Post by Hayate on Jan 26, 2009 20:35:36 GMT -5
Shades of Grey
[/b][/i][/center]Chapter 3[/u]
Saitama Hospital.
Two hours after the blonde Kazuhiko girl’s contact with the automobile in the city streets earlier that evening.
The heavy rainfall had come to an end a short while ago.
Kyoko lay lifeless in her hospital bed. Glaring white lights shine down upon her, and an EKG monitors her heart activity just several feet away. Kyoko’s face had about it a rather calmed expression, almost oblivious to the shock she had suffered that day.
Outside the room, Kazuto and Shiro speak with the nurse on staff that had admitted the blonde girl into the hospital. The first to speak up, Kazuto asks, “…How’s Kyoko doing, Kubo-san?”
Cradling a clipboard in her right arm, the nurse answers, “She’s suffered quite a bit of physical trauma -- bruises, bone fractures, some internal bleeding. It’s nothing a few nights here won’t fix. …B-But…”
“‘But’? ‘But’ what?”
“…I’m afraid the trauma she’s suffered to the head has caused her to slip into a comatose state.”
The nurse’s words had struck Kazuto and Shiro like a bombshell. “S-She’s in a coma…!? For how long…!?”
“I don’t have a sure answer for that. …I’m sorry.”
“…” Kazuto felt like crap. Kyoko wouldn’t have gotten into the accident if he and Shiro hadn’t argued, he thought. But now that it did happen, all Kazuto wanted was to be by Kyoko’s side for when she awakened. “…Is it okay if we…?”
A kind smile appears on the nurse’s face. “Of course.”, says she to Kazuto’s incomplete question, stepping to the side and granting them entry.
The auburn-haired boy steps forward to enter the room… “…Huh?” …but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shiro making his way towards the exit. “Shiro? Where you goin’?”
Not bothering to turn and face Kazuto, or even slow down, Shiro continues his hastened stride out the hospital doors.
“Shiro!”, calls out Kazuto, chasing his friend outside. “The hell’s the matter with you!? You’re not even gonna go in and see her!?”
“I can’t do it, Kazu. I see Kyoko in that bed, I’m gonna freakin’ lose it. Besides, it’s my fault she’s in there to begin with.”
“Don’t say that, Shiro. We’re both to blame here. We acted like idiots, and because of it, Kyoko…”
“…”
“…You should consider yourself lucky, Shiro.”
“Yeah? How do you figure?”
“You got a girl like Kyoko, and when she wakes up, she’s still gonna be yours. I’m not gonna lie to ya, man; I’m kinda jealous. Ever since you and Kyoko hooked up, I’ve felt like a freakin’ third wheel.”
“…Tch. Yeah, well…you don’t gotta worry about that no more. After what I did to her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she never spoke to me again. That’s why I can’t look at her in that bed, Kazu. All I’m gonna see is how much I screwed things up.”
“…Well, fine then. I finally realize how much Kyoko means to me, and after today, I ain’t ever leavin’ her side again. But I guess she don’t mean much to you at all if you’re just bailin’ on her like this. You wanna go? Go. I ain’t stoppin’ ya.”
Having said his part, Kazuto returns inside the hospital. Shiro simply stands there outside the hospital doors. As he tightly clenches his hands into fists, he grits his teeth…and a single tear trickles from his unseen eye. “…Shit!” Jumping forward, the white-haired boy breaks into a swift dash. Where he was going was unclear, but he simply wished to get as far away from the hospital as possible.
~*~*~*~
Seconds turn to minutes.
And minutes turn to hours.
At Kyoko’s bedside, Kazuto sits sloppily in a small chair, snoring softly in his slumber. In his wait for the blonde to awaken, he had apparently nodded off.
“…Hello?”, whispers a nearby voice. “Kazuto-san?” Standing above the slumbering teen, the nurse from earlier grasps his shoulders and gently shakes him awake. “Visiting hours are over, Kazuto-san.”, says the nurse.
“…H-Huh? Oh. Sorry.” Unsteadily rising from his seat, Kazuto takes one last look at Kyoko’s peaceful expression. “I’ll be back tomorrow, okay, Kyoko?”, says the boy, not knowing whether or not his message would reach the girl’s ears.
The nurse watches sympathetically as Kazuto exits the room. Gazing down at Kyoko’s face herself, she dons a somewhat sorrowful look. “…Wake up soon, ‘kay…?”, whispers the nurse somberly.
~*~*~*~
Monday, April 27, 2037.
It had now been five days since Kyoko had been admitted into the hospital; her condition remains unchanged. As he had resolved to do, Kazuto visited her everyday after school. The nurses on staff had eventually come to the (ironic) conclusion that he was Kyoko’s boyfriend and/or lover.
Meanwhile, Kazuto and Shiro continued to avoid one another, each unable to even look the other in the eye because of conflicting opinions over the Kyoko situation.
On this sunny Monday afternoon, Shiro sits motionlessly in his algebra class seat, his left hand propping his chin up and his right hand gripping a CD case. Just before Kazuto and Shiro had ceased communicating, Kazuto had presented this CD -- the new Ali Project single -- to Shiro as a birthday present. The lad of platinum hair hadn’t brought himself to listening to it yet, but oddly enough he carried it with him wherever he went. “…”
“…Shiro?”, the teacher suddenly calls out from across the classroom.
“…”
“…Shiro!”
“Oh! Y-Yes, sensei?”
“Problem 17, please.”
“Oh. Right. Um… 5X over 17.”
“Good. Now for problem 18…”
Lowering back into his seat, Shiro’s gaze once again rests upon the CD case on his desk. “…” Parting his lips to sigh, he drops the still-wrapped-in-plastic CD case into his school bag. It was evident the boy was plagued by shame even now.
~*~*~*~
Some time after last bell at Fujimino High, Kazuto enters the hospital through its front doors, greeted by several nurses as he arrived. The boy was surprised to learn that Shiro had yet to visit Kyoko. If he truly cared about her, he’d have stopped in by now, thought Kazuto. Strolling down the familiar corridors, he makes his way towards Kyoko’s room. The path to and from the room had become second nature to him at this point.
“…Hmm?” Then, just a few feet away, Kazuto notices Kyoko’s room door creak open. Perhaps it was just a nurse. Or perhaps it was Shiro, Kazuto hoped. It wasn’t a nurse, but to Kazuto’s surprise he wasn’t Kyoko’s only visitor that day.
A short, cute girl with whitish-blond hair is seen exiting the room. Turning Kazuto’s way, she sees the brown-haired boy approaching. “Oh! Bonjour, Kazu-kun!”, she greets with a smile.
It took Kazuto a couple of moments to process the girl’s face through his memory. “Oh, hey. You’re that Kircheis girl from history class. …Uh…”
“LeBlanc!”
“Right, sorry. So whatcha doin’ here?”
“As soon as I found out what happened to Kyoko, I just had to come and see her. It’s just awful what happened, isn’t it?”
“…Yeah…”
“It sucks having to see one of your best friends in a hospital bed. I sure hope she wakes up soon.”
“…Yeah. Me too.” It was much, but it comforted Kazuto a little to know that he wasn’t the only one who cared about Kyoko’s well-being.
“…!!!” Just then, LeBlanc’s expression turns from one of kindness to one of fear.
“Hmm? What’s up, LeBlanc?”
“Oh, crap! He’s here!” Saying nothing else, LeBlanc jumps into hiding behind a nearby potted plant.
The girl’s strange behavior perplexed Kazuto a great deal. “O…kay…”
At that moment, another visitor’s voice calls out several feet from Kazuto’s rear. “Hey! Kazu-kun!”
Turning back to face this new visitor, Kazuto makes eye contact with yet another familiar face -- one belonging to a teenager with light-silver hair and a mellow disposition. “Oh. Nagisa-senpai.”
The boy approaching Kazuto was one of Fujimino High’s top students, Kaworu Nagisa. “Hey there, Kazu-kun. What’s shakin’?”
“Oh…you know, just…visiting a friend.”
“Well, isn’t that a coincidence? So am I.”
“…Let me guess: Kyoko?”
“As a matter of fact, yes! Aren’t you sharp as a tack? Hehehe.”
“…” Kazuto could feel his stomach turn. He never much cared for the manner in which Kaworu addressed others. The brown-haired boy felt like he was being talked down to.
“Well, I should probably go see Kyoko and be on my way, or else I’ll be late for my viola lesson. See ya at school tomorrow, Kazu-kun.” Walking past Kazuto, Kaworu approaches and opens the door. And just before walking inside the room, he calls out, “Oh, and next time, LeBlanc, I’d choose a better hiding place than a hospital plant.”
“!!!” Foiled yet again, LeBlanc falls over onto the floor noisily, her face flushed with various shades of red and pink.
~*~*~*~
“Morning!”
Tuesday, April 28, 2037.
The nurse’s cheery voice bounces off the walls of Kyoko’s hospital room as she enters, unfazed by the fact that Kyoko was still unconscious. As she wheels in a cart of assorted supplies, the nurse walks over to the windows and grasps the closed curtains. “Let’s get some sunlight in here, eh?”, says the jolly nurse as she pulls the two ends of the curtain apart, letting the rays shine in. “There we go! Much better!”
Turning around, the nurse’s eyes rest upon Kyoko’s calm face, bringing a half-grin to her own. Reaching out her hand, she gently straightens the slumbering blonde’s soft hair.
Just then… “…Mmm…”
“!!!” …the nurse’s eyes go wide with shock when Kyoko’s cool green eyes look back at her.
“…W-Where…?”
“S-She’s awake! She’s awake!”, exclaims the nurse in both surprise and excitement. Pressing her index finger on a nearby intercom, she spouts, “Hello, front desk!? Get in touch with Mr. and Mrs. Kazuhiko! Tell ‘em their daughter’s come out of her coma!”
~*~*~*~
His feet carrying him in through the hospital doors yet again, Kazuto bolts for Kyoko’s room. Once news of Kyoko’s awakening reached his ears, he dropped everything without hesitation and headed straight to the hospital. Dashing down the corridors at full speed, Kazuto’s mad sprint leads him to Kyoko’s room. The door was open wide, and there, in her bed, Kyoko could be seen sitting upright. “Kyoko…!”, the boy shouts upon arriving.
Having been gazing out the window that whole time, the blonde draped in greenish-white finally turns her head and comes face-to-face with the breathless lad. “…Kazuto…”, she says in a light whisper.
“…How are you? You feelin’ okay…?”, asks Kazuto, now seated in a chair at Kyoko’s bedside.
“Mm-hmm. Never better. I had a great sleep.”
“…Man… You have no freakin’ idea how worried I was. I thought you bit it for a while there.”
“Well, that’s the beauty of death: either you die or you don’t. Heh.”
“…Don’t do that, Kyoko…”
“Too soon? Sorry.” Interlocking her fingers, Kyoko’s gaze diverts downward. Tinges of pink cloud her cheeks. “That nurse from before… She told me about how you visited me every day while I was sleeping… You…didn’t have to do that…”
“Heh. Why not? You mean a lot to me, Kyoko… A whole lot…”
“Seven points. A little corny, but not bad for your first try.”, teases the girl with a wink.
“Hehehe…”
“…Oh! That reminds me! Where’s Shiro? I never got to tell him ‘happy birthday’.”
“…” Kazuto’s forced to look away from Kyoko at this point, almost ashamed of the fact he and Shiro had been avoiding each other since the accident.
“…Kazu… I know you probably hate Shiro’s guts right now, but…please don’t be mad at him…”
“…Why shouldn’t I? …He forced you to do something you didn’t want to do, Kyoko… Am I supposed to just forget it ever happened…?”
“I’m not saying that… But, y’know, it’s partly my fault too…”
“What? No, it’s not.”
“If I hadn’t made him wait… If I hadn’t led him on for so long…”
“…”
“…Please, Kazu… I just want things to go back to normal…”
“…” Easier said than done, thought Kazuto. He would’ve liked nothing more than to go on hating Shiro. Still, this was a heartfelt request from Kyoko. Did Kazuto have it in him to say no? “…Fine.”
“Heh. You’re too easy. …Thanks, Kazu.”
~*~*~*~
“Hey, Shiro!!!”
A short time later that afternoon, Kazuto stands on the front porch of Shiro’s house, pounding away on the door in an attempt to get the attention of anyone inside. “Shiro, open the door!”, Kazuto calls out. No reply. As the boy would discover, forgiving Shiro was easy; locating him was another matter entirely. “Dammit! No one’s home! …Alright, Kazu, think… If I were Shiro, where would I go if I were feeling like shit…?” Pocketing his hands and closing his eyes, Kazuto takes a moment to put himself in Shiro’s mindset. “…Got it!” Swiftly turning around, Kazuto’s feet carry him in the direction of…
…Chuo Park.
At the middle of the park lined with cherry blossom trees, Shiro is seen leaning against one such tree, blankly staring upward at the sakura petals. The bags underneath his eyes were a definite sign that he hadn’t been getting much sleep. The guilt brought on by his ‘sins’ had consumed him.
“Shiro!”
“…” Glancing to his left, the shamefaced teen with hair of white and eyes of ruby sees Kazuto standing a few feet away. “…What do you want?”, asks Shiro monotonously.
“C’mon. Let’s go to the hospital, man. Kyoko’s awake, and she wants to see her.
“She wants to see me? Heh. That’s funny. I doubt Kyoko’ll even look me in the eye after what I--”
“Dammit, man, would you give the freakin’ guilt trip a rest!? She really does want to see you. So…hell, just go already.”
“…Tch. Yeah, right. Nice try.”
“Grrrr…” His feet carrying him forward once again, Kazuto stomps over and grabs Shiro by his shirt collar. “What the hell’s wrong with you!? You’re really startin’ to piss me off, Shiro! Kyoko wants to see you, and I know you wanna see her too! I’ll drag you all the way to the hospital myself if I have to!”
“…I screwed everything up, Kazu… It’s too late to fix it…”
“Tch! Dammit, Shiro…get…a…GRIP!!!” Synchronized with Kazuto’s utterance of the word ‘grip’, a forceful sound echoes through the park. Kazuto’s fist had connected with Shiro’s face a second time.
Fallen onto the flower-petal-coated ground, Shiro holds a hand to his reddened cheek while looking up at Kazuto apprehensively. “…”
“Saying that you screwed things up… That everything’s your fault… That’s all a load of bullshit, Shiro! Quit tryin’ to take all the blame on yourself! I’m your friend, so…can’t you trust me to take on some of the burden too…?”
“…Kazu…”
“C’mon.”, repeats Kazuto, extending a helpful hand to his white-haired friend. “Kyoko’s waiting.”
~*~*~*~
Shortly after the two return to the hospital, Shiro walks into Kyoko’s room while Kazuto waited outside. As Shiro and Kyoko stare at each other, the first thing Shiro had noticed was Kyoko’s hair. It had been shortened to shoulder length. “…Kyoko…”
“…H-Hey, Shiro.”
“…What…happened to your…?”
“…Oh. This? Heh. It was the nurse’s idea. The accident completely ruined my hair, so she cut it for me. How do I look?”
“…Beautiful. But…you’d look beautiful in any hairstyle, Kyoko.”
“Hehehe. Eight points.”
Seating himself at Kyoko’s bedside, Shiro takes Kyoko’s hand into his own. “…Kyoko, I… I’m so sorry…for everything… I did something horrible… But what’s even more horrible…is that I did it to someone who means the world to me… I’m not gonna ask for your forgiveness… I don’t deserve it…”
“You got that right!”
“H-Huh?”
“I mean, I explicitly told you that I wasn’t ready, and through some way or another, we end up doin’ it anyway! Any other girl would’ve kicked your deadbeat ass to the curb in a heartbeat!”
“…”
“…But I’m not ‘any other girl’, am I…?”
“…?”
“I know you’re sorry for what you did, Shiro…and I’ll forgive you on one condition: …If you ever do it again…I’m gonna cut your balls off with a dull knife and toss ‘em in the river. Deal?”
Kyoko’s spine-chilling threat had certainly reached Shiro’s ears, but it didn’t incur the reaction she’d expected. Rather than break into a cold sweat, Shiro’s eyes begin to well up with tears. And there, by Kyoko’s side, Shiro breaks down into a hysterical weep. As Shiro’s tears dampen Kyoko’s wrist, she tenderly strokes his head. Indeed, forgiveness was a powerful thing.
~*~*~*~
One year later…
On this warm and sunny afternoon in June, Kazuto, Shiro, and Kyoko walk happily side by side through the streets of Fujimino’s neighboring city of Fujimi.
While Shiro and Kyoko were dressed in casual spring attire, Kazuto was clothed neck-to-toe in his kendo garments. Over the brown-haired boy’s shoulder was a red sash that read “Shodansha” in large gold lettering. The three friends had recently come from a Fujimi kendo competition where Kazuto had achieved the rank of “shodansha” (“first degree”).
Kyoko congratulates Kazuto’s rank promotion by giving him a big kiss on the cheek. “Hahaha! Oh, Kazu, I’m so proud of you! You were sooooo cool!”
“Heh, yeah. Now that you’re a shodansha, I gotta be sure not to get on your bad side.”, jokes Shiro with a laugh.
“Hehehe. Thanks, you guys.”
“Hey, guys…”, starts Shiro then. “…I almost forgot to ask -- you get acceptance letters from any colleges yet?”
“Yup! Kazu and I got into Saitama U!”, exclaims Kyoko, interlocking her arm with that of her new boyfriend. “What about you, Shiro?”
“…”
“C’mon, Shiro, tell us.”
“…Nagoya University.”
“WHAT?!? You got into Nagoya U!?”
“Yeah, man, how’d you pull that off? …You sleep with the dean of admissions or something…?”
“Hey!”
“Hahaha! Just playin’ ya, man!”
Then, upon making a rather shocking realization, Kyoko dons a somewhat dejected look. “But wait… Nagoya U’s all the way down in Aichi… You’re goin’ away, Shiro…?”
“Oh, don’t make a face like that, Kyoko. This is a big opportunity for me, and I’d be an idiot not to take advantage of it.”
“…Well said, whitey.”
Glancing down at his wristwatch, Shiro takes note of the time. “Aw, crap! It’s almost 3! I gotta get goin’, guys, or Serena’s gonna kick my ass!”
“Shiro, you’re the only guy I know who’s afraid of his own sister.”
“Like you’re one to talk, Kyoko! Remember what Serena did to you in eighth grade for calling her ugly?”
“…Don’t remind me…”
Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. In this case, the cat was Kazuto. “What? What’d she do?”
“Trust me, you don’t wanna know…”
“I’ll catch ya guys later, ‘kay? Let’s meet up in The World later! ” Bidding farewell to his friends, Shiro makes for the train station.
“C’mon, Kyoko, tell me! What’d Serena do to you back then?”
“Hmm… Okay, I’ll tell you…but you’ll have to catch me first!”
“H-Hey! Kyoko, get back here!”
“Hahahaha!”
~*~*~*~
“Indeed, that murky area which flickers its shades of grey ever dimly, that elusive border line which relentlessly escapes our sight. But pray, a chosen few of us -- the privileged -- may perhaps be offered a passing glance.”[/font][/size][/color]
