A Place To Call Home Part 7
The night had not been kind to Keito, as he wept silently beside Yuto’s bedside. For the last few hours, he watched, his heart torn to pieces, as figures cloaked in white lab coats swarmed over the fragile body. Throughout all this, Yuto never woke up…
“Young master Keito…. We’re done here…” one of the doctors bowed as the small group left the room.
“Yuto?” Keito asked as he rushed to the boy’s bedside. Their hands joined and Keito wept as his boyfriend’s hand felt as cold as ice. There was no warmth in his body, there was no warmth in his face.
“Yuto? Wake up.. please..” He watched as the boy stirred slightly.
“Is he okay?” Keito turned to see his friends standing in the room.
“Yuto… wake up…” Keito repeated, this time, he gasped as Yuto’s eyes opened.
“Yuto! You’re awake!” They met in an long overdue embrace. But as he held his recovered boyfriend, something felt…. Different.
“Yuto? What’s wrong?” Keito pulled back and looked into those eyes and backed away.
“Keito? Whats wrong?” Yabu asked
“Those… eyes… they’re back…”
“Eyes?” Ryutaro walked to the beside.
“Those eyes…. Aren’t his….they’re… so…” Keito stammered
“Cold…” Ryutaro finished.
The other boys stared at the body laying on the bed, they watched as it slowly sat up.
“Yuto?”
Nothing
“Yuto? Can you talk to me?”
Only a nod.
“Yuto… please… just say my name… that's all I need to hear from you right now… just my name….” Keito begged.
“I don't know your name…..” The boy said.
“W-What?”
“I don't know… who you are…”
“Yuto… please… remember…”
“I don't” Yuto’s eyes remained hollow and cold, staring into the white wall before him. His voice was flat, monotone, no longer happy or cheerful.
“He… doesn’t know who I am….” Keito fell to the floor, defeated.
“Yuto? Do you remember me?” Inoo asked.
“You… look familiar… “
“But do you remember me?
“No… I cant remember, I wont remember…not anymore…”
“What does that mean?”
“I won’t remember anymore.” Yuto replied, and this time his eyes slowly moved toward Inoo.
“My master has forbid it….”
With that everyone in the room fell silent.
“Yuto….” Keito felt his tears well up again. It was so unfair to him, he didn’t understand why fate had chosen theirs to be its tragic romance. All his emotions, his bottled sadness coursed through his body the minute Yuto’s cold and hollow eyes looked at him and in a flat tone said
“I don't remember any of you…….”
The tears sprang from Keito’s eyes as he jumped up and ran out of the room. He didn’t care where he was going, he didn't mind running into people, he didn't need to know anything beyond running. He wanted to get far away from this place, far away from that person…. That person was not his Yuto… and looking at him hurt. Keito ran and ran, until he finally stopped, and he realized he was near the very spot they had met for the first time. He trudged grief strickenly to the small alleyway, just as the rolls of thunder roared in the sky.
“Yuto…” He whimpered, as his voice whined and he felt like a child again. Keito leaned against the rough brick walls of the building and slid to the ground, his pants stained from the dirt.
“Yuto…” He cried again, as the small droplets of water began to cascade down upon him. He looked up at the heavens, as they cried with him for the love he felt he had lost. And as the thunder rang out, so did his scream. He cried out, loudly, screaming in pain as uncontrollable sobs escaped him and he felt so weak and so little. All that he had been holding in for weeks came out, his cries drowned by the thunder, and his tears washed away by the rain. There in the alleyway where fate had brought him, he sat, mourning…..
After a few more minutes, Keito felt a cover come above him, and he looked up through his wet hair to see Daiki standing above him, with a large umbrella, his hand out.
“I’m sorry Keito…” He whispered, looking at his friend, completely soaked in his own tears. The younger boy merely looked at him, before shamefully casting his gaze aside, ignoring the outstretched hand. He didn’t want to leave here, this place… was all that he had left now of Yuto.
“Keito… Inoo-chan has a theory about what’s happened to Yuto, it sounds promising, but you need to keep your faith alive… I know that you and Yuto are meant to be together, I just know it.” Daiki put his arm around Keito and for just a few moments, he sat, listening as the last of his sniffles worked their way out.
“Let’s go home….”
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“Guys, one of us should stay with him, at least for the time being…” Yabu said worriedly as they all sat in the common room of Okamoto manor. As soon as they had gotten home, Keito walked off into his room without a word.
“I’ll do it….” Ryutaro raised his hand as everyone nodded their acknowledgement.
“The rest of us… we should get to sleep and help find a way to snap Yuto out of…. Whatever it is that they did to him….the poor kid… he was so pure and so innocent…. Life’s been hard to him…..but he doesn’t deserve it…” Yabu felt himself coming to tears from just talking about it.
Ryutaro entered Keito’s room with just the feeblest of knocks. He sighed in disappointment, as everything was as it was when Yuto was missing.
“Oh Keito… I'm so sorry…” Ryutaro sighed as he sat down on the bed.
“It’s not fair…” Keito sniffled, his eyes were red from crying still.
“I know… I know…” Ryutaro put his arms around his friend and leaned his head on the boy’s shoulder.
“I just know, that somehow it will work out…” He comforted. Within a few minutes, Ryutaro felt Keito slack in his embrace. The older boy had cried himself to sleep.
“Keito…it’ll be okay….” Ryutaro repeated as he pulled the blanket over Keito and walked over to the corner, sitting on one of the chairs.
“It just has to be”
The next morning, the boys made their way to the hospital again, by now Yuto was fully awake, but his condition hadn’t changed.
“Yuto’s awake, hes conscious, but the thing is…. He’s been conditioned.” Inoo explained
“What?” Takaki looked puzzled
“It’s almost like the method that some people use to quit smoking, whenever they have a thought about something, it gets rewarded with a punishment, until you don't even want to think about it anymore. In extreme cases, just the thought about it can cause the person to relive the pain they’ve gone through. In this case, those guys made Yuto forget about everything in his past, they’ve desensitized him.” Inoo sighed. The task before him was daunting, but as he looked at Keito’s face. He knew he had to take it.
“Keito… I don’t think…. That you should be in there for theses sessions…”
“W-What? Why?”
“Because…. I don't want to put you through it……and it might be easier to build up to you… small things should come first before we try to make Yuto remember the largers pieces of his life. If I’m correct, the very thought of you should be his strongest memory, and as a result, by clinging onto you, you could be his most painful memory.”
“I…..” Keito stammered, but he saw Inoo’s logic.
“We’ll take him up to the private room” Daiki and Hikaru nodded as they escorted Keito towards the elevator.
In the small hospital room, Inoo sighed as he walked in, and sat next to the cold-eyed boy.
“Good morning Yuto.” He tried, earning only a look.
“Yuto, I need you to talk to me….. talk to me…. about anything”
“I don’t have anything to talk about.”
“Well, tell me about what you remember”
“I don’t remember anything….”
“That’s not true… you just don’t want to…. Why?”
“Because… my master has forbidden it.”
“Yuto… your master is gone…. You don’t have to worry about any punishment… just remember… don’t you want to know who you are? Where you’re from? Your friends?”
“My…friends?”
“Yes… us…. Do you remember me? Here you’re safe…. Just try to remember, remember who I am?”
“You….Aghh!” Yuto shook his head as he felt pin pricks all along his body, he slammed himself against the bed and writhed in pain.
“Yuto, hold my hand!” Inoo yelled as he squeezed the boy’s fingers together.
“Focus! It’s not real, you’re not being hurt!”
“It hurts… to remember…. You said I was safe…. You lied…..” Yuto sobbed.
“Oh Yuto… I’m so sorry… but I need you to be strong……I need you to remember everything… Don’t you want to be who you were?”
Yuto nodded as the pain subsided
“That boy…. That was in here the day before…. He looked so sad….did I do something to him?” Yuto asked as he regained his composure.
“Yuto.. before I tell you that…. Can you tell me my name?” Inoo asked.
“I….I think…” Yuto winced as his head began to ache again and his body began to tingle..
“Inoo-Chan….?” He broke through the barrier as his headache spiked and subsided all in an instant.
“Yes! Yuto! You remembered something!” Inoo was so happy he hugged him.
“Inoo-chan… did I hurt… that boy?”
“No… you could never hurt Keito… but let’s not focus on that just yet okay?”
Yuto nodded, and for the next few hours, Inoo put the younger boy through round after round of therapy to remember everything he had put aside.
“Ah, I’m sorry young master Inoo, but this patient has been discharged by the hospital, into the care of Keito-sama.” A doctor said as he walked into the room.
“I see… that’s fine, Yuto, are you ready to go home? To your home?” Inoo asked. Yuto nodded. His progress was remarkable, the young boy struggled through the pain, and he remembered his past, well…. Almost everything.
Yuto was quiet on the way home, his eyes were still hollow as he gazed out the window and watched as the lush scenery passed him by.
“Yuto…..please look at me….” Keito begged as his boyfriend turned, and those still cold eyes returned his gaze.
“I’m sorry…for whatever I did to hurt you…” Yuto apologized.
“Silly boy… you could never hurt me… I love you….” Keito smiled weakly as he hugged Yuto.
“I’m sorry…. Still…I feel… something… towards you…” Yuto continued, as a tear fell down his face.
“Yuto?”
“I don’t know why…..” He finished as he wiped the lone tear and wondered why he felt so sad.
That night, Yuto and Keito lay together upon Keito’s bed.
“Yuto….. is everything alright?”
“My side… hurts just a little….”
“Here, take off your shirt, let me see.” Keito looked at the bruises that had been treated and sighed as he applied a little pressure, causing the boy to wince.
“This one is going to be painful, but you’re just reacting to the medicine, you’ll be okay….”
“Thank you…I’m sorry to be a burden to you….” Yuto felt so distant as he laid down, not even bothering to put on his shirt.
“You could never be a bother to me….. how many times do I have to say it?” Keito repeated.
“That sounds familiar…..”
“Yes, do you remember?”
“I…. don’t know. “
“Yuto….. what did you remember today?”
“I remembered… Inoo-Chan’s name…. I remembered… being in a dark alley.. being in pain, but then… someone in white came and rescued me….. and I felt happy…but then I lost him….. and I remember crying…..” Yuto said, never once turning to look at Keito.
“Yuto…” The older boy sighed as he laid down in his pajamas, a simple pair of sleeping pants. He scooted over and put his arm around Yuto’s body. It was so painful to him, but so comforting at the same time. Yuto’s body felt so cold to him, but he missed him. Keito sighed as he felt Yuto’s skin against his own, the rough patches where cuts were healing. He just wanted to hold him, for however long he could. Until he fell asleep, Keito stared at the back of Yuto’s head, hoping that he would turn around and call his name, but it never came, and the two fell asleep together, Yuto in Keito’s embrace…….
In the morning, Yuto was ushered off into the private study while Keito was dragged out of his room by Daiki.
“How was the night?” Daiki asked
“He doesn’t remember me……” Keito sat down on the small couch
“It’ll take time…..”
“How much time……how much longer can I stand to be without him? Isn’t it strange…. Dai-Chan… I spent my life, going along with everything, I went along with everyone around me, so that I wouldn’t have my heart hurt when things don’t go my way, I’ve never cried for anyone…. Except for him.”
“Oh Keito…..”
“I finally found him… I finally found Yuto, but the way he is now…. He’s still so distant. Even though I found him, he’s still miles away, even when he’s in my arms.”
“Keito….. you can’t rush things….”
“He wont even look at me!” Keito began to tear up again, something he had taken to doing lately.
“It’ll take time….. but Inoo said that progress is fairly quick….” Daiki felt at a lost for words to console his friend.
“Im so sorry this had to happen to you…” Daiki stood up and walked out of the room as Yabu and Hikaru walked in. He nodded to them and walked out to the hall. He turned to watch the door to the room close and picked up the telephone……..
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“Yuto…. Do you remember everything now?”
“I think…..”
“Do you remember everyone?”
“No… I still don’t know that boy…. The one who was with me last night.. I aughhh..” Yuto shook as pain shook his body.
“Yuto focus! Focus on my voice, my hand, it’s not real! Do you remember Keito?!” Inoo sounded desperate as he watched his friend writhe in pain until finally, he collapsed, unconscious on the couch.
“Yuto!” Inoo jumped up and tended to him.
“The pain from that memory was too much for him to handle….” Daiki said as he walked in, there were two other men behind him.
“Dai-Chan?”
“You…. Tell us how to undo this….” He said to someone over his shoulder, as the two men moved, Inoo noticed a third man, significantly smaller between them. As the man raised his head, Inoo gasped in surprise.
“Ha..kubi…..” Except now he was different, his face was sunken in, and his eyes tired. He looked as if he had been tortured himself.
“Wait… Dai-Chan come here…” Inoo pushed Daiki into a small adjoining room.
“What is it Kei?”
“Dai-Chan, what did you do to him?!”
“Nothing… I left him in the hands of my father…he does look a little worse for wear doesn't he?” Daiki looked over into the room.
“Daiki, that’s inhumane!”
“Is what he did to Yuto humane at all?”
“Well… no….”
“Listen, Kei-chan, I know that your heart is pure, but sometimes, this happens in our world, trust me…. I will promise to treat him better when he is under my care, but that’s not what we should focus on is it? I brought him here, to see if he could break whatever hold it is that he has on Yuto.” Daiki sighed
“O…Ohkay.” Inoo nodded as he turned and walked back into the room.
“You, had better fix this…. or I promise… you’ll be going back under my father’s watch.” Daiki said as they entered the room.
For the next few minutes, the two watched as the now old and fragile looking Hakubi talked with Yuto.
“Remember…. I command it!” Hakubi squeaked
“It hurts…”
“No, it doesn't, now remember! Remember everything!” Hakubi’s voice grew louder.
“I don’t want to anymore! It hurts!” Yuto cried as he clutched his head between his hands and shook as his head throbbed in pain.
“Remember!” Hakubi’s voice peaked as it echoed through Okamoto Manor. He was getting frustrated, his own life on the line. Frustration got the better of him and he raised his hand unconsciously and struck down the boy, or so he thought.
“Keito….” Daiki’s eyes widened, the boy that Hakubi hit, hadn’t been Yuto, but Keito had appeared. Keito landed on the floor, hitting his jaw against the wall, cutting his lip a little.
“Don’t hit… Yuto….” Keito panted.
“Ahhhh!” Yuto screamed in the middle of room as he looked at Keito laying on the ground. The pain grew beyond his control as he struggled between remembering at withstanding the pain. All that Hakubi had done to him came back, he remembered being beaten as he clung onto the memory of Keito, he remembered being burned, being shocked, all as he held on tightly to Keito’s image. He remembered everything, until his mind went blank and suddenly, his world was his own again.
“K-Keito…” Yuto uttered the name softly as his tired body found its way across the cold white marbled floor.
“Keito…” He repeated as he crawled to his boyfriend.
“Yuto…..?” Keito’s eyes widened with hope as the boy approached and held him.
“Keito… you’re hurt….” Yuto cried as he held his boyfriend in his arms.
“Do you remember me? Do you remember me now Yuto?”
“Silly boy…. I could never forget you….” Yuto smiled as he leaned in and kissed Keito, soothing away the pain from the cut.
There, Keito saw it, the warm brown eyes that he had come to love, had returned. He smiled happily to himself as he pulled Yuto into his embrace and held on tightly
“Oh Yuto… don’t you ever leave me again…..”
“I promised did I? I promise I wont….” Yuto smiled as he nestled himself in Keito’s arms and closed his eyes, a smile forming on his face.
“Guys! What’s going on!?” The other boys ran into the room, but stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Keito and Yuto holding each other.
“Does this mean….?” The asked as Inoo nodded.
“Yuto!” They all chimed together as Yuto turned to look at them and smiled.
“Hello minna…… Tadaima… I'm home…..” He said as they all laughed.
Yuto turned to Keito and smiled broadly at him
“Tadaima… I’m home….Keito”
“Okaeri…. Welcome home…..Yuto”
The pair hugged and kissed once more before they stood up and walked out to Keito’s bedroom, for now…. They just wanted to be together.
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Uwa…. Minna, this chapter is short too! But I think this series is coming to an end =( stay tuned for the final chapter!
Again, comments are appreciated!
~Emmie
“Young master Keito…. We’re done here…” one of the doctors bowed as the small group left the room.
“Yuto?” Keito asked as he rushed to the boy’s bedside. Their hands joined and Keito wept as his boyfriend’s hand felt as cold as ice. There was no warmth in his body, there was no warmth in his face.
“Yuto? Wake up.. please..” He watched as the boy stirred slightly.
“Is he okay?” Keito turned to see his friends standing in the room.
“Yuto… wake up…” Keito repeated, this time, he gasped as Yuto’s eyes opened.
“Yuto! You’re awake!” They met in an long overdue embrace. But as he held his recovered boyfriend, something felt…. Different.
“Yuto? What’s wrong?” Keito pulled back and looked into those eyes and backed away.
“Keito? Whats wrong?” Yabu asked
“Those… eyes… they’re back…”
“Eyes?” Ryutaro walked to the beside.
“Those eyes…. Aren’t his….they’re… so…” Keito stammered
“Cold…” Ryutaro finished.
The other boys stared at the body laying on the bed, they watched as it slowly sat up.
“Yuto?”
Nothing
“Yuto? Can you talk to me?”
Only a nod.
“Yuto… please… just say my name… that's all I need to hear from you right now… just my name….” Keito begged.
“I don't know your name…..” The boy said.
“W-What?”
“I don't know… who you are…”
“Yuto… please… remember…”
“I don't” Yuto’s eyes remained hollow and cold, staring into the white wall before him. His voice was flat, monotone, no longer happy or cheerful.
“He… doesn’t know who I am….” Keito fell to the floor, defeated.
“Yuto? Do you remember me?” Inoo asked.
“You… look familiar… “
“But do you remember me?
“No… I cant remember, I wont remember…not anymore…”
“What does that mean?”
“I won’t remember anymore.” Yuto replied, and this time his eyes slowly moved toward Inoo.
“My master has forbid it….”
With that everyone in the room fell silent.
“Yuto….” Keito felt his tears well up again. It was so unfair to him, he didn’t understand why fate had chosen theirs to be its tragic romance. All his emotions, his bottled sadness coursed through his body the minute Yuto’s cold and hollow eyes looked at him and in a flat tone said
“I don't remember any of you…….”
The tears sprang from Keito’s eyes as he jumped up and ran out of the room. He didn’t care where he was going, he didn't mind running into people, he didn't need to know anything beyond running. He wanted to get far away from this place, far away from that person…. That person was not his Yuto… and looking at him hurt. Keito ran and ran, until he finally stopped, and he realized he was near the very spot they had met for the first time. He trudged grief strickenly to the small alleyway, just as the rolls of thunder roared in the sky.
“Yuto…” He whimpered, as his voice whined and he felt like a child again. Keito leaned against the rough brick walls of the building and slid to the ground, his pants stained from the dirt.
“Yuto…” He cried again, as the small droplets of water began to cascade down upon him. He looked up at the heavens, as they cried with him for the love he felt he had lost. And as the thunder rang out, so did his scream. He cried out, loudly, screaming in pain as uncontrollable sobs escaped him and he felt so weak and so little. All that he had been holding in for weeks came out, his cries drowned by the thunder, and his tears washed away by the rain. There in the alleyway where fate had brought him, he sat, mourning…..
After a few more minutes, Keito felt a cover come above him, and he looked up through his wet hair to see Daiki standing above him, with a large umbrella, his hand out.
“I’m sorry Keito…” He whispered, looking at his friend, completely soaked in his own tears. The younger boy merely looked at him, before shamefully casting his gaze aside, ignoring the outstretched hand. He didn’t want to leave here, this place… was all that he had left now of Yuto.
“Keito… Inoo-chan has a theory about what’s happened to Yuto, it sounds promising, but you need to keep your faith alive… I know that you and Yuto are meant to be together, I just know it.” Daiki put his arm around Keito and for just a few moments, he sat, listening as the last of his sniffles worked their way out.
“Let’s go home….”
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“Guys, one of us should stay with him, at least for the time being…” Yabu said worriedly as they all sat in the common room of Okamoto manor. As soon as they had gotten home, Keito walked off into his room without a word.
“I’ll do it….” Ryutaro raised his hand as everyone nodded their acknowledgement.
“The rest of us… we should get to sleep and help find a way to snap Yuto out of…. Whatever it is that they did to him….the poor kid… he was so pure and so innocent…. Life’s been hard to him…..but he doesn’t deserve it…” Yabu felt himself coming to tears from just talking about it.
Ryutaro entered Keito’s room with just the feeblest of knocks. He sighed in disappointment, as everything was as it was when Yuto was missing.
“Oh Keito… I'm so sorry…” Ryutaro sighed as he sat down on the bed.
“It’s not fair…” Keito sniffled, his eyes were red from crying still.
“I know… I know…” Ryutaro put his arms around his friend and leaned his head on the boy’s shoulder.
“I just know, that somehow it will work out…” He comforted. Within a few minutes, Ryutaro felt Keito slack in his embrace. The older boy had cried himself to sleep.
“Keito…it’ll be okay….” Ryutaro repeated as he pulled the blanket over Keito and walked over to the corner, sitting on one of the chairs.
“It just has to be”
The next morning, the boys made their way to the hospital again, by now Yuto was fully awake, but his condition hadn’t changed.
“Yuto’s awake, hes conscious, but the thing is…. He’s been conditioned.” Inoo explained
“What?” Takaki looked puzzled
“It’s almost like the method that some people use to quit smoking, whenever they have a thought about something, it gets rewarded with a punishment, until you don't even want to think about it anymore. In extreme cases, just the thought about it can cause the person to relive the pain they’ve gone through. In this case, those guys made Yuto forget about everything in his past, they’ve desensitized him.” Inoo sighed. The task before him was daunting, but as he looked at Keito’s face. He knew he had to take it.
“Keito… I don’t think…. That you should be in there for theses sessions…”
“W-What? Why?”
“Because…. I don't want to put you through it……and it might be easier to build up to you… small things should come first before we try to make Yuto remember the largers pieces of his life. If I’m correct, the very thought of you should be his strongest memory, and as a result, by clinging onto you, you could be his most painful memory.”
“I…..” Keito stammered, but he saw Inoo’s logic.
“We’ll take him up to the private room” Daiki and Hikaru nodded as they escorted Keito towards the elevator.
In the small hospital room, Inoo sighed as he walked in, and sat next to the cold-eyed boy.
“Good morning Yuto.” He tried, earning only a look.
“Yuto, I need you to talk to me….. talk to me…. about anything”
“I don’t have anything to talk about.”
“Well, tell me about what you remember”
“I don’t remember anything….”
“That’s not true… you just don’t want to…. Why?”
“Because… my master has forbidden it.”
“Yuto… your master is gone…. You don’t have to worry about any punishment… just remember… don’t you want to know who you are? Where you’re from? Your friends?”
“My…friends?”
“Yes… us…. Do you remember me? Here you’re safe…. Just try to remember, remember who I am?”
“You….Aghh!” Yuto shook his head as he felt pin pricks all along his body, he slammed himself against the bed and writhed in pain.
“Yuto, hold my hand!” Inoo yelled as he squeezed the boy’s fingers together.
“Focus! It’s not real, you’re not being hurt!”
“It hurts… to remember…. You said I was safe…. You lied…..” Yuto sobbed.
“Oh Yuto… I’m so sorry… but I need you to be strong……I need you to remember everything… Don’t you want to be who you were?”
Yuto nodded as the pain subsided
“That boy…. That was in here the day before…. He looked so sad….did I do something to him?” Yuto asked as he regained his composure.
“Yuto.. before I tell you that…. Can you tell me my name?” Inoo asked.
“I….I think…” Yuto winced as his head began to ache again and his body began to tingle..
“Inoo-Chan….?” He broke through the barrier as his headache spiked and subsided all in an instant.
“Yes! Yuto! You remembered something!” Inoo was so happy he hugged him.
“Inoo-chan… did I hurt… that boy?”
“No… you could never hurt Keito… but let’s not focus on that just yet okay?”
Yuto nodded, and for the next few hours, Inoo put the younger boy through round after round of therapy to remember everything he had put aside.
“Ah, I’m sorry young master Inoo, but this patient has been discharged by the hospital, into the care of Keito-sama.” A doctor said as he walked into the room.
“I see… that’s fine, Yuto, are you ready to go home? To your home?” Inoo asked. Yuto nodded. His progress was remarkable, the young boy struggled through the pain, and he remembered his past, well…. Almost everything.
Yuto was quiet on the way home, his eyes were still hollow as he gazed out the window and watched as the lush scenery passed him by.
“Yuto…..please look at me….” Keito begged as his boyfriend turned, and those still cold eyes returned his gaze.
“I’m sorry…for whatever I did to hurt you…” Yuto apologized.
“Silly boy… you could never hurt me… I love you….” Keito smiled weakly as he hugged Yuto.
“I’m sorry…. Still…I feel… something… towards you…” Yuto continued, as a tear fell down his face.
“Yuto?”
“I don’t know why…..” He finished as he wiped the lone tear and wondered why he felt so sad.
That night, Yuto and Keito lay together upon Keito’s bed.
“Yuto….. is everything alright?”
“My side… hurts just a little….”
“Here, take off your shirt, let me see.” Keito looked at the bruises that had been treated and sighed as he applied a little pressure, causing the boy to wince.
“This one is going to be painful, but you’re just reacting to the medicine, you’ll be okay….”
“Thank you…I’m sorry to be a burden to you….” Yuto felt so distant as he laid down, not even bothering to put on his shirt.
“You could never be a bother to me….. how many times do I have to say it?” Keito repeated.
“That sounds familiar…..”
“Yes, do you remember?”
“I…. don’t know. “
“Yuto….. what did you remember today?”
“I remembered… Inoo-Chan’s name…. I remembered… being in a dark alley.. being in pain, but then… someone in white came and rescued me….. and I felt happy…but then I lost him….. and I remember crying…..” Yuto said, never once turning to look at Keito.
“Yuto…” The older boy sighed as he laid down in his pajamas, a simple pair of sleeping pants. He scooted over and put his arm around Yuto’s body. It was so painful to him, but so comforting at the same time. Yuto’s body felt so cold to him, but he missed him. Keito sighed as he felt Yuto’s skin against his own, the rough patches where cuts were healing. He just wanted to hold him, for however long he could. Until he fell asleep, Keito stared at the back of Yuto’s head, hoping that he would turn around and call his name, but it never came, and the two fell asleep together, Yuto in Keito’s embrace…….
In the morning, Yuto was ushered off into the private study while Keito was dragged out of his room by Daiki.
“How was the night?” Daiki asked
“He doesn’t remember me……” Keito sat down on the small couch
“It’ll take time…..”
“How much time……how much longer can I stand to be without him? Isn’t it strange…. Dai-Chan… I spent my life, going along with everything, I went along with everyone around me, so that I wouldn’t have my heart hurt when things don’t go my way, I’ve never cried for anyone…. Except for him.”
“Oh Keito…..”
“I finally found him… I finally found Yuto, but the way he is now…. He’s still so distant. Even though I found him, he’s still miles away, even when he’s in my arms.”
“Keito….. you can’t rush things….”
“He wont even look at me!” Keito began to tear up again, something he had taken to doing lately.
“It’ll take time….. but Inoo said that progress is fairly quick….” Daiki felt at a lost for words to console his friend.
“Im so sorry this had to happen to you…” Daiki stood up and walked out of the room as Yabu and Hikaru walked in. He nodded to them and walked out to the hall. He turned to watch the door to the room close and picked up the telephone……..
(>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<)
“Yuto…. Do you remember everything now?”
“I think…..”
“Do you remember everyone?”
“No… I still don’t know that boy…. The one who was with me last night.. I aughhh..” Yuto shook as pain shook his body.
“Yuto focus! Focus on my voice, my hand, it’s not real! Do you remember Keito?!” Inoo sounded desperate as he watched his friend writhe in pain until finally, he collapsed, unconscious on the couch.
“Yuto!” Inoo jumped up and tended to him.
“The pain from that memory was too much for him to handle….” Daiki said as he walked in, there were two other men behind him.
“Dai-Chan?”
“You…. Tell us how to undo this….” He said to someone over his shoulder, as the two men moved, Inoo noticed a third man, significantly smaller between them. As the man raised his head, Inoo gasped in surprise.
“Ha..kubi…..” Except now he was different, his face was sunken in, and his eyes tired. He looked as if he had been tortured himself.
“Wait… Dai-Chan come here…” Inoo pushed Daiki into a small adjoining room.
“What is it Kei?”
“Dai-Chan, what did you do to him?!”
“Nothing… I left him in the hands of my father…he does look a little worse for wear doesn't he?” Daiki looked over into the room.
“Daiki, that’s inhumane!”
“Is what he did to Yuto humane at all?”
“Well… no….”
“Listen, Kei-chan, I know that your heart is pure, but sometimes, this happens in our world, trust me…. I will promise to treat him better when he is under my care, but that’s not what we should focus on is it? I brought him here, to see if he could break whatever hold it is that he has on Yuto.” Daiki sighed
“O…Ohkay.” Inoo nodded as he turned and walked back into the room.
“You, had better fix this…. or I promise… you’ll be going back under my father’s watch.” Daiki said as they entered the room.
For the next few minutes, the two watched as the now old and fragile looking Hakubi talked with Yuto.
“Remember…. I command it!” Hakubi squeaked
“It hurts…”
“No, it doesn't, now remember! Remember everything!” Hakubi’s voice grew louder.
“I don’t want to anymore! It hurts!” Yuto cried as he clutched his head between his hands and shook as his head throbbed in pain.
“Remember!” Hakubi’s voice peaked as it echoed through Okamoto Manor. He was getting frustrated, his own life on the line. Frustration got the better of him and he raised his hand unconsciously and struck down the boy, or so he thought.
“Keito….” Daiki’s eyes widened, the boy that Hakubi hit, hadn’t been Yuto, but Keito had appeared. Keito landed on the floor, hitting his jaw against the wall, cutting his lip a little.
“Don’t hit… Yuto….” Keito panted.
“Ahhhh!” Yuto screamed in the middle of room as he looked at Keito laying on the ground. The pain grew beyond his control as he struggled between remembering at withstanding the pain. All that Hakubi had done to him came back, he remembered being beaten as he clung onto the memory of Keito, he remembered being burned, being shocked, all as he held on tightly to Keito’s image. He remembered everything, until his mind went blank and suddenly, his world was his own again.
“K-Keito…” Yuto uttered the name softly as his tired body found its way across the cold white marbled floor.
“Keito…” He repeated as he crawled to his boyfriend.
“Yuto…..?” Keito’s eyes widened with hope as the boy approached and held him.
“Keito… you’re hurt….” Yuto cried as he held his boyfriend in his arms.
“Do you remember me? Do you remember me now Yuto?”
“Silly boy…. I could never forget you….” Yuto smiled as he leaned in and kissed Keito, soothing away the pain from the cut.
There, Keito saw it, the warm brown eyes that he had come to love, had returned. He smiled happily to himself as he pulled Yuto into his embrace and held on tightly
“Oh Yuto… don’t you ever leave me again…..”
“I promised did I? I promise I wont….” Yuto smiled as he nestled himself in Keito’s arms and closed his eyes, a smile forming on his face.
“Guys! What’s going on!?” The other boys ran into the room, but stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Keito and Yuto holding each other.
“Does this mean….?” The asked as Inoo nodded.
“Yuto!” They all chimed together as Yuto turned to look at them and smiled.
“Hello minna…… Tadaima… I'm home…..” He said as they all laughed.
Yuto turned to Keito and smiled broadly at him
“Tadaima… I’m home….Keito”
“Okaeri…. Welcome home…..Yuto”
The pair hugged and kissed once more before they stood up and walked out to Keito’s bedroom, for now…. They just wanted to be together.
(>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<) (>'_')><('_'<)
Uwa…. Minna, this chapter is short too! But I think this series is coming to an end =( stay tuned for the final chapter!
Again, comments are appreciated!
~Emmie