Runaway

Fears into Reality

Yukio's pov

My eyes went wide and my tears flooded out once more.
"Why are you crying my son?" my mother's form said in a concerned voice identical to the one I was so familiar with.
"I-impossible..." I stuttered. My mind and heart was raging in a sea of mixed emotions.
"Why is it impossible? I've always been with you."
"...M-m-mom..." was all I could say. The beautiful creature in front of me was just an illusion...She couldn't...she couldn't be real. I saw her an her death bed. Her body was lined with white roses, lavender and baby blue hydrangeas that Rin and I hand picked...

"You're hurt. Come here so I can help you." she reached her hand down into the ambulance for me to grab hold of.

...On her hand she wore a ring that had a oval shaped sapphire in the middle with small white diamon engraved around it. This was the ring that father had given her when he proposed. It was a memory of the perfect family we would have had...And it wasn't on her finger.

"...No...No...NO!" I forced myself to look away.
"What's wrong Yukio? Don't you want to come back with me?"
"No!"
"No what?"
"No, I do want to come...But you're dead!"
"How can I be dead? I'm right here with you!" her voice became more desperate and laced with sadness. As much as it pained me to see her cry, I still have someone I love in this world...She is not of this world any longer.

"No! You're dead! Rin and I burried you in a bed of flowers that we hand picked. We burried you with dad's ring still on your finger. We even put your grave on the very hill, in the very spot on the very hill that you gave birth to me and Rin on! The pain we felt was real. I saw with my very own eyes, Rin's tears falling from his cheeks as he pulled me away from your body. Dad was even on his knees weeping over your grave. Rin was broken because you left us. He is alive and waiting for me and as long as he is I will not hesitate to find my way back to him." my broken body ached and was deprived of it's energy. "No matter what happens, I must find Rin...I will find him..." I felt the last of my fighting will fade from my body.

"You've grown so strong. So handsome." a warm tear fell from her cheek and onto my skin. Her warm hand caressed my cheek and left a strangely cold feeling lingering on my skin.

"If you really want to see your brother that bad, I can get you to him." the figure of my mother said. I looked up in disbelief.
"C-can you really?"
"Of course." the figure chuckled. Her frequently worn smile then turned into a rare to see frown.
"W-what's wrong?" I asked uneasily.
"W-well, when someone is as close to death as you are, they can't continue without giving a great sacrifice...You cannot go on without experiencing imense pain." she looked deeply sorrowful and apologetic as she spoke these words.

"I don't care. I'll do anything as long as I find Rin."
"As you wish ~sniff~" the figure pointed an open hand at me. I felt my body leaving the blood stained floor that I lay on. Once my body left the demolished ambulance and was suspended in the air above it, the figure of my mother turned her head away and whispered in choked words.

Agonizing pain was set aflame in my body. My bones were being broken, forced into place, re-broken and rearranged.
"IT HURTS!!! MOM PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!!!" my screams would haunt those who heard me in their sleep. Loud, crisp cracking sounds of my fixing bones echoes in the air. When the pain was finally gone, my heavily breathing body was lowered slowly to the ground.

Gasping for air as I stumbled to my feet, I staggered from side to side. I clutched my head with one hand and leaned against the ambulance for support with the other. My head was pounding and felt like it would explode any second. But it didn't matter to me how much pain that I was in because I refuse to stop fighting until I find Rin.

"Must...find...Rin..." I said to myself. My mother's figure lowered itself down to the concrete. Her beautiful face was stained with drying tears and dripping with new ones.
"Y-yukio... I'm so sorry..." her voice quivered as much as the graceful hand she caressed the side of my face with. The same warm-cold feeling from before tingled my face where our skin met.

"M-mom..." I stared at her with big, confused eyes.
"I'm so so sorry...I shouldn't have..." she had to bite her lip to keep from breaking down in tears.
"Sorry for what?" I had now fully regained my strength. I stood up, without the help of the ambulance, and pulled my mother into my arms.
"I granted your wish to help you find Rin. However, in order to do so you had to defile death. This comes with a great price that you said you were willing to pay upon saying, 'I'll do anything as long as I find Rin.' "
"What exactly is that price?" I questioned.
"Until you are truly ready to die, you will live a life full of pain. Whenever you are about to die before you are ready, you will heal or come back with enough pain to drive one mad. You will also notice everyone and everything seems to slip through your fingers, unless your actions deemed it otherwise. From now until you die, those you hold close to your heart will be put through the same hell as you or a truly blessed life, all depending on your actions...Oh Yukio, I'm so sorry ~sob~" My mother's body shook in my arms as she cried. I couldn't believe my ears. Rin's life is in danger because of my selfish wish?

"W-wait...Are you saying that Rin could die because of one wrong move that I make?" my voice quivered as I spoke. The feeling of my mother's arms tighten around me was enough of an answer for me. I swallowed hard as I realized my biggest fear had become a deadly reality... Rin's life could end because of me.