By Your Side (ioriku)

7

"So, you had to stay after school because you were talking during class?" Riku asks, hugging his knees, his head tilted with curious intent.

"Yotsuba-san was the one talking, not me," Iori clarifies, trying hard not to stare for too long, or too hard.

Riku laughs at that, intrigued by the thought. He sighs a dreamy sigh and says, "You're lucky..."

Iori raises an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, I've never had to stay after school before."

"Neither have I until today," Iori sighs, pressing a finger against his temple. But, he hadn't realized it until a few seconds later. "Hold on," he starts again. "How exactly is being forced to stay after school considered lucky?"

Riku's lips curve up into a soft smile, but he doesn't seem happy. More of a forced raise to hide an emotion that Iori couldn't begin to understand. He twirls his red hair around his finger before he finally speaks. "Well, I've never gone to school. A couple times in elementary, but that's all. I've only had tutors."

Iori doesn't know what to say, or how to say it. If it had been his brother telling him something upsetting, Iori would pull him into a tight hug and stroke a delicate hand through his hair. But he and Riku weren't that close, and caressing him was nothing but a faraway dream.

"I'm sorry," is all Iori can say, it's robotic almost, words wanting to fill in the endless silence.

"It's not your fault," Riku says, "It's always been that way."

Then, the question from earlier in the day arises again. Why was Riku in the hospital?

But, Iori can't bring himself to ask it. Maybe it's far too personal, far too touchy on a subject that Riku probably hadn't brought up for a reason. Maybe it was best to avoid the conversation instead...

"You're wondering why, right?" Riku says, tracing circles onto the silk bed sheets. "Why I'm here? In the hospital?"

Iori was, in fact, wondering that, so he simply nodded, not wanting to seem desperate for an answer.

"Well, I'm sick," Riku says immediately. And it's almost too sudden. So sudden that Iori has to hold his breath. Although those three words were brief and simple and expected, they hurt to hear. And though they were obvious, Iori realized why he'd never been curious about the answer. He knew it'd hurt to know. He continues, "It's chronic. But, when I was younger, I wasn't very good at taking care of it myself so it's only gotten worse.

"I struggle with breathing sometimes. But, I haven't had an attack in the past few weeks so I think I've been improving."

Iori can't find the words. Offering sympathy for a chronic illness wasn't the right way to go about it, and consoling him wasn't right, either. Riku seems to wait for a response, a reaction of some sort.

"You've been improving?" Iori says, focusing on the positive side of it all.

"Yes, thankfully," Riku says, a look of relief on his face, almost as if he were glad that Iori didn't pity him. "I've been here two weeks, but I get discharged soon, as long as my condition remains steady. I can breathe pretty much perfectly now."

"That's great," Iori tells him, genuine and almost too himself, thankful that it wasn't something worse, something terminal.

"Isn't it?" Riku agrees.

"Where will you stay after you get discharged?"

"I live with my parents," he says, almost blandly, as if they were of no concern to him. Iori expects him to elaborate but he doesn't. He leaves it at that. Iori doesn't pry.

"Then, you'll stay with them? Does your brother live with you, too?"

Riku's eyes glisten at the mention of his brother. He shakes his head before saying, "No. He lives elsewhere."

"Elsewhere?"

There's a moment of silence, a moment where Riku looks everywhere but at Iori, as if he were ashamed about something. But, he speaks, fulfilling Iori's curiosity.

"He asked me before if I wanted to live with him, but I said no," Riku says, his heart monitor seems to quiver at the words, it's a minor increase in heart rate but Iori notices it all the same. "That was two weeks ago. It was the first thing he told me after I..." He stops, clutching at his chest, inhaling sharply. "After I hadn't seen him for five years."

Five years... Iori's eyebrows raise in disbelief. Then, a lightbulb in his head blinked, once, twice, and on it went. "Two weeks ago? But, haven't you been here for two weeks?"

"Yeah," Riku says and nothing more. He plays with his hair again, if it were any longer he'd probably bite on it.

Iori asks another question. "Speaking of... didn't your brother come around last night to visit?"

"Yes," Riku says, looking away, "But I pretended to be asleep so he wouldn't talk to me."

It was exceedingly obvious now. Riku's five year resentment for his brother had imploded on him two weeks ago when Tenn came to visit. Perhaps it was what had brought on the initial attack, no, it definitely was. But, the question now was, why?

Why would you leave your sick younger brother and reappear into his life five years later?

Iori coughs amidst the silence that had gone from serene to awkward, the least he could do was try and fix it. "So, do you want to watch something?"

Iori often played tv in the background whenever Tamaki came to visit, in order to fill lapses of silence, sometimes they'd even get caught up in it. Tamaki, especially. He was easily intrigued by concert segments and a particular show hosted by a duo that Iori could never recall the name of. 

Riku gives a small nod, already stretching toward the counter on his right to reach a small remote control. He turns the small television on with the click of a red button. A show plays, a concert. Iori can't quite tell whether it's live or a recording but it doesn't matter now, he's focused on something else.

The singing trio, the idols that dance on stage. More particularly, the white-haired boy with a smile of an angel.

"Tenn-nii," Riku says, oblivious to his own words. His eyes are glazed onto the screen, hypnotized almost.

The gleaming words behind the three on stage read: Trigger. 

-

a/n:

i cant believe this is chapter 7 already . 

also boys & girls is my new fav i7 song, in fact, it should be everyones favorite i7 song. sorry i dont make the rules and no i do not take criticism . i speak only facts and everyone just has to accept that