Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars (anime)
Date Finished:
Classification: Romance, Humor, Angst
Pairing: Seiya/Yaten, references to past Fighter/Kakyuu, shades of Seiya/Usagi
Rating: NC-17

Give Unto Me
By Elsewhere
elsewherecw@shaw.ca

All other information in Part One.

Part Fifteen: Broken

Glossary:
ano baka - that idiot
baka - idiot
chi - damn
chikusho - damn
e? - huh?
eto - um
hai - yes; okay
hime - princess
konbanwa - good evening
moshi moshi - hello (on the phone)
ne - sort of like ‘eh’ or ‘hey’…a word used to emphasize a point or get someone’s attention
Odango - dumpling---Seiya’s affectionate nickname for Usagi
oi - hey
shounen - boy---in this case, it refers to a genre of anime usually aimed at teenage boys. Fighting anime like Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho are shounen anime.
tadaima - I’m home

*****
Lying beside you
Listening to you breathe
The light that flows inside of you
Burns inside of me
*****

Practice without Seiya seemed long and slow. Whatever Yaten’s current opinion of his mighty leader, a leader he was; Seiya truly did provide the glue that held the band together, keeping them on track and focused. He had enough adrenaline and drive to keep all of them going for as long as was needed to ‘polish’ enough to satisfy not only their audiences, but the three of them, who were more of perfectionists than probably anyone who listened to them.

Except her. It had to be perfect for her. Any risk that she might not hear it, or that it might not be to her satisfaction…

So they kept going, day after day, night after night, pushing themselves to every limit.

And to Yaten, it was still unacceptable that Seiya was willing to put that aside for something as unimportant as extracurricular school activities. School was just part of the disguise anyway. It didn’t mean anything. It *shouldn’t* mean anything.

He waited until they were taking a break before he let the feelings start to bubble around in his mind, finally releasing themselves in a single violent tug against the strings of his bass. The deep sound produced by his action resounded through the studio, and Taiki turned, grimacing slightly.

"Something on your mind?" Taiki questioned, without any particular inflection. "Or did you just feel the need to test my eardrums?"

"How long are we going to allow him to wander before we acknowledge that he’s gone too far?" Yaten wondered aloud, keeping his tone as casual as he could as he went on to play a few bars of the song they’d been working on, smoothing out the bass line, making sure his fingers knew it well.

"We all have our own ways of dealing with…stress," Taiki said, turning back to where he was adjusting some settings on his keyboard.

"I wish you weren’t so tolerant of him," Yaten muttered, frowning.

"This is none of my business," Taiki remarked, and Yaten again played a hard note that made Taiki bristle.

"How is it none of your business? His behavior affects all of us, and our mission…"

"Is that truly what you’re worried about? Or are you more upset about what’s happening between the two of you?" Taiki said bluntly, turning to fix his cool amethyst eyes on Yaten’s for no more than a few seconds before he turned back to his keyboard. "Your expression speaks remarkably well for itself, Yaten. And that’s none of my business, so I think the conversation should end here."

Yaten fell silent, and after a moment he dropped his head to rest against his forearm where he’d laid it along the length of the guitar.

"You can talk to me about it if you want…tell me your frustrations; I’ll lend a listening ear," Taiki said after another moment, with a quiet, almost reluctant sigh. "But I can’t *fix* it for you, Yaten. This is between you and Seiya, and that’s where it has to stay, all right?"

"Yeah," Yaten muttered from where he had buried his face. "I know, Taiki…thanks."

After that, Yaten threw himself into practice even more than he had earlier, putting all of his focus into the task at hand, and by the time they called it quits, they had certainly ‘polished’ the song. And if Yaten was truthful, he was totally confident that Seiya could catch up; Seiya had a knack for that.

But he was still frowning as he and Taiki headed for the car, ready to go home after a long day. For some reason the thought of facing Seiya still seemed difficult. Nothing really seemed settled in his mind. Would anything ever be settled…?

*****

"Tadaima," Yaten called lazily as he dragged himself through the front door and slipped off his jacket with a quiet sigh, rolling his shoulders and wincing at the loud cracks that came from his tired joints. He paused and lifted his head a moment later when no response came. He had half expected Seiya to come bounding over from wherever he had been in the house to brag about what had happened at his football practice, or to see what Taiki and Yaten had brought home for dinner, or maybe even to shuffle his feet and ask how the practice had gone.

Instead, the house was dead silent. The only movement was that of Shiruku as she came flitting down the stairs a moment later and sat in front of Yaten, swishing her tail impatiently back and forth until he finally got down and gathered her up into his arms.

He frowned as he scratched the kitten’s head. Could Seiya’s practice have run long and he just wasn’t home yet?

"Ne, Taiki…" Yaten said when Taiki finally came through the door a moment later, balancing several bags of Chinese food in his arms.

"Surely it wouldn’t be beyond your capabilities to carry *one bag*," Taiki said in a low, smooth voice that indicated mild annoyance, but Yaten ignored his complaint entirely.

"What time did Seiya say he’d be home from football practice?" Yaten asked, leaning casually against the kitchen counter to watch as Taiki fumbled around with the bags, eventually managing to put all of them down on the table without dropping anything.

"Since we stopped to pick up food, he should certainly be home by now," Taiki replied, lifting his head to glance at Yaten. "I take it he’s not here?"

"The house is empty except for Shiruku," Yaten answered, still frowning.

"Well, there appear to be messages," Taiki said, indicating the flashing red light on the answering machine. "Perhaps Seiya’s practice ran long."

For some reason, Yaten found himself tensing slightly as Taiki walked over to the phone. Suddenly, something didn’t feel right…he felt an odd queasiness in his stomach, and like all empaths did, he had learned long ago that it was best to trust his instincts. He quickly walked over to join Taiki by the telephone, hovering by Taiki’s shoulder as Taiki rewound the answering machine’s tape to the beginning of the day’s messages.

First were a couple of small matters from their agent, then a couple of the usual annoying calls from fans who had somehow managed to get their private number. After that, however, in a message that announced itself as being at "5:13pm":

"Moshi moshi…Taiki-san? This is Mizuno Ami."

"Taiki-san, Taiki-san…two other people live here, you know," Yaten grouched at the answering machine, mainly out of nervousness.

"Shh," Taiki said, holding up a finger to his lips as he listened to the message.

"…terribly sorry to have taken advantage of your private number again. However, you’ll probably be receiving a call from the school in the next few minutes, and I thought it might be better if I called you personally first. It’s about Seiya-kun…"

Yaten caught his breath, and he felt Taiki tense.

"He was injured during football practice, and may have sustained a concussion. Usagi-chan and I are staying with him at the moment, but the school will no doubt be calling to ask you to pick him up…"

"Ano baka," Yaten whispered, his face pale as he stared at the answering machine. After that, Ami’s words seemed to blur together to him; he didn’t hear the rest. He did manage to catch some of the message that came immediately after hers---from the school, just as she had predicated---informing them that their roommate had sustained an injury and that they, being listed as the ones to contact in case of emergency, should please report to the nurse’s office at the school as soon as possible.

"The school is closed by now, including the nurse’s office," Taiki murmured distractedly, a finger still at his lips, now tapping lightly against them.

Following the message from the school was another message.

"Moshi moshi, Taiki-san…this is Mizuno Ami again. The school had to close, so Usagi-chan and I offered to find Seiya-kun a way home, but the nurse was concerned about his condition and about our responsibility. Instead, Seiya-kun was taken to the hospital. Usagi-chan and I are going to see him there."

Yaten finally had to drag a chair over and sit down for fear of his knees collapsing from under him. Taiki quickly grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the hospital name and room number Ami listed. She was helpful enough to give the numbers twice before she reassured them that she and Usagi would remain by Seiya’s side until his roommates came to pick him up.

"Hospital…that fool…what has he done?" Yaten whispered, eyes wide as he ran a hand through his bangs, making them stick up unnaturally. Yaten’s eyes lifted, seeking out Taiki’s. "Concussion…she said concussion…that can be serious! What if…"

"Yaten," Taiki said with his usual infuriating patience, walking over and placing a gentle hand on Yaten’s shoulder. He smiled reassuringly. "Don’t panic. He’ll be fine. We just have to go get him. Come on…get your jacket."

Yaten nodded, swallowing and trying to be as calm as Taiki seemed, but he could feel his entire body shaking as he got up, put Shiruku down, and pulled on his jacket. When they got into the car, he watched as Taiki had to stop for a moment with the keys poised over the ignition, his eyes closed as he took a couple of deep breaths.

"Taiki…?"

"Fine…I’m fine," Taiki murmured, opening his eyes and shaking his head slightly before he started the car and turned to back carefully out of the driveway.

Yaten had never had cause to go to an Earth hospital, and as he and Taiki swiftly walked the corridors in search of the room number they’d been given, he found himself growing cold. There was a stench in this place that he definitely didn’t like…a chill smell of suffering and death. They passed wards labeled things like ‘cancer’, ‘intensive care’, and ‘heart’, and with every one the sick feeling in the pit of Yaten’s stomach grew worse as the throbbing in his head grew louder. So many voices pounding to get in, so many voices crying out in pain…and the *smell*…

"Yaten."

Yaten’s head snapped up, his breath coming in a sharp gasp as he felt Taiki suddenly grasp his arm. There…that was familiar…that calm, somewhat unyielding presence was familiar as Taiki, and as Taiki’s fingers closed around his arm, Yaten allowed that familiar sensation to surround his mind, helping create a buffer against all the other voices buffeting against him.

"It’s all right," Taiki said simply, turning to lead Yaten on, dropping his hand away after a moment. "We’re almost there. Just focus on me."

There it was: spoken permission to use his mind as an anchor. Yaten whispered an unheard ‘thank you’ as he fell into step with Taiki and focused himself a little more firmly on Taiki’s emotions, closing all thoughts of the hospital and its inhabitants out.

"Here…" Taiki said, finally stopping before a room after it seemed they had traversed a labyrinth they’d never find their way out of. His hand lifted, but even before he managed to knock, the door opened in front of him. Mizuno Ami stood on the other side, smiling, her eyes soft behind her reading glasses.

"Mi…Mizuno-kun," Taiki stuttered, startled. "How did you know I was here?"

"I…I didn’t," she said quickly, a blush swiftly moving up into her cheeks. "I was just going out to get Seiya-kun some juice."

"You don’t have to do that…" Taiki began, lifting a hand, about to say that now that they were there they would take care of things, but Ami quickly shook her head.

"No…I want to," she said, and without a another word, she slipped past Taiki and Yaten and scurried away down the hallway.

"Oi, is that the two other stooges I hear out there?" a voice from inside the room said, and Taiki and Yaten glanced at each other before they swiftly rushed inside. Just as the voice had led them to hope, Seiya was awake, although he was lying on his back in the hospital bed and his forehead and one eye were wrapped in bandages. Yaten let out a soft gasp.

"Yo. Mizuno-san was just saying she thought Taiki was outside of the door," Seiya said with a smirk and a slight wave. When he heard Yaten’s gasp, he chuckled, a bit roughly. "Aw, come on…it’s not that bad. Definitely not as bad as it must look."

"It looks terrible," Yaten blurted out, and then he brought his fingers up to his lips as though he regretted it. Seiya just laughed, however, and the coarse sound of his laugh was joined by a soft, high-pitched, feminine chuckle, which reminded Taiki and Yaten of the other occupant of the room.

"Tsukino-san…konbanwa," Taiki said belatedly as he bowed slightly towards Usagi. She was sitting in the chair closest to Seiya’s side, an open manga sitting in her lap, and she smiled and bowed her head in return.

"Konbanwa."

"Odango’s been with me all evening," Seiya said, turning to smile and wink at Usagi, who seemed to be fighting off a blush as she shrugged and glanced down at the manga in her lap. "Mizuno-san too. I told them they could go home and leave me here to suffer in agony alone, but they stayed."

"Was that how you phrased it?" Taiki inquired as he pulled a chair over next to the chair next to Usagi’s, leaving the second chair open for Ami when she returned. Yaten slowly lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed.

"No…he’s been a perfect gentleman," Ami said with a smile as she came back into the room, holding several cans of juice which she proceeded to pass around to everyone in the room. Yaten glanced at his can for a moment before deciding his stomach was still in too much turmoil to be able to handle it, and placed the can aside.

"What exactly happened?" Taiki asked, gesturing to the bandages on Seiya’s head.

"Tackled," Seiya said simply, with a smirk and a shrug. "I went down at a funny angle and ended up with my head half-buried in the dirt. The other half, if you were wondering, was sort of crushed by the other guy’s shoulder."

A brief expression of sympathy moved over Taiki’s face before it returned to its usual ennui, but Yaten couldn’t keep from frowning.

"How bad is the damage?"

"Not as bad as you might think," Seiya said with a quick shrug. He lifted a hand to gesture casually towards his head. "I’ve got a concussion, for one thing, from the hit my head took against the ground. Even though I was wearing my helmet, I hit the ground too hard too fast. It was a hell of a tackle. Other than that, I’ve got a fantastic shiner…unless I keep it well iced, they say the whole right side of my face could swell up like a balloon."

Yaten sighed quietly, trying to rid himself of the shakiness that wouldn’t seem to go away by seeking out something familiar.

"Thank goodness you’re so hard-headed. Anyone else might’ve been killed," he grumbled, and Seiya laughed, reaching out to pinch Yaten’s knee.

"You brat. But I guess that means you’re glad I didn’t die. That’s something, at least," Seiya said with a smirk, and then he glanced over towards Usagi, who seemed to be stifling a chuckle. The manga sat in her lap, untouched, as it had been for most of the time she’d spent in Seiya’s presence.

"So what happens now?" Taiki asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"Not much," Seiya admitted. "Last I heard, the hospital wanted to keep me a little longer because of some kind of concern about the concussion. Meanwhile, it’s the classic concussion story…I’m dead tired, but I have to keep awake. And that’s what you guys are for, so I expect you to be entertaining."

Taiki laughed as he got to his feet.

"Before that, I’d like to speak to the doctor in charge of your case, if at all possible," Taiki said, glancing automatically towards Ami, who also stood.

"I spoke to him earlier," Ami said with a quick nod before gesturing for Taiki to precede her out of the room. "We can go to the nurse’s desk and ask them to try to find the doctor’s whereabouts at the moment…"

Ami’s voice trailed off as she and Taiki disappeared into the hallway, leaving Seiya, Yaten and Usagi alone.

"So how’d the practice go?" Seiya asked, turning his head so he could fix his good eye on Yaten. He smiled lopsidedly, and Yaten realized that it probably hurt him just then to smile; why did he push himself? For their sakes? Just to seem cheerful, like he always was? Baka. "I take it it ran late?"

"No…we stopped to pick up Chinese food," Yaten said, drawing his socked feet---he’d left his shoes at the room’s door out of habit---up into his lap. "It’ll all be cold by now."

"Chi…you should’ve brought it along. I’m starved," Seiya said with a wry grin.

"We didn’t think of it at the time," Yaten said, a bit dryly. Seiya noticed the tone and smirked a bit.

"Aww, were you worried about me, squirt?"

"Of course!" Usagi exclaimed abruptly before Yaten could formulate an acidic enough answer. Both Seiya and Yaten glanced towards her in surprise as she closed the manga in her lap and leaned forward. "Everyone was worried about you, Seiya! Anyone who’s your friend would be worried when you’re hurt; it’s a part of friendship, isn’t it?"

Yaten hadn’t spent terribly much time with Usagi, but he had begun to notice that, simplistic as she seemed at times, she quite often had rather insightful remarks to make.

"Exactly," Yaten agreed with a curt nod, folding his arms over his chest and closing his eyes to show that the topic was closed.

Seiya laughed.

"Wow, I feel appreciated," he said with a small smile after his laughter had run out, and Yaten cracked open an eye to look at him, then opened both eyes in surprise when he saw the lingering melancholy in Seiya’s eyes. "Thanks."

The room was silent for a moment before it was eventually broken by a loud growling noise. At first Yaten wasn’t sure what it was, but when Seiya started laughing and reached over to poke Usagi in the arm, teasing her about having no sense of decency, and Usagi yelled back at him that it was all his fault that she hadn’t had any supper yet, he finally understood.

"It’s okay, Odango…if you need to get something to eat, go ahead. The guys are here now…you don’t need to stay," Seiya said finally with a warm grin, and the angry face Usagi had been giving him melted slowly into a smile.

"Yeah…I think I will. See you," Usagi said, bowing quickly to Seiya and then Yaten before she darted out of the room, digging in her pockets for her change purse before heading straight for the nearest vending machine.

"So…the practice?" Seiya asked after only a brief moment of silence. Yaten turned to meet Seiya’s one-eyed gaze, surprised by his words. "You nicely stepped that one aside when I asked earlier, so I guess you didn’t want to talk about it with Odango in the room?"

"It went fine," Yaten said, face going a bit cold. "We got the song polished to Taiki’s satisfaction…as well as we could without your part, of course."

"I still have tomorrow and Saturday morning to practice," Seiya said, casually lifting one shoulder and then wincing as though it hurt. "We’ll be fine, Yaten."

"Assuming you’re well enough that we don’t have to cancel Saturday’s concert," Yaten said grumpily.

"Cancel the concert?"

Both of them turned sharply at the sound of the soft, surprised voice and watched as Ami slowly walked into the room, followed by Taiki and then Usagi, who had paused in the middle of stuffing a rice ball into her mouth.

"Do you think you’ll have to cancel it?" Ami continued, the expression on her face concerned.

"No," Seiya said before Yaten had even taken a breath. Seiya shot Yaten a somewhat dirty look and Yaten snapped his mouth shut and frowned. "Don’t pay attention to Yaten…he’s just talking about worst case scenarios. But I’m fine…I’ll *be* fine. There’s no way we’re backing out on the concert."

Yaten wanted to speak up, to mention that Seiya surely couldn’t project their message if he was badly injured, but he knew that even if Seiya had been willing to listen to reason, they shouldn’t speak of such things in front of Usagi and Ami.

"Ah, thank goodness," Usagi said, letting out a breath and surreptitiously cleaning rice off her chin. "I finally get a chance to see the Three Lights live, and I thought you were going to cancel it…whew. I’m glad you’re not going to."

"I hope you get a chance to see us too, Odango," Seiya said, turning to grin at her, and Yaten felt the frown lines in his forehead deepen.

/Don’t reach out to her…don’t try to connect with her…damn it, Seiya!/

But then his frown faded as he paused to consider his own motivations in thinking such things. Did he want Seiya not to become so close with Usagi because she was human…or because she was ‘Odango’, the one human Seiya seemed to feel a palpable connection with…the person whom Seiya seemed to be developing more of a connection with than he had ever had, or possibly could ever have, with Yaten…

"Moshi moshi…Yaten?"

Yaten blinked, finally realizing that Seiya was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Yaten? You home?" Seiya said, smiling at him as Yaten finally turned and met Seiya’s eyes.

"Yeah…what is it?" Yaten asked, brow furrowing slightly again.

"I was asking you what kind of Chinese you got…Taiki said you picked everything out," Seiya said, the smile on his face changing a bit, as though somehow he understood the thoughts that were preoccupying Yaten. Yaten didn’t want to think about that possibility. "I’m thinking of getting Taiki to go pick the food up."

"Oh…eto…" As Yaten struggled to remember the food he had chosen for dinner just an hour or so before, ever so slowly it became essential to remember those little things---what *did* he choose after all?---and try to forget the larger questions that plagued him. If he didn’t make such a choice, he feared he would begin to lose his sanity…and then he’d be no use to the princess at all.

*****

Seiya was finally released a couple of hours later, and by that time, it was already a fight to keep him awake. Ami and Usagi had eventually left at Seiya’s insistence, so the task of keeping Seiya company had fallen to Taiki and Yaten, and it hadn’t taken long to drive both of them to the brink of exasperation.

Even during the short trip home in the car, Seiya nearly nodded off on Yaten’s shoulder.

"Oi, Seiya! Quit it!" Yaten said sharply, sliding one arm around Seiya’s shoulders as he used the other hand to grasp Seiya’s shirt, shaking Seiya slightly. Seiya lifted his head and blinked blearily, then focused on Yaten’s face and smiled lopsidedly.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"Don’t say sorry," Yaten said with a fierce frown, for once returning Seiya’s gaze with full force, because focusing on Yaten’s eyes seemed to help Seiya remain wakeful. "Just stay awake, baka."

"I’m trying," Seiya said, bringing up an unusually pale hand to rub at his eyes. Yaten’s frown deepened seeing the pallid color of Seiya’s skin, illuminated briefly under the glow of a streetlight. "I’m so exhausted, though…"

Yaten opened his mouth to snap, but then he felt Seiya’s head lightly drop to rest on his shoulder again. This time he could tell Seiya was awake, because Seiya was slowly, calmly exhaling in and out, his eyes wide open and staring unseeingly towards Yaten’s chest. The harsh words at Yaten’s lips choked off into silence as he glanced down at Seiya’s hands, now pulled into tight fists in Seiya’s lap.

Yaten swallowed, closing his eyes for a second before he pushed himself slightly, willing barriers to lift and allowing himself to feel the emotions of the man next to him. He stiffened in surprise when he felt the slippery tendril of fear that slid into his mind, encompassed and enwrapped by a heavy, hard sensation of failure. Even as his mind pulled away, Yaten let his hand come to rest on the top of Seiya’s head, stroking lightly. The attempt was awkward, but Seiya blinked and caught his breath, affected by it nonetheless.

"I know," Yaten murmured, his tone quiet. "It’ll be okay."

Yaten could feel Taiki’s eyes watching him for a moment in the rearview mirror, and he could sense more than see the smile that flickered briefly across Taiki’s face. Yaten frowned again, and his body must have tensed, because he felt Seiya try to move away. He willed his frown away into a look of apathy and tightened his grip, fingers lacing into Seiya’s hair as his other hand came up to hold Seiya’s arm, pulling him into a loose hug. A few years ago, when she’d been more childish, Healer might have stuck her tongue out at Taiki’s back; as it was, Yaten decided to ignore Taiki entirely, to pretend that he was alone in the car with Seiya. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek against the top of Seiya’s head, puffing out a soft breath that unsettled the raven-colored curls across Seiya’s forehead.

"It’s okay," he whispered, tightening his grip on Seiya, and while at first Seiya seemed shell-shocked, simply staying still and stiff in Yaten’s grasp, after a few moments Seiya started to relax and he cautiously wrapped his arm around Yaten’s waist.

By the time they got home, Seiya’s breathing had evened out against Yaten’s neck, but Yaten knew that Seiya was awake by the way he was still staring, eyes wide and verging on bloodshot, at Yaten’s jacket. Yaten’s hand stroked Seiya’s hair in time to his breaths, and because Yaten was so focused on his task, it took him some time to realize that he was breathing in time with Seiya as well, and their heartbeats had fallen naturally into rhythm.

Even though he knew the car had stopped, Yaten didn’t stir or even bother to open his eyes until the door next to him opened and Taiki leaned down to speak to him.

"We’re home," Taiki said quietly, the look on his face somewhat unfamiliar to Yaten. Something akin to fondness, perhaps?

"Yeah," Yaten breathed, shifting ever so slightly, his grip on Seiya’s arm tightening. "Seiya…?"

"Yeah…I heard," Seiya murmured, slowly sitting up and moving away from Yaten. He looked away, suddenly seeming shy, so Yaten got out of the car first, then bent to beckon to his companion. Seiya got out more cautiously, and when he finally stood, he wobbled slightly on his feet.

"Chikusho…" Seiya muttered bitterly as Yaten silently slid underneath Seiya’s arm, supporting him.

"Never mind," Yaten said simply, shaking his head as he guided Seiya to the house. Once inside, Seiya gingerly sat down on the couch and, after sitting back for a moment and rubbing his head, a wince passing across his face as he did so, he picked up the remote control and switched on the television.

"I’ll stay with him tonight," Yaten said to Taiki in an undertone as the two of them retreated to the kitchen.

Yaten had expected some sort of doubtful reaction---perhaps a raised eyebrow, or a question of ‘why?’. Instead, Taiki simply nodded, then moved over to the fridge and bent to look inside for juice.

After another few moments of Yaten standing there silently shifting from foot to foot, Taiki finally turned and lifted an eyebrow, deciding to be kind and grant Yaten the reaction he so badly wanted.

"What is it?" he questioned, exhaustion making him a bit less formal than usual.

"Well, it’s…" Yaten trailed off, frowning slightly as he stared at the floor. "Well, I want to take care of him tonight. But I’m not sure how. I don’t really even understand what’s wrong with him."

"You have the capacity to understand much better than I do," Taiki said with a soft smile as he padded across to the sink to wash his hands, his slippers scuffing slightly against the linoleum.

"E? What does that mean?" Yaten asked, frown deepening as he stared at Taiki’s back.

"Nothing," Taiki said, shaking his head and forcing his smile away before turning around and folding his arms, giving Yaten his best matter-of-fact look. "If you’re referring to the concussion, you already know that the surest sign is his pupils. When his pupils begin to react normally again---contracting and dilating when his eyes come in contact with light and so on---that’s usually a sign that a concussion is gone."

"Can I help him?" was Yaten’s next question, posed in a quiet, somewhat breathless voice.

Taiki’s eyebrows lifted before he realized what he was being asked.

"If you’re asking whether you can heal him, I would suggest allowing the concussion to mend on its own. Then perhaps you can help with his face," Taiki said before offering a slight smile. "But then, you would know better than I about what you can and cannot do, Healer."

Yaten swallowed silently, then nodded before slowly turning around and going into the living room. He found Seiya watching some kind of shounen anime from under half-lidded eyes, but when Yaten sat down next to him and offered him a glass of water, Seiya seemed to waken slightly, sitting up and almost forcefully opening his eyes wider. Yaten watched, trying not to show his concern, as Seiya drank the water down like a man who’d been deprived of water for days. Out of the corner of his eye, Yaten saw Taiki carefully slip by and make his way up the stairs to his room.

"Mm…thanks," Seiya murmured as he put down the empty water glass and slowly relaxed back against the couch, wincing as sore joints all over his body creaked in protest. Yaten watched, his worry beginning to manifest on his face. He thought of saying something, or asking whether Seiya felt all right---as absurd as that question would be, given the circumstances---but then Seiya chuckled, his gaze focused on the TV. Yaten turned, staring for a moment at the colorful animated figures that moved across the screen, not finding anything particularly amusing about them, but evidently the anime was capable of distracting Seiya from his predicament, at least for the time being. Anything Yaten said at this point would probably make things worse. So, Yaten settled back, pulling his knees up against his chest and resting his chin on his knees as he focused on the TV. But try as he might, he couldn’t really think about what was going on on the screen in front of him. He was too attuned to the presence next to him; attuned to Seiya’s breath, to his body heat, and to the faint pain he was emanating, just barely grazing Yaten’s mind.

*****

END PART FIFTEEN