Rainy Day [Kise Ryota] EDITING

Injury From Hell

"You're lying to me!" Kasamatsu swerved out of the away of the propelled flower vase, heart clenching as the brunette in the hospital bed in front of him weeped. "Stop lying to me, Yukio! STOP IT!" He wished he was lying, but it was the unfortunate truth. Maihime had woken up not too long ago and panicked, trying to throw herself off of the bed only to collapse due to her crippled ankle. 

Kasamatsu caught the bouquet of flowers previously in the vase and jumped to Maihime's side, pinning her arms down. "Katsumi, if you continue the nurses will have to put you to sleep again!" Maihime didn't ease up and continued to thrash. "Katsumi! Stop it!"

"NO!" Maihime shrieked, tears falling countlessly. "I wont stop fighting until you admit that you're lying, Yukio!" Kasamatsu swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat frown witnessing his cousins futile attempts of denial. Kasamatsu backed away when Maihime started to calm down, resorting to crying instead. 

"It's not fair... " She choked out, hands gripping her hospital sheet. "It's not fair at all! I-I love dancing. It's apart of me! Y-you can't just take it away like that!" Maihime snapped her head to Kasamatsu, "How cruel can you get?!" Kasamatsu sat down hesitantly, still ready to pounce back if Maihime clawed once again. 

 He reached for her hand and Maihime didn't react. "Look... Katsumi, I get it, okay?" When he saw Maihime's icy glare, Kasamatsu reworded himself. "I don't understand your pain, but if I could put myself into your position... I'd act the same way so I get it. If I were to imagine being forced to retire basketball it would crush me. I get it... Look on the bright sides of things! You could still continue dancing after a while."

Maihime hiccuped. "... You heard the doctor... He said I wouldn't be able to dance again." Kasamatsu frowned when Maihime's tears fell faster. "I-I don't even have a high chance of ever walking ever again! How can that be good?!" Kasamatsu couldn't respond, he couldn't raise her spirits. 

"Cry, Katsumi." He suddenly choked out. "Just... Cry." She didn't hesitate to, grabbing Kasamatsu and soaking his shirt in minutes. "It's never too late to be what you might have been," Kasamatsu murmured to her as he stroked her hair, Maihime hiccuped some more before she shook her head slowly. 

 "Being an optimist... Will not help me..." Maihime murmured, the salty tears making her voice croaky. "But thank you for trying.... " Kasamatsu nodded silently, stroking her hair as an act of comfort. 

"I'll always be there for you. You're family. You're my precious baby cousin. That baby that always clung to me and cried at the drop of a hat." Maihime's crying started to sieze and she was only hiccuping and whimpering now and then. "The cousin that bruised at a poke. The cousin that got a scholarship to Dansa Academy. The cousin who could take anything that was thrown at her."

"And that's why I believe that you'll pull through this. You'll find a way to get back on your feet, you'll find someone to heal your ankle and you'll go back to your dancing career and prove everyone who doubted you'd dance again wrong. After all, you're my cousin. You have the Kasamatsu blood in you. You wont give up."

Maihime smiled against Kasamatsu's chest and he knew it too, "You should consider being a motivational speaker, Yukio." Kasamatsu closed his eyes and sighed in relief, glad she was feeling better. 

"So I take it you're happy now?" Maihime shook her head and leaned against the hospital's bed headboard once she pushed herself away from Kasamatsu. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and shook her head again. 

"No... I'm not happy. I'm still devastated. I'm absolutely terrified... But, you can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one. So I'm going to try the hardest I can to heal my ankle and I'll become a dancer again!" Maihime's eyes gleamed with determination and Kasamatsu had to smile. 

"You're not doing it alone," He reminded her, crossing his arms in satisfaction about the mood he had forced upon her. "You've got me, mom, Dad, Granny Sakura and Bunko there to encourage you. Not to mention those idiots will no doubt be there to push you along." Those idiots referred to the basketball junkies in the waiting room. 

Maihime nodded. "Definitely." Maihime grabbed her thigh and smiled sweetly, trying to convince herself and Kasamatsu that everything was going to be alright. "Everything... Everything will be okay... Right?"

Kasamatsu shrugged, "That's all up to how you carry this with you, Katsumi. Whether you recover is entirely up to you. We'll just be there to help you through the journey, so don't go all 'reliant' on us." Maihime turned her head away, chin up.

"As if I would!" Kasamatsu smiled at Maihime's response and tone. Suddenly, a tense silence stretched between them as Maihime's mood plummeted. "Ya know, Yukio." Kasamatsu looked at Maihime confused.

"I thought hell was a place that bad people are sent to atone for your sins but now I understand... Hell is something you carry around, not somewhere you go." 

                                                    -x-

Kasamatsu stood next to his mother, Yuki, in the kitchen. She was washing them and he was drying and packing them away, the atmosphere being rather tense because of Kasamatsu's expression. 

Yuki was sharing the same emotion as her son, her grip on the dishes nearly breaking them. "Yukio, how is Katsu-chan?" Kasamatsu looked up at the woman who broke the silence. "Is she recovering? How did she take the news?"

Kasamatsu sighed. "She didn't take the news well at first. She was screaming, crying and throwing things everywhere for a long time before I managed to calm her down- if even for a moment. Her ankle is completely crippled and she's got a sprained wrist."

Yuki narrowed her eyes at the information. "The bastard who did this to her... " She left the sentence hanging there, but the threatening tone was enough to complete it. "Doing something so cruel to her is completely unforgivable... Katsu-chan has done nothing but good during her sixteen years of living!" Kasamatsu clenched his jaw. 

"I know that." Kasamatsu placed the dry cup on the bench, turning to his mother. "The guys name is Haizaki Shougo." Yuki's eyes widened.

"H-How'd you know that?"

Kasamatsu frowned, "Maihime told me before she entered the ambulance. I haven't been able to do any research on him yet, but the name certainly rings some bells." Yuki frowned deeply before she slammed a cup on the sink, awaiting Kasamatsu to dry it.

"Damn... Our internet's been out since Tuesday thanks to that damn storm and we wont be getting it back on until next Thursday and I'm not letting this Haizaki-brat's identity go unknown for a week." Kasamatsu snatched the cup and began to dry it. 

"I'll ask around the team until we get some solid information. There's no way he's going to get away with this." Yuki nodded in agreement. "We'll pay him back tenfold."

                                                    -x-