-haired boy turned for the door, yanked it open and ran away, while Hatsu remained petrified where he was.
It was only several streets away that Heihachi came to stop in his run and supporting himself up with a hand against the side wall of a building in a small alley, he tried to catch his breath again.
He couldn't believe what he had said to Hatsu.
He took a quick look around of himself after a small while.
He had met the blond male, for the very first time in his human form, while he was coming out of one such alley.
Heihachi plumped down on the ground to sit there with his back pressed against the wall, hating himself for having accused Hatsu of the sort and hurting him.
***
'Shun Shutsuki?!' called a masculine voice, out of the blue, and I perked up. 'It's me Yosunori.'
'Yosunori?'
Yes, I recognized his voice and that of Nene and Sōsuke too, as they greeted me.
'What happened to your eyes?' the oldest of the three siblings inquired.
'Oh, it's a long story,' I replied, slightly embarrassed. 'But I'm going to recuperate.'
'And what are you doing here all alone?'
'Well, I was with another member of the organization. He had to leave because of an emergency. He told me that he'd be back in a while, but it's been a long time now since I'm waiting for him to return.'
I wondered what time it was right now. It seemed hours to me since Katsuya had left and I was beginning to worry about the reason he had come back yet. I hoped that nothing bad happened to him.
'Listen, it's going to be night very soon. You shouldn't stay here all alone.'
'Is it really so late?' I asked, anxious.
When you couldn't see, you lost the notion of time very quickly.
'The sun is about to set. If you want, we can take you back to your house.'
I wondered if I should accept. What if Katsuya comes back and he doesn't find me? But Yosunori was right. It was getting extremely late.
'Are you sure that it doesn't pose you any problem?'
'No. Not at all,' he assured me.
'Alright. Thank you.'
I smiled, gratefully.
They began to walk me home and it gave me the occasion to ask them about how they were finding Toda, the kids- their new school- and Yosunori, about his work. I was pleased to learn that they were liking it here.
'Shun?!'
I came to a stop at the sound of Tsunan's voice, suddenly. Can it be that we're in front of his clinic? Uh-oh!
'Why are you not at home?' the doctor asked.
I broke into cold sweat. 'Uh, well...'
Oh no! If I tell him what happened… A lie, quick!
I guessed that he gave Yosunori a questioning look, since the latter replied in my place, 'She told me that she was with another member of the organization and that the latter had to absent himself. Since it's starting to be late, I proposed that we walk her to her house.'
'Another member of the organization? Who was it?'
He was talking to me now, obviously.
I scratched my cheek nervously. He was going to learn it some way or another. I admitted, reluctantly, 'Well, it was Katsuya...'
'That Katsuya, I tell you!' he growled. His tone was softer when he spoke to the Shimazaki, telling them, 'Thank you for being willing to walk her to the house. But I was heading back home too. I'll take her.'
'Alright! Take care of yourself, Shun! And it was a pleasure to meet you again, doctor!' said Yosunori, pleasantly and he walked away with his younger siblings.
I guessed that they must have met Tsunan for the first time when they had come to see me at the organization.
Tsunan and I headed back home together and once we had reached, the doctor called Katsuya on his cellphone to inform him that I had reached home safely but above all, to reprimand him for having left me on my own in the park.
'How could you be so irresponsible and leave her all alone?!'
'Ne...' I called, timidly, approaching Tsunan when he had hung up. 'Is everything alright on his side?'
'Yes. Everything's alright. Don't worry about him. And even if your indulgence towards him is admirable, I deem that he has no excuse for what he did,' he stated before he let out a sigh.
'Say, Shun, are you alright?' he asked me, suddenly, placing his hand over my clutched ones. 'I mean, having your eyes bandaged like this, it must remind you of the time you were in prison...'
I became surprised.
'I'm fine,' I murmured, sincerely, and smiled. 'Your consideration touches me a lot.'
I wondered if he was smiling too. I wished so much that I could see his expression right now.
'By the way, before I forget, I've got you something earlier,' he told me, leading me in the direction of the kitchen by my hand. 'It's a blueberry tart. Blueberries are good for the eyes.'
He handed me the tart.
'Thank you,' I whispered, with a blush. 'It seems to be big. I won't be able to eat it all alone. Let's eat it together!'
He agreed and sitting at the table, we enjoyed the tart happily together.
***
On the other side…
'Tsk! That girl is far from being stupid!' muttered Katsuya Hattori after he had hung up.
He had never really left Shun Shutsuki all alone. He had stood close-by in the park, watching her secretly, hoping that the red-haired girl would try to get back home on her own.
In her state, an accident could easily happen!
'But it's alright. Next time, she won't escape.'
His expression twisted at the thought.
Thank you for reading!