Ｈｏｕｓｅ Ｏｆ Ａｌｔｅｒａ || 【ᴀᴏʙᴀ ᴥ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ】

VII. Sickness

I had sat down beside Clear, watching the bleached horizon shimmer across the sky in awe. He was obviously overjoyed by my company, we exchanged past experiences, and mainly spoke about aquatic life. For Clear had a peculiar interest in marine life, and I brought out my scrapbook. Flipping through the pages, I carefully showed him some of the animals I had seen; Cuttlefish, Lion Fish,Vampire Squids, Goblin Sharks, and lastly the one which set his mind ablaze, the Aurelia Aurita Jellyfish. He pressed his fingers against the image, almost teary eyed and asked a strange question."Aoba-san, what is this called?" His voice was parched of any humorous teasing and unlawful tone. I peered up to his face to watch his expression."They're called 'Moon Jellies', they're very interesting." I mostly trailed off near the end, he was encased in amazement and curiosity. I gave a light smile, glad to see him like this. As soon as he was about to speak, the sound of a slamming carriage door rang through the courtyard. I tensed, pressing down against the roof to get a better view. Two men dressed in wealthy attire stepped down from the carriage, their eyes burning with intensity. The whinny of the plushly groomed black horses reached my ears, and they seemed to have noticed our presence. But the men took no notice, and towed their baggage to the front door. I heard a loud crash, and I looked over to Clear. He was troubled."Do you know them?" I asked softly and quiet, to avoid being caught. He nodded, pressing his hands against his lap. "They are the doctors from the city, I'm sure they're after me.""Doctors?""Yes, they come here every year to do maintenance on my blood-work. But they have alternate intentions." I understood what he meant, nodding with confirmation. Clear and I headed down the rafters and slunk through the shattered window. Closing the door behind us, I quickly heard footsteps patting down the hall. Clear had vanished once more, but I had noticed he must have sheltered in the bathroom. The large cabinet plastered back in it's original place. He was a very quiet person.. A knock came onto the door, and I ducked under the bed in a panic. With a gruff snarl, the pudgy man on the left threw his deduced cigar to the ground and hissed."Where is he?" The tallest one, looked over with obvious patience. Patting the other on the back once with force."He's here, Toue has already scoped the building." I tensed, Toue? Toue was a very wealthy business man in the outer wards of Midijorima, he owned a largely funded machine and hardware company near by Granny's house. I was sure to keep quiet, for any sounds could be passed around by the House. At their presence, the House was still and obedient. What do these men have control of?They stepped from the room, and in a calm manner, walked off to another section of the hallway. I heard Koujaku's voice, he had answered their rapping knocks. Idiot! Seconds later his voice had stopped, the door closed, and the two men ventured forward. Koujaku?I Stepped out into the hallway, I was sure to stay on the carpet to avoid squeaky floor tiles. Pushing open his door, I couldn't catch my breath. Koujaku laid unconscious on the floor with a needle ejecting from his neck, kneeling down I shook him violently. Unrolling the small tag on the needle, I was relieved. It was only a decent dose of sedatives, he must have put up a fight. He groaned lightly, and I propped him against his bed. Dragging the blankets over him to avoid him getting hypothermia on top of that. Geez. As soon as I had finished with Koujaku, I skid back into my room. I could make out their voices from here, barely."You know good and god damn well the heir can't leave the House." It was the tallest man who spoke. "And where in god's name do you think this little bastard is, Kirimato?" He teased, "Huh, Huh? Got any ideas, or did Toue lap dog you too much to know right and wrong?" I heard a smack, I'm guessing someone got hit. They tussled pointlessly for another five minutes before I heard the sound of clopping hooves. With a 'Hyaa!' the steed ran forward over the drawbridge, they had departed with only information. Sighing with relief I was surprised to find Clear unevenly propped on the bed. The drawer was pushed aside, the bathroom door agape. How did I not notice? He breathed shakily, his face paler than usually. I walked up to him, and sat down, wary."Are you okay, Clear?" He raised his breathy gaze, to meet mine. He gave a light nod, and I started to notice..The skin around his eyes carried a darker tone, I raised my hand to touch him. But he drew back, and did not allow me to touch him this time. Instead, he ran his own gloved fingers around his eyes, and he began to weep. I was utterly astonished, and I forcefully pulled him into an embrace. He was on guard, and after awhile, he wrapped his arms around my backside and nuzzled his face into my shoulder."Clear.."Wet droplets cascaded down my skin, and I pushed him back a little to see his face. His right eye.. Was almost translucent, I could not read it at all. His other eye, limpid and the frail smiling face of the one I knew. I flashed back to when I had received the letters from Koujaku, and all functions stopped. My eyes threatened to overflow with tears and I pulled him close to me tightly."I'm fi--ne.. Aoba-san." he gave me his honest smile, and ran his fingers through the locks of my hair, softly and caring.

I don't want to let go.

 It's too early..

Disease holds no reservations.