Chapter 3: Yasumichuu bondo

Disclaimer: My last one for this story. Yeah, so it was only 3 chapters long.. heh heh. Anyways, I don't own Fruits Basket (that's Natsuki Takaya's piece of work). I do own the plot though. Nothing else. Nope, nothing… (faint pounding on door with a certain gray-haired, violet eyed male's voice yelling for help.) Nothing I've got is interesting, I assure you.

The first few paragraphs talk about what a few people were thinking while the doctor was looking at the papers, just to let you know. And it's regular POV, no "I's" or "Me's" in this one.

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Akito stared at the doctor with glaring eyes while sarcastically thinking, 'Taking his precious time looking over the papers, just like his little friend at the front desk.' It was an easy job to do, but Akito was impatient and wanted to hear about Yuki's condition a lot sooner then the pace the doctor was going.

'After all, he is my pet. I won't let him leave me so easily.'

All while Akito was thinking his harsh thoughts, Tohru had gotten up from her seat and was staring at the doctor with hope in her eyes. The wait seemed to last forever and now was the time where they all find out about his condition. 'Please let him be alright. I don't think I'd be able to go on if he were to... to die. Let everything be fine.' Tohru thought that over again and again, hoping for it to be answered. She was too busy in her thoughts to notice the amount of shaking she was doing. Momiji was the one to bring her back to reality, gently hugging her arm for comfort.

None of this, however, was as bad as what was going through Ayame's mind. He was unaware of how cold his body had gotten from the rain that had flooded him earlier. It wasn't too bad for him to transform, however, and he took a few steps inside. His eyes were still as wide as they could be, and a tint of red could be seen forming in them. The thoughts in his mind were racing, thinking about the possibility of what could have happened to Yuki. 'What if he d-dies? And I wasn't able to fix our relationship. I want him to know that I'm truly sorry about what I did, or didn't do, in the past. '

The doctor finally looked up and quickly looked around the room at every Sohma, and Tohru, before focusing his stare at Hatori.

"Well? Is he alright?" Hatori himself was starting to get impatient with the doctor for reading the papers so slow. They have been waiting in the same stale room for hours, not getting one bit of information about Yuki. Now that the doctor finally came out, taking his time on giving them an update, Hatori was just about to rip the clipboard from his hands so he could read it himself, in a much faster pace.

"Yes, he's fine," the doctor said, and everyone, who was anxiously waiting for an answer, sighed in relief. The horrible thoughts in Ayame's head slowly disappeared, but some of the feelings remained, as they still didn't know what kind of condition he was in. Though, the doctor started to continue on to exactly that. "When he was hit, he lost a lot of blood from a rather large cut on the back of his head. We were able to stitch that up. He also has a few bruises and scratches, and a slight concussion, but he should be fine otherwise."

Now that Ayame knew Yuki would be alright, his worries soon evaporated. Sure, he didn't like the fact that his younger brother went through the surgery and that he even got pretty hurt, but at least he was still alive.

"He's a bit drowsy from surgery, though you may see him now. He's in room 203," the doctor said, pointing down the hall where Yuki's room was, "but only one person at a time." As the doctor left, everyone in the room turned to Ayame.

"Go on, Aaya," Shigure said, giving him a small smile. Now that they all knew what kind of condition Yuki was in, a huge weight seemed to have been lifted from his shoulders. "You are his brother, after all." There were no objections to this arrangement, since Akito had quietly left the room after Yuki's current state was announced. It was quite unusual for him, since they were all so sure that he'd want to be the one to see Yuki first. However, it couldn't be more of a relief to Ayame, considering he knew that the first person his brother wanted to see wouldn't be Akito. Though Ayame was sure he'd be next in the line.

With a small nod, Ayame headed down the hall where the doctor had pointed to. His stomach was a bit uneasy, being as he was about to see his brother soon. It just wasn't something he was used to, visiting the hospital because someone dear to you had been hurt. What was he going to say, to do? Surely he couldn't act his usual way, since Yuki would more than likely become even more stressed out. Though, Ayame's serious side wasn't much better, since he never used it in front of anyone other than Hatori, Shigure, and Mine. On his way down the hallway, he passed a group of gossiping nurses, who were whispering so quietly that all Ayame heard was a murmur. This scene reminded him of another memory he wished to forget…

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A crowd of maids and servants were standing in front of a tightly closed door. The only thing from inside that showed it was in use was the tiny light that seeped through the only crack in the door. Ayame quietly walked down the hallway, hoping to hear what was going on, since whatever it was had been happening for an hour already. The crowd wasn't too shy about keeping quiet, but they were enough so that it would surely not be heard from the other side of the door.

"Yes, another asthma attack," a maid said with a nod. "I saw the doctor go in there with my very own eyes. He looked hurried, even panicked."

"Then the boy, Yuki was it? Yes, that's it. Well, he must have had a bad one," a servant whispered. Ayame's ears perked up upon hearing his brother's name. It made sense that it was him. The only thing he knew about Yuki was that he had a breathing problem. "It almost seems as he's getting worse than better, as they said he would, well should be."

They all quieted, and Ayame moved closer to see why. A faint gasping of air could be heard from the closed door, and another voice instructing the other to 'catch his breathe'.

"He does seem worse, doesn't he?" the first maid asked, shaking her head sadly. "What a shame. He's such a little boy to go through this. Going on every day so carefully that he couldn't get an attack. And being cooped inside isn't much of a help, either. Like a total isolation from the world."

Ayame had enough of the talk at this point, which he started to find boring, and continued his way down the hall, passing the crowd of gossipers. The last thing he heard from them made his stomach lurch…

"Isn't that the boy's brother?" someone asked to another quietly. They didn't know that Ayame could hear their every word, and he pretended like he couldn't.

"Yes, that is," another replied sadly. "I'm not sure he knows what's happening."

"Don't need to, does he?" a gruff voice of a man came this time. "Even if he did, he just wouldn't care." Ayame continued his walk down the hall, slightly faster so he couldn't hear the crowd anymore. He couldn't exactly pin point as to why it hurt him to hear the man say that about him. For a second, Ayame pondered if it was because he was starting to care for his brother…

"No. It's not that. He means nothing to me. Nothing."

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Ayame almost stopped his walking at this point, thinking about what he had said. It was so harsh to know that those words came from his very mouth. He didn't mean it, especially so for the last few years. The man was right though, at that time he wouldn't have cared; he didn't. More than anything did Ayame want to slap himself for being so cruel to Yuki when they were younger. He didn't want such memories to exist inside his mind anymore. After closing his eyes for a few seconds, he opened them to look at the room numbers.

200… 201… 202… 203

With a deep breath, Ayame slowly and quietly opened the door to Yuki's room. The first thing he saw was a monitor by Yuki's bed, watching over certain things about how Yuki's health was doing. He didn't know much about those things, except the beeping sound that he was currently hearing. All Ayame knew about it was that the beeps were a good sign. The next thing he saw made him hold his breath for a slight second. Yuki was half-awake in the hospital bed, looking forward at the wall with drooping eyes. His head was bandaged and Ayame could see a few scratches on Yuki's face; some small, some big, and one that was a bit deep. A bruise was starting to form on his chin, though it was hardly noticeable.

Snapping out of his observations of his poor brother, Ayame entered the room fully, now making his appearance known to Yuki. He looked over at the snake, who gave him a wide smile.

"Hello, Yuki!" Ayame said, though not as loudly and bubbly as he usually would have. For the sake of his brother, he was going to try and be less annoying. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

Yuki shook his head slowly, almost surprised at how calm Ayame was acting. Though, he had to admit that he didn't miss the loud Ayame too much, at least not now.

"Are you sure?" Ayame asked, slightly worried, but started to calm a bit when Yuki nodded.

"I'm fine. Thanks," Yuki replied in a muffled voice. Ayame gave a smile, glad to hear Yuki say something. "Why are you here?" Ayame blinked at the words with a bit of a blank expression. They weren't said harshly at all; he said them quite calmly. It's the content of them that made him feel a familiar uneasiness in the stomach.

"I came to see you, of course!" Ayame replied, trying to keep his voice steady. Yuki's eyes slightly widened, since his brother was unable to keep the calm in his voice.

"That's not what I meant," he said quietly, quickly shaking his head. "I mean, well… I don't know." What Ayame didn't know was that Yuki was thinking about the memory his older brother had in his head minutes ago. It just seemed to briefly surprise Yuki that Ayame was there, as he, for only a few seconds, thought that he was still the little sick boy years ago. Now, though… now Ayame was here, and Yuki couldn't help but feel very grateful. "Thank you for coming. I'm sorry I questioned why you came."

"No, no, I'm the one who should be sorry," Ayame said, just as quietly as Yuki had. "I don't doubt that you wondered why I came. Years ago… I might not have." He shook his head, trying to get the feeling of sorrow out so that he could talk straightly. "But that's old. It was stupid of me to act that way. What kind of brother had that made me? Horrible, I'm sure."

"Nii-san.." Yuki started, but Ayame continued nonetheless.

"I know I've said this a few times, but I still want you to know that I should have been there for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't. If I could take that back, I would. I would've become a better brother to you back then, instead of completely ignoring you. But I promise you this: I will be a better brother from now on. If you need anything, you know you can come to me. I won't push you away or ignore you. I'll help you in any way I can, because I want to. And I won't be a horrible person like I was years ago."

Ayame let out a breath as he finished his speech. He wasn't sure how all those things came out of his mouth like that, since he wasn't usually a serious person. However, he was glad to finally get those things off of his chest.

"Nii-san," Yuki started again, now with a small smile on his face. "You aren't a horrible person. Or brother. I know I've been harsh to you for a while, but I really do appreciate that you're trying to fix things. And, you are a good brother now. You're trying hard to close this gap, and even if it is going a little slowly, it's still going. I should have been thanking you instead of being annoyed with you. So… thank you."

Ayame's mouth was hanging slightly opened as Yuki said those words. He didn't believe that he thought he was a good brother, but there the words are. Yuki did think he was a good brother, now at least. A wide smile formed on Ayame's face, and he lost his calm demeanor and gave Yuki his usual hug.

"Nii-san, you're crushing my already sore bones!" Yuki's muffled voice said, and Ayame quickly pulled away.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot," he said, still smiling. He looked at his watch and slowly got up. "I'm sure that Tohru-kun will want to see you now, hm?" Yuki gave a small blush at the mention of Tohru, and at Ayame's suggestive voice. "I'll be back to visit very soon! Get better, little brother!Adieu!" With his usual wave, Ayame opened the door of the room and walked out. On a chair across from the room was Tohru, patiently waiting to go in after Ayame. When she heard the door open, she looked up at the silver haired man, who gave her a smile that indicated that she could go in now. With a nod, Tohru got up and headed inside. The door of the room was left slightly opened and Ayame couldn't help but briefly listen in on the conversation, as he was quite curious.

"Are you alright, Yuki-kun?" Tohru asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm alright," Yuki said warmly, and Ayame could just see the smile on his younger brother's face. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Oh, don't be! I'm just glad you're alright," Tohru said in slight panic. Her voice then became quiet as she continued. "You scared me, though. The nurse wouldn't say what kind of condition you were in, so we couldn't help but think the worst."

"I'm sorry," Yuki said sadly. "I'm fine now, so you don't have to think about anything bad anymore." The room then went quiet, and Ayame took this time to leave them alone. As he walked down the hall, Ayame couldn't help but smile. 'He's going to be alright.'

However, as Ayame entered the main waiting room, where the rest of the Sohma's were, he spotted Akito, who had seemed to suddenly reappear, talking angrily to Hatori. The doctor looked as though he was trying to calm him down, but it wasn't doing much good. As Ayame got closer, he started to hear the conversation.

"I don't care if anyone's in there now. I'm going to see him," Akito said angrily, finally walking by Hatori. He walked towards Ayame, who was standing in the entrance of the hallway. At the last minute, the snake stepped in front of the Head and all the Sohma's eyes were on him for his courageous move.

"I don't think you should see him" Ayame said to Akito, his golden eyes now flaming. In no way was he going to let Akito see Yuki, at least not today. That's the last thing his brother needed.

"You have no right to tell me what I should or should not do," Akito sneered, trying to get past Ayame. However, the snake bravely stood directly in front of the Head of the family once more. No words were said from Ayame, seeing as his actions spoke louder than any words he could say. For a split second, it looked as if Akito would lash out at him, but to Ayame's surprise, as well as the other Sohma's, he kept quite still. His eyes burned at the snake, as if telling him he was lucky there were so many people around.

"I'm not going to do anything, snake," Akito said harshly with a brutal glare. "I don't have the time or energy to do so. But you can't make it so that I will never see him; that's impossible." With one last huff of breath, Akito turned around and angrily left the room. Ayame knew that he couldn't stop the Head from ever seeing Yuki, but he could at least postpone it. Shigure, and even Hatori, looked at Ayame with wide-eyes before giving him the widest smiles he'd ever seen them give. Shigure and Ayame made eye contact and gave their traditional thumbs-up in triumph. Still smiling, Ayame looked down the hallway to where Yuki's room was at, and gave a quick nod.

Now he felt like a worthy brother.

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fin

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Author's Note: Boy, do I like writing about Yuki being hurt or what? At least he lives, though .. The title names are in Japanese; forgot to mention that in the previous chapter XD. And I'll bet you anything that they're incorrect, because I don't know much Japanese. I tried to, but I gave up on the first page of the book I had. Anyways, Chapter 1 means: Accident/Emergency. Chapter 2 means: Pushed Away. And this chapter means: Closed Bond. And if anything about what was going on with Yuki and his condition is wrong, I'm dreadfully sorry. I'm not a doctor, I'm not studying to be a doctor, and I don't want to be a doctor, therefore my knowledge lacks medical information. I tried my best.

Well, apparently I'm not allowed to separately note to each of you. Fanfiction put a rule against it, and I don't want another of my stories to be deleted again. But I will say, I thank you all for reviewing my story (and to those who just read)! I really appreciate it, and I'm glad you took time in reading this. I take each review to heart. Thank you all again, you're pretty much the reason why I write and update! Now, lets see if we can make it to 20 reviews, cause I like even numbers (I'm weird, yes)! See you in the next story!