Home is where the heart is (3/?)

A Koko wa Greenwood fanfic by Jop & Yen

Characters belong to Yukie Nasu and in no way belong to me. So please don't sue. No money, no money. :)

Warnings: One foul word.*grimaces* Be warned... -___-

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“There's a little song I used to know
Trouble is where did it go
Seems to me that it was soft and slow
And a melody worth saving

Had to do with me and you                
And how love was warm and true
Had to do with you and me
Something 'bout eternity
A melody worth saving “

~ A melody worth Saving by Brian Larson and Tammy Hyler from http://larsongs.topcities.com/melody.html. Nice lyrics!!!!!

Three hours, thought Suka morosely even as he huddled in a ball, shivering by the drink machine. Three hours since Kazuhiro was in the operating room.  Two hours since he had been kicked out of the operation room when he tried to barge inside. The male nurse which had been sent to make sure he stopped causing a ruckus outside had since left on other duties, and now the corridor was empty save his sorry self.

The last time he had been here in a similar situation was when his mother had passed away. The light was as unforgiving as he remembered it years ago when he sat in the waiting room, wailing in the arms of his solemn faced brother, terribly confused why kaasan suddenly became ill and to top it off, he was hungry.  Kazuhiro had shrugged helplessly back then, but wordlessly took out his bento box from his school bag and handed it to his younger brother. With what little yen he had in his pocket, he had walked over to that same drink machine and bought a cup of hot milo to warm kazuya’s freezing fingers.

And there they had sat. There they sat, two boys alone in a foreign hospital, hoping for an answer, a miracle.

A miracle that did not come. 

Suka blinked, forcing back the tears that had in avertedly started to trickle down his cheeks. He shook his head fiercely. No, Kazuhiro would not die, not here, not now. Not when he still had things to do, not when he had Midori and Sumire-chan to look after.

Not when Kazuya hadn’t the chance to tell his brother he loved him.

“Suka!!”

Footsteps could be heard pounding down the hallway, and the boy lifted his head up to see the concerned faces of Miya Igarashii, Shun, Mitsuru and Shinobu bearing towards him. His friends must have bailed out of school during the break and gotten Miya along the way. Miya rushed forward and enveloped him in a hug.

“Kazuya!”  Igarashii stepped back to regard her boyfriend, wide concerned eyes looking up to meet his, even as her hand reached out to touch him in comfort. “Mitsuru-sempai came by school and told me. We came as soon as we heard the news. How is Kazuhiro-san?”

Tears glimmered in the boy’s eyes. “I don’t know! They wouldn’t even tell me. All I know is that Kazuhiro’s in there” he gestured at the operating room “and that he’s been there all morning!” Mitsuru glanced uneasily at Shinobu. The boy was near breaking point. Or hysteria. Maybe both.

“Maa maa, Suka-chan,” comforted Shun, patting Hasukawa on the shoulder, his tone forced but easy. “I’m sure Hasukuwa-sempai will be alright. You just wait and see. They’ve got good doctors in there.”

“But I have been waiting all morning!” Suka cried even as he stood up, drawing many looks from some of the nurses that was walking through the corridor. Hysteria danced in his tone, colouring his speech vividly. “How long must I wait? What if he’s dead, Shun? What if there’s something seriously wrong with him? What if he’s – ”

His voice steadily grew in fervor and volume. Igarashii, Shun and Mitsuru tried frantically to calm him down, but at the best they were only able to get him to sit down. Turning his head frantically for help, Mitsuru’s eyes sought Shinobu’s, but his roommate merely folded his arms and shook his head.

Just then the door opened and a middle-aged nurse walked out, briskly walking out of the operation room with a folder in her mind. Immediately, Suka sprang to life, shaking off his friends.

“Nurse, nurse! How’s my brother? How’s my brother?”

The nurse paused and turned around slowly, frowning as she did so. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about that. You’ll have to ask the doctor on that. They should be out soon.”

Suka grabbed her arm. “That’s impossible! You have to know something! You were in the operating room! How is my brother?!” The nurse opened her mouth in shock, startled at the breach of decorum and was about to call for help when Shun, Igarashii and Mitsuru jumped in to intervene before a far worse scene was created. Even as Shun and Igarashii were trying to pry Suka’s death grip on the nurse, Mitsuru once more shot a quick despairing look behind to one who might possibly be of some – any! – help.

His face darkened imperceptibly, taking in the empty chair.

Shinobu had disappeared.

But there was no time to ponder too much as there was now an angry nurse on their hands who was shouting and threatening to bring security down on them. Casting the matter aside, Mitsuru smoothly interjected himself between the fuming nurse and Suka and upped the wattage of his smile. “Sorry about that,” he began, projecting his words over what his kouhai behind him might be saying, “but my friend’s been having a bad day and is just worried. Do you happen to know what’s happening to the patient right now? I would really appreciate it if you could help us out.”

The nurse bristled and shot an evil eye at Suka who was now visibly restrained by a worried Shun. Lavender eyes darting from friend to friend, they finally settled on Mitsuru’s good looks and she stared very hard. Mitsuru winced at the sheer ferocity of her glare but held his ground, unwaveringly. Finally she backed down.  “Look, I know how it is to have family inside but I told you already, I have no idea how the patient is. You will have to ask the doctor and – “

“That’s a lie! Surely you must know something!” interjected the flustered Suka, before his mouth was covered by Shun.

“Mou, Suka-chan! This is not helping! She’s trying to help us – ”

“Look boy, I don’t appreciate being called a liar!”

 “Let me go!” demanded the flustered boy, face turning almost as red as his hair. His movements became more frantic. “I want to see my brother! I want to see Kazuhiro! I want to – “

Just then, the light indicating surgery in progress flicked off. Surgery was over. For the second time that hour, the door burst open as the patient was wheeled out of the operating room with a train of nurses besides him. The middle-aged nurse, realizing that she had tarried too long getting into a shouting match with Hasukawa, quickly fled the scene before the doctors that were coming behind noticed and reprimand her. Even as Suka broke from the conflict and quickly latched onto the bedside of the patient, the door opened for the doctors and Mitsuru gasped loudly in recognition of one of them.

“Suka!!” he blurted automatically.

“Aniki! Oh aniki, are you alright? Can you hear me? I’m so sorry and – ”

“Suka!!” A hand caught the boy firmly by the shoulder and wheeled him around, stopping his passage with the bed inside the hospital lift. Foiled, he spun around and glared daggers at the senior.

“Sempai! Can’t you see I’m talking to my brother?”  yelled the flustered redhead angrily, throwing off his senior’s hand. “Can’t you – “

His voice drifted off, finally noticing the quizzical young man standing besides an older man. Both were in doctor whites, having discarded the surgeon blues behind and stared quite soundly at the scene before them. Although the younger did not share the same flaming hair hue as Suka and had blond hair instead of red, there were enough similar features that there was no doubt that the man and Hasukawa shared the same parentage.

Kazuhiro stared at the red head, brain trying to come up with a reason why Kazuya and his friends would be doing at the hospital on a school day and on a school hour.  It came up short. “Kazuya?” He asked at last, brow furrowing.  “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

Instantly, Suka’s mouth dropped and he rushed up to the man, sobbing. “Aniki!!”

“Aniki, aniki,” Hasukawa practically threw himself into his brother’s arms. Even more baffled, Kazuhiro looked down at his brother and then up again at his brother’s friends. No help there either.

“Kazuya, what’s going on?” the doctor tugged at Suka, forcing the boy to look at him. “Kazuya?” The muffled sobs, the hysterical cries weren’t making any sense. Usually Kazuhiro would be the last person Suka would turn to, and not the first. It had to be something very, very bad. Looking down, he strained to make sense of his brother’s words.

“When I heard the news – that you were in surgery –  I thought –I thought – would lose you – and – “

Kazuhiro frowned slightly, looking back at where he had been and stared for a long moment before it finally dawned on him what Kazuya had thought. His eyes widened slightly.

“Oh.”

“Oh? Oh?!!” Suka’s tear-streaked face suddenly looked up, strained and angry. “Is that all you can say? I was so worried!!! “ He broke off from the embrace and started poking emphatic fingers at his brother. “I thought something happened to you! Don’t you have any sense of responsibility?” the boy ranted on and on, pitch once more growing harsher and more hysterical and Kazuhiro winced rather guiltily.

“I was just helping out in the hospital and thought it was so inconsequential that you needn’t be told – ”

“I didn’t know that! My heart nearly stopped when I heard you were in surgery!!!” Suka reached out for Kazuhiro and the latter braced himself for what had to be one of his younger brother’s fists. Kazuya was and always had been a firebrand since young. But just when he thought the punch was about to greet him, arms wrapped themselves tightly around him instead.

“But I’m glad you’re fine.” The boy sobbed even as he hugged his brother tighter. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Kazuhiro stiffened slightly, but nodded silently even as he returned the hug, tears trailing down his cheek to join his brother’s.

It was a very private moment for the brothers. Mitsuru looked away, as did Shun and Igarashii. It was then he noticed that Shinobu had reappeared on the scene, slipped in somewhere amidst the confusion, face quietly impassive.

A polite cough broke the moment. The brothers looked up to see a face of the other doctor staring intently at them.

“Kazuhiro, is this your brother?” Turning, Kazuhiro watched as the older man held out his hand towards the red head, who’s face was now turned downwards and flushed in embarrassment at what had just happened in front of this total stranger. His brother’s warning cough however quickly broke Suka out of his reverie and he quickly grabbed the man’s hand and pumped it vigorously even while Kazuhiro winced.

“Hai. Professor Omasu, this is my brother, Hasukawa Kazuya. He’s presently a student at Ryokuto Academy.”

Suka bowed low, ear-tips red and hot, refusing to look up to face the man.

Turning, the older man smiled at Kazuhiro. “Ah yes, your alma mater. Well, I’ll be certain to expect great things from him since he is your brother.”

Suka blinked at that, eyes peeking from his bangs at the unexpected statement and turned to his brother for an explanation but the latter’s face was blank, his eyes lowered in expected modesty. “You are too kind sir.”

“Oh hardly,” the doctor laughed jovially. “I expect myself to be assisting you soon.”

Blink, blink. Turning, the doctor noticed Suka’s puzzled expression and he clapped his back in reply. “You have a great brother here my boy. He will go far.”

If anything, Suka’s blinking quickened in intensity. Unaware of the reaction he had prompted in the younger boy, he nodded in emphasis. “Yes, go far indeed. In fact, I’d wager that if Kazuhiro had taken up the hospital’s offer when he’d graduated he might even be Chief of Surgery now! And the youngest man to ever accomplish that to boot. But at least, with his three year sabbatical, he gives us old-timers some time to shape up.”

He chuckled, oblivious to Igarashii, Shun, Mitsuru and Suka’s open mouths and Kazuhiro’s obvious discomfiture. Suka blinked, alternating between staring at his brother and this strange man that as good as called Kazuhiro a genius. Chief of Surgery? Three years? But that’s the number of years that I take to grad… Kazuhiro laughed uncomfortably. “Now Omasu-sensei, you’re just flattering me….”

“Nonsense!” Professor Omasu exploded emphatically. “You are one of our best, Kazuhiro and this operation should have told you that if nothing else.”

“My… brother conducted the operation?” Suka stammered, finally gathering enough of his wits to attempt a decent question.

“Well, not really.” The doctor admitted. “Technically I was in charge, but Kazuhiro helped me with the triple bypass. It takes delicate hands and he’s got one of the best. I can’t wait for him to officially be back for his sabbatical. Will be a lot easier for me to just page for him instead of having to make an appointment for him to come down!”

Triple bypass? Hasukawa looked like he was going to faint.

Kazuhiro shook his head in return, a small frown around his lips. “Mou, sensei; you’re exaggerating. I was already coming down this week to help out, especially after the hospital called because all of you were understaffed. You just grabbed me when I came in and chucked me into the operating theatre.”

“Well, it was necessary.” The older man retorted before guffawing. “Though I must admit your face was priceless.”

Kazuhiro rolled his eyes. “Can you blame me, sensei? I come in after weeks of just bandaging cuts and treating fevers and then got bumped up immediately to a triple bypass! You’re lucky I stayed up the entire fortnight before to study.”

Professor Omasu smiled. “Not lucky. Rational. I taught you Hasukawa and you were one of my best and brightest. You worked the hardest as well. No matter what I know I can count on you. And for doctors, that’s one of the most important things since we need people we can count on in our teams.”

Suka blinked as he thought he saw a slight flush on his brother’s cheeks. He watched as his brother thanked the doctor before turning back to their little group, a small smile gracing his lips and weariness in his eyes.

“Sorry Kazuya but I have to do my rounds now. I’ll talk to you when I get back to Ryokuto. Okay?”

Nodding dumbly, Suka was rewarded with a brotherly noogie before Kazuhiro disappeared down the corridor, down where Professor Omasu had gone. It was many moments before he could find the voice to speak again.

“Well,” the boy said at last, running his hand through his hair. “You learn something new every day.”

That night, the halls of Greenwood heard the highly excited voice of one Hasukawa Kazuya as he took turns complaining about how much of a baka his brother was for taking the sabbatical and raving about the respect his brother received from others. And underlying the entire monologue ran a thread of understanding and love for the sacrifices his brother had made.

Sacrifices that one listener envied in his silence.

Finally, 11 o’clock came and even the exuberant spirits of Suka had to be quelled under the stern eye of the dorm lady. Happy and satisfied, all returned to their rooms to take refuge in their sleep.

Except for one room down the hall.

Room 211.

The door closed, isolating the room from the busy sounds that comprised of Greenwood residents. Finally, they were alone. Shinobu sighed to himself even as he walked over to his chair and sat down. Behind him, Mitsuru kept his position by the door.

“Why, Shinobu?”

Shinobu regarded the figure leaning impassively, almost nonchalantly against the door. All afternoon he had been expecting this; his friend had been giving him enough sidelong glances on the way back to Greenwood, and anyway, Mitsuru had never been that hard to read whenever it came to that.

Shinobu shrugged, eyes catching the slight anger in his friend’s eyes. “About what, Mitsuru?” He asked, sidestepping the issue.

“Back in the hospital, why did you disappear when we needed your help just now?”

Hooded gray-silver eyes regarded solemn amethyst ones. The boy shrugged.

Mitsuru frowned at his recalcitrant friend and began again. “We could have used a hand back then. Why? Why did you disappear?”

“Why don’t you talk to your family, Mitsuru?”

The boy’s brow furrowed further. “I don’t see what does that have to do with anything.”

“As do I in why when you ask me about my lack of involvement with Hasukawa and Kazuhiro.”

“Those two things are two entirely separate matters, Shinobu.”

“Are they?”  Again the light mocking tone.

The two of them stared in silence, each stubborn and unwilling to say more.

Finally, Mitsuru broke, as Shinobu had known he would. Starting again, coolly, evenly, obviously reining in his temper, the ex-dorm president clearly enunciated his words, hoping that they’d strike an answering vulnerability in his roommate. “Hasukawa thought that his brother was hurt. He was panicking. He needed help, Shinobu. Help you might have given.”

Shinobu turned around and shook his head from side to side. “No, Mitsuru, he didn’t.”

Mitsuru stared at the back of his friend for a long time before sighing and shaking his head. Climbing into his bed, he pulled back the covers and crawled in before staring at the ceiling. After all this time, he should have known. There was no vulnerability in his roommate.

For a moment silence reigned with the only sounds that of rustling cloth as Shinobu changed for bed. Finally, Mitsuru spoke, his voice quietly contemplative. “You know something Shinobu, sometimes people are right. You are one cold bastard.”

The rustling stopped for a moment, before starting again. The lights went off and soon Mitsuru heard the sounds of Shinobu climbing into the lower bunk before all noise stopped. Sighing again, he turned on his side and closed his eyes.

He hadn’t really been expecting an answer.

Below him, Shinobu stared up at the ceiling, his eyes open and filled with a distant pain.

The next day, both boys dressed in comfortable silence while the sun shone and the birds sang. They sat at the breakfast table together, as they always did, and walked to school and back as they always did, and though things were all right again, some things would never quite be the same again.

The next week he was gone.

~~~~~ tsu du ku / end of chapter 3 ~~~~~

comments? Please send them over, kudasai! ^_^

HTMLing done by Jop, 2000.