When You Were Gone (SaruMi)

Four

 Hearing his name in a very quiet voice, Mikoto's amber colored eyes shifted downward, only to find a pair of exhausted looking hazel colored eyes looking up at him. He was actually surprised that Misaki had even woken up so soon, and if he were to be honest...the poor boy really did look pitiful. His cheeks were flushed due to the fever, his hair was a complete mess, and his eyes were red from all the crying he had done. Heck even his voice was just barely there. Mikoto had just barely heard Misaki calling out to him and he was literally right beside the smaller boy.

"Hey...you should be resting..." Mikoto spoke lowly, only to bring a hand up to lightly ruffle Misaki's ridiculously messy hair. He wasn't often one to show any kind of affection but he was making an exception for the ginger due to the current situation he was in. Shaking his head softly, the red head gently pushed Misaki's head back down to where it was once again resting against him.

"W-what time is it...?" Misaki asked once his head was back down. He felt like he had been hit by a damn train. His body was heavy and everything was spinning around him, probably from sitting up too soon. He still didn't know how sick he was but judging by how he was feeling...it must have gotten pretty bad.

"It's almost 8 in the morning now...You don't need to worry about that right now though..." Mikoto hummed lowly while continuing to carefully run his fingers through the ginger's hair. He was hoping to keep the other calm to prevent him from having another panic attack or break down if thoughts of last night crossed his mind again. "Go back to sleep. Kusanagi will have some medicine for you to take soon and also...he's going to be cleaning out the extra room upstairs for you..."

"Huh?" Hearing that had taken the ginger by surprise. Why were they cleaning out the extra room for him? He had a place to stay...he had... "Oh...um... You guys don't have to do that..." He mumbled softly. He didn't want to be a burden like that, not to the others.

"The decision has already been made, Yata. After that panic attack last night, we don't want to leave you by yourself right now. You still haven't told us what happened to you last night...but you don't have to force yourself to talk about it right now." Mikoto then moved his hand from Misaki's head, only so he could use his fingers to light the cigarette he had pulled out.

"N-no...really it's fine, it's..." Misaki's words ended up getting caught in his throat. Mikoto could feel the younger boy shaking against him once again. Dammit...he did not need this kid doing this right now. "It's fine..."

"Dammit, Yata...you're going to have another panic attack-" Mikoto had started talking, but his words were cut off once the younger clansmen beside him started coughing violently. Shaking his head a bit, Mikoto took his cigarette between his lips in order to use both of his hands to sit Misaki upright before patting him lightly on the back. "Dammit, kid...breathe for me.."

"S-sorry...I'm fine now..." Yata coughed out as he brought a hand up to place it against his rather warm forehead. He was normally pretty warm anyways but this...he actually had to pull his hand away in surprise when he felt how warm he was. "But I still don't think it's necessary for Mr. Kusanagi to go through all that trouble for me...I still have my apartment..."

"Yata, do you really think it's a good idea for you to go back there?" Mikoto asked, sounding a bit more stern than before. It really seemed like the boy wasn't grasping what he was trying to tell him. He knew, Kusanagi knew...if they were to let Misaki go back to that place where no one could watch him, he would probably slip further down hill. That was exactly what they were trying to avoid. "We want you here for now. If you prove to us that you're managing to cope with everything that happened...and you make us believe you, then we'll talk about you going back to an apartment."

"But Mikoto..." Misaki had started to protest but his words were cut off by harsh coughs once again. He really didn't want Izumo and the others to go through all that trouble just for him. Sure he was pretty messed up after what happened last night, but who wouldn't be? Just because he was broken up about Saruhiko leaving didn't mean he needed to be watched like a child. He could get through this...at least he hoped he could.