Till Death Do Us Part
[When I said I was excited last chapter, I meant it. I was excited…FOR THE MAIN TRIO TO GET PACKED TF UP LMAOOO. Oh. Y'all said this ain't funny?
Fasho.]
--
"We have two teenagers coming in! One was involved in a motorcycle accident on the highway! They found his body at a riverbank and he's sustained severe bodily injuries!"
"Is he breathing?"
"Yes, but barely! Luckily, he was wearing a helmet."
"What about the other one?"
"His friend said he got clipped by a car. He's bleeding from the head!"
"Is he breathing?"
"No!"
"Who's the motorcycle victim's emergency contact?"
"A Kominato Ryosuke. I've called them from the victim's phone multiple times, but they haven't answered yet."
"And the car accident's emergency contact?"
"He doesn't have one."
The hospital staff split into two groups, committed to saving Miyuki and Kuramochi's lives. Their bodies laying on gurneys, Miyuki is rushed to an operating room to undergo emergency surgery, while Kuramochi's wounds are being stitched up and dressed in the ER.
His head is free from harm as he was wearing a helmet, but the rest of his mangled body was a horrific sight to behold. His bloody sweater is torn to shreds, deep gashes on his chest and back. When he smacked the pavement upon landing from his fall, a few ribs had broken and he fractured his radius and ulna in both arms. Flipping over the guardrail and tumbling down the riverbank had amplified his injuries, crushing his knees after hitting a large rock.
He's hanging on by a thread, his breaths ragged as the nurses hurriedly attend to him. The insurmountable pain from his injuries has him fading in and out of consciousness, and he's supplied a heavy dose of pain medication through an IV.
'Something must have happened to Miyuki,' he thinks, as he can hear Eijun's piercing screams from another department in the hospital, but those thoughts are soon replaced by those of Ryosuke.
Tender memories of their time spent at Seido, rendezvousing in the hallways to talk about whatever they fancied, how their chemistry on the diamond was unmatched, and how Ryosuke had fallen pregnant.
It was an accident, their judgment clouded by desire when Ryosuke had invited Kuramochi to his house for winter break. The former's family was on vacation in Kyoto, and with the house all to themselves, every room was the perfect place for fucking each other's brains out.
Ryosuke, understandably, was unaware that getting pregnant as a male was even feasible, so he dared Kuramochi to forgo using protection. It was a dare Kuramochi couldn't refuse, for his boyfriend would ruthlessly humiliate him for being a pussy, so he went through with it.
When school was back in session, Ryosuke wanted odds on if Kuramochi would be a good father, and the latter innocently played along. The odds were between one and twenty and they both said thirteen. Kuramochi had laughed, but his grin was wiped off his face when Ryosuke confessed that it wasn't merely a game. He was actually pregnant, no bullshit, and it was at that very moment that instead of feeling fear and confusion, Kuramochi was determined.
His love for Ryosuke had blossomed into something far greater than a superficial high-school fling. He blueprinted an entire course of action that would occur once Ryosuke gave birth, but as he lays here, a year after the unfortunate miscarriage, clinging to life, he realizes that he was immature.
Too immature, too tunnel-visioned, his short-lived prospect of becoming a father too precocious.
The doctor walks over to him and informs him that his scars have been stitched up and bandaged, and his arms have been placed in casts. His knees are due for surgery tomorrow. Due to his broken ribs, he was going to experience shortness of breath and all-around discomfort.
Bed-bound and resembling a mummy from the neck down, he's advised to move as little as possible to avoid worsening his predicament. Kuramochi grunts affirmatively, and the doctor wishes him well before walking away.
If Ryosuke were here, he would probably scold Kuramochi for being such a reckless, rash, impulsive idiot. He imagines him flicking his forehead or purposely sitting on him to hear him yelp in pain, but the beeping of his vitals and the frenzied atmosphere of his surroundings remind him of his grisly reality.
Ryosuke would never be here.
--
Eijun is sprawled on the floor, inconsolable as he waits for the red Operating signal above the sliding doors to turn off. Miyuki has been in surgery for an hour, and each second that passes is another second Eijun spends rolling around, sobbing and shrieking.
The image of Miyuki laying on the ground, still as a tree in the forest, bleeding profusely from his head, haunts him. It was his fault. If only he had paid closer attention to the street light, looked both ways before he crossed, or even ventured outside minutes later or earlier, Miyuki would be perfectly fine.
He would be holding his child right about now, sitting by Furuya's side, brainstorming names for them.
Eijun is distraught by the idea of Furuya blaming him for Miyuki's death, tearing a family apart before it even had the chance to begin.
'Kazuya can't die,' he thinks, chewing his fingernails, shaking his head, 'He can't. How I feel about him doesn't freaking matter. He risked his life to protect me. He can't die because of me. I can't deal with that burden forever. I would never forgive myself. Furuya would never forgive me. Kazuya can't die, Kazuya can't die, Kazuya can't die—'
The operating lights shut off and Eijun springs to his feet as the door opens.
"How is he?!" he demands, "Is he gonna be okay? Is he alive?!"
"..."
"No! No, please! Tell me!"
The surgeon lowers her mask and clasps her hands.
"You can be at ease, Sawamura-kun. Miyuki-kun has pulled through his surgery. He lost a concerning amount of blood, but he'll be alright. He's strong, I can tell you that much. All we can do now is wait until he wakes up."
Alleviated, Eijun collapses into the surgeon's arms, sighing. He rubs his snot and tear-stained face all over her scrubs, thanking her profusely and that for as long as he lives, the Sawamura clan will eternally be indebted to her.
She says that Miyuki's been transferred to a separate room and he can go visit, so Eijun bows a perfect ninety degrees before taking the elevator and reaching his room. He enters.
Miyuki is laying on a slightly raised bed, dressed in a hospital gown. His entire head, excluding his face, is covered in bandages, an oxygen mask placed over his nose and mouth.
Rhythmic beeping feeds the deafening silence as Eijun sits on a chair next to Miyuki's bed. He scoots forward and bites his lip, trying to suppress the impending stream of tears.
Meeting with Sanada was unimportant at the moment. Presently, he needs to stay by Miyuki's side until he regains consciousness, the sole responsibility he's ascribed himself.
Eijun rests his head on Miyuki's chest, sighing.
'You always find a way to hurt me, Kazuya…'
--
Two Days Later
Eijun has been ignoring the several text messages he's received from Sanada, along with those from Jun yelling at him to get his ass back to Seido and let Miyuki rest in peace. Mind your wording, he had responded mentally.
He's remained at the hospital, eating whatever the staff members brought him and sleeping on the floor next to Miyuki's bed. Leaving would only intensify his guilt, and his current listlessness would deflate the team's morale. Being their resident ball of sunshine was a tough job, he thought.
Eijun returns from the bathroom and sits on his chair, reclaiming his position of placing his head on Miyuki's chest. The soft thumping of his heartbeat solaced him, the only indication that he was still alive. Unsure if it would be the final time he hears it, Eijun etches the sound into his memory.
"Don't let…Sanada w-walk in and…get the w-wrong idea, silly…"
Fingers brush his hair and Eijun gasps, looking up.
Miyuki's eyelids flutter as he squints, trying to adjust to the bright lights glaring above him.
"Kazuya!" Eijun shouts, conflicted if he should be smiling or crying from relief, "You're awake! You're really awake! This isn't one of those movie scenes where you whisper a very important secret and then die right after, right? How many fingers am I holding up?!"
Miyuki looks through his peripheral, and although he's practically blind without his glasses, he would be remiss not to tease Eijun.
"Three," he croaks.
The brunette shakes his head, "No, I'm holding four—wait a minute! You know you can't see without your glasses and you know that I know that, so why did you even—wow! You sneaky rat, I should unplug all your wires and charge my phone instead!"
Miyuki grimaces at Eijun's volume and the latter apologizes, immediately digressing.
"How long…was I out?" Miyuki asks, flexing his fingers and toes, attempting to regain full feeling in them.
"Two days," Eijun answers, "I, like the responsible adult I am, sat here the whole time. I warded off any evil spirits that even thought about harming you! You should be proud of me!"
"Lies," Miyuki contests, petting Eijun's hair, "Look at...your face. You were…crying. A lot. I'm sorry, Eijun. For…making you cry...again."
Miyuki holds out his arms and Eijun jumps into them. They latch onto each other, sighing, longing for lost warmth and comfort.
"What can I say, you're a pro," Eijun remarks, rolling his teary eyes, "I've had more than enough mental breakdowns to last a lifetime because of you. You cheated on me with my rival and you almost died in front of me. Sheesh, Kazuya, you really have it out for me. What the heck did I ever do to deserve this?!"
'Nothing,' Miyuki thinks, gripping Eijun's hair and rubbing his back, 'not a thing. You hate me, yet you stayed here and waited for me. I keep hurting you and your hatred for me will only grow, but…I'm glad you're here, Eijun. I really am.'
--
Miyuki, however, isn't glad to learn that Furuya is in a coma. He lost an excessive amount of blood during his C-section and the staff was able to stabilize him, but he fell unconscious and they were uncertain if or when he would wake up.
Sitting in a wheelchair by Furuya's side, Miyuki holds his hand, running his thumb over his knuckles. He hopes he can feel it, letting him know he's alive and should hurry back as well.
"Hey, two of us can't play at this game," he whispers with a faltering grin, "If I pushed through, so can you, Furuya. It sucks to admit, but you're miles stronger than me. You carried our child for six months, dealt with the backlash, dealt with me being an asshole, and shouldered my trauma unconditionally. If you don't wake up…I won't forgive you, you know? We made a promise to never leave each other. I almost broke it, but you definitely can't. I don't think I'll be able to live with another person leaving me again…not again…"
Miyuki holds his face in his free hand, sighing deeply. He internally prays for any deity willing to try their luck and love him again to rouse Furuya from his slumber. He wants to see his stoic face and hear his deadpan voice ridicule him for crying. Actually, no, Furuya would probably just ignore him for a few days as punishment for getting hurt.
Miyuki realizes that none of those are positive experiences he's looking forward to, but he'll accept them graciously in exchange for this stifling, precarious atmosphere.
Minutes later, a nurse peeks her head behind the curtain.
"Miyuki-kun? How are you feeling?" she asks.
Miyuki turns in his wheelchair and shrugs, "Dunno. Something tells me having bandages around my head and crying over the dude next to me feels absolutely splendid."
The nurse chuckles at his wisecrack. She has somewhere she wants to take him, and she slowly wheels him away.
Miyuki swallows as they arrive at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or the NICU, for short. The farther they travel into the department, a small part of him wishes he was still asleep, just so he could have more time to mentally prepare himself.
"Here we are," the nurse says, "They had trouble breathing when they were born, so we put them inside these incubators."
'Why does she keep saying 'they'?' Miyuki ponders, 'It's either a boy or girl—huh?'
Vision crystal clear with the temporary contact lenses he's been provided, he leans in and notices that there are two tags with his and Furuya's names on them. He looks at the nurse, perplexed.
"Wait, why are there two…"
The nurse beams, blushing, "Congrats! You have twins!"
"TWINS?!"
Miyuki faints.