Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ A ship in the fog ❯ Find comfort in pain ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: I found out that morphine was only discovered in 1818… and the syringe in 1850. So I apologize for the anachronism in the 4th chapter. And well, for the cohesion of this story and Kyo's sake, let's just pretend I didn't find out.

 

Please let me know what you think of this story so far!

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, and again the title of this chapter comes from a James Blunt's song, so I don't own that either.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9 - Find comfort in pain

 

Haru was walking down the dark hallway, hoping to find someone, or at least something to do. All the doors were closed and no sound could be heard over the constant creak of the ship. A heavy rain was pouring down, and he was bored out of his mind. To tell the truth, he was hoping that his good fortune would lead him to Hatori's room, since he couldn't remember where it was located.

 

After his little conversation with the doctor two nights ago, he had decided to put his emotions on hold until Kyo felt better and, well, he would see then. Que Será, Será, like Shigure always said. Haru had no problems with that. He shoved his hands into his pockets, wondering if he should try to open some doors since nobody was around to help him out.

 

"…have no other choice," he suddenly heard Hatori's stern voice say. A door flew open and Shigure came out, almost bumping into him. The boy was surprised by the knitted brows and the certain sadness in his eyes. Haru's gray eyes connected with the doctor's green ones for a split second, who was behind the captain, which was long enough for him to notice how tense and apprehensive the both of them looked. Hatori's white shirt was wrinkled like he had slept in it, and his hair was untidy.

 

Before Haru could open his mouth to say something, Hatori had turned on his heels and disappeared into the darkness of the room. Apologizing to Haru for almost having knocked him down, the captain promptly closed the door behind himself. When he faced the two-toned teen again, his usual cheerful smile was back on. It was obvious that whatever was going on in that room was something he wouldn't tell. Haru frowned; this wasn't what he had planned. "I think our beautiful Tohru is playing cards with Yuki and the children. Shall we join them?" Without waiting for an answer, Shigure pushed the two-toned boy down the hallway and away from Hatori's room.

 

But that was to ignore Haru's particular temper. By the time Shigure had dragged him to the stairs, the teen was in a black mood. The captain failed to notice the sudden change and was thus surprised when his head abruptly met the dark wooden wall.

 

"I want to know what's going on and I want to know now," Haru's low voice murmured into Shigure's ear. The captain made some high-pitched noises and tried to free himself from the strong hand that was pinning him to the wall by the throat. Haru didn't loosen his grip until he felt Shigure's body going soft. The captain slid down the wall to the worn carpet.

 

Wheezing, the man loosened his collar. Arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the banister, Haru waited patiently for Shigure to catch his breath. Still sitting down, the captain raised his gaze towards the two-toned boy, his lips curling up into a bit of a sadistic smile.

 

"Hatori is busy with our redheaded friend, who isn't doing well at all. And he doesn't want you under his feet." Still smiling, Shigure stood up and dusted off his bottom. "Assuming that you care, of course, which I'm not sure of anymore. Kyo only saved your life, after all." He went down the stairs, motioning for Haru to follow him. "Come, you know you'll get lost otherwise."

 

Going with Shigure, or trying to find his way back: neither of these possibilities seemed too appealing to the teen. He ran a hand through his fluffy white hair and started his way down unhappily. He was still angry, though he had no trouble admitting that Shigure was partly right. He should have been more… what? More considerate? More protective? Haru was pretty sure that his proud friend wouldn't appreciate that. Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn't even sure if he could exactly call Kyo a friend. Haru chuckled; he knew what he would have liked to call the redhead. His face went grave again. Kyo was hurt. He wasn't doing well, not at all, if Shigure told the truth. But why would the captain lie about something like that? Hell, if Haru knew what he could have done differently considering the circumstances. But he had the feeling it wouldn't have been enough.

 

The two-toned boy was still pondering when the young governess's voice reached his ears. Looking around, he saw that he was now standing in the middle of the dinning room.

 

"Come and join us, we are playing cards!" Tohru chirped again, when his glance fell on her.

 

"Yeah, and you're loosing again!" Hiro said harshly, throwing his cards on the solid oak table.

 

"Hiro!" Yuki gave the girl an apologizing look and glared at the boy.

 

"Your good manners haven't improved since the last time I saw you, kid," Haru stated, sitting down on the carved chair in front of him. Still looking around, his gaze met Shigure's, who superbly ignored him. He was drawn back to reality by Hiro's irritating voice.

 

"At least I'm not directionally challenged. How can you be that stupid and choose this boat when there must have been dozens of them?" Hiro smirked at the tall boy. He was deceived when the only reaction he got was a shrug.

 

"Mystery. Now hand me those cards, and we'll see who the looser is kid."

 

"Stop calling me that!" the young boy spat, throwing the cards towards Haru.

 

"Are you playing with us, Captain?" Tohru asked Shigure, who hadn't sat down and was looking at the other side of the room where Akito and Kureno were having tea.

 

"Hum? No sweet darling." He managed once again to force a smile on his lips. "But save me a seat near yourself as I may come back later." Tohru blushed lightly and nodded. From the corner of his eyes, Haru saw him join the other two men. He pricked up his ear, but Shigure talked in an ushering voice, and all he heard was Akito's malevolent laugh.

 

That's when they all heard the first scream. It expressed surprise, rage and unbearable pain all at once. A few muffled cries followed shortly afterwards, then silence again.

 

Everyone was holding their breath with wide eyes. "Wha… what was that?" Kisa stuttered with a small, strangled voice, burying her head in Tohru's pink dress.

 

Yuki and Haru exchanged a dark look. "It sounded like that stupid red—"

 

"Enough, Hiro!" Yuki snapped. "Haru let him go!" Kisa burst into tears and Tohru tried her best to comfort her.

 

The two-toned boy released the other's wrist reluctantly. "This time you went too far," he said under his breath, his now black eyes stabbing into those of the kid's.

 

"You're mad!" the small boy shouted, massaging his sore hand.

 

Haru stood. "Sit down!" Akito ordered him. Without any of them realizing, Kureno and the Head had moved towards their small group while they were arguing. Haru would have liked to disobey and leave the room, but he stayed up and remained impassive.

 

An unpleasant smile made its way onto the Head's lips. "I've changed my mind," he said. "It will be your punishment, Hatsuharu, for having fled without my consent. Kureno, take him to Hatori. Dismiss the seamen. Make sure that Haru alone assists him."

 

This was far worse than what Shigure could have imagined. If the episode in the stairwell hadn't occurred a moment ago, he would have tried to talk Akito out of this idea. The captain touched his throat where he knew a large bruise was forming and said nothing.

 

Strangely, Kureno was the one who seemed to feel the most ill at ease. He waited for Haru to exit the room and followed him close behind. When they reached Hatori's room (Kureno had to take the lead at some point because Haru had headed for the haul), the secretary did just what he had been told, and Hatori… Well Hatori was furious.

 

Haru couldn't really catch what the doctor was grumbling through his teeth, except for a few words that didn't fit together, like "arm", "saw" and something about "handling a nervous breakdown." He had never seen the doctor this angry before, and it was almost frightening. Though, right now, the two-toned boy couldn't care less. He walked into the room and stood next to the table on which the redhead was lying.

 

"Hey," he said, near the other's ear. "Looks like it's my turn this time to take care of you." He brushed aside some of the wet red strands on Kyo's forehead. The crimson eye that wasn't bandaged was shut tight, and the boy's teeth were clenched. He wasn't sleeping like Haru had thought in the first place, but all his energy seemed to be concentrated in his suffering.

 

The two-toned boy was distracted by more shouts from Hatori and a loud bang when the solid wooden door was slammed. His gaze followed the doctor as he walked around the table, and he registered at the same time the unhealthy colors of the redhead's spread out arm and the instruments on a small side table. He frowned.

 

"Hatori… What do you need a saw for?" he asked suspiciously. He couldn't help but to notice that the thing was already tainted with fresh blood.

 

"You," the doctor fulminated against the teen, "you will do exactly what I say, when I say it, and I don't want to hear a word. Understood?" The restrained anger in the green eyes prevented the boy from arguing or asking further questions, so he closed his mouth and nodded.

 

"Fine." Hatori rolled up the blood-splattered sleeves of his white shirt and moved towards the sink. "You are going to hold Kyo down by the shoulders. I don't want him to move an inch. Take care of what you do with his right one; that is where Akito stabbed him. But if needed, push hard—I would rather have his wound re-opened than for him to move around. You will need all your strength. The last time I did something like this, two seamen, twice your size, were holding the man down, and they were struggling. One last thing," Hatori leaned over Kyo towards the two-toned boy to make his point, "always, always, look at his face, never at what I'm doing, whatever the sounds you may hear. Questions?"

 

Haru shook his head.

 

"Let's start again." The doctor thrust a huge needle into Kyo's arm. “This is better than nothing, but it won't be enough to knock him out. Be prepared.” Gulping, the two-toned boy turned his head to look at the redhead's face like he had been told, and awkwardly placed his arms around the other's upper body. Kyo winced when one of the pale hands touched his injury, but didn't open his eye.

 

Terrible sounds echoed in Haru's head during the next hour, causing chills to race through his spine and cold sweat to run down his face. Holding down the shouting and squirming redhead turned out to be a huge task. Fortunately for them both, the two-toned boy kept his head cool, and while exerting himself murmured soothing words into the other's ear, never relaxing his grasp.

 

When Hatori finally spoke to him, words didn't register at first. After two or three tries, the doctor put one of his bright, red hands on the teen's tense back.

 

"It's over, Hatsuharu. You can let him go now." The clenched muscles let up slowly and the firm grip became more of a soft and light contact.

 

"It's over now, it's over Kyo," the two-toned boy repeated into the redhead's ear with his low, comforting voice. "Everything will be fine from now on, I promise. Hang on and everything will be fine." He wiped the sweat from Kyo's cheek with his thumb and gave him a quick peck.

 

His entire body protested when he straightened up. He would have loved to see that fiery eye, if only for a moment, but it remained shut. Turning around, Haru decided it was indeed a good thing when he saw what was behind him. It looked like a fucking butcher's shop. There was blood everywhere, even on some of the walls. And worse of all, there was now a blood covered arm on the side-table.

 

Haru's gaze went slowly from said arm to Kyo's body, stopping on Kyo's stump, then back again to the arm. "God," was all he could utter, before he rushed outside.

 

 

To be continued…