Disclaimer: Do you really have to ask?
Kyo stood at the end of the hospital bed, staring at the one who was his soul's rival.
Yuki was so…pale…and still…
…And somehow the damned rodent still managed to pull off the corpse look looking like friggin' Sleeping Beauty!
He hadn't really changed much in the last three years. There were only miniscule changes to his face; a sharpening around the edges, a tilt to the eyes, hollows in the cheeks. He also appeared to have grown a few inches and his shoulders had widened an inch or so. The only drastic change was that his silky grey hair hung below his shoulders. He still looked like a girl.
Kyo viciously stomped on the Cat Spirit, who was in the act of strumming Kyo's hostility strings. To be honest, if Kyo was the Cat of the Zodiac, but without the spirit messing with his head, he probably would have been more tolerant of Yuki.
Kyo shoved the Cat into a conveniently conjured cage, ignoring its' indignant yowls, and moved to sit beside the bed.
The orangette looked towards the door where Kisa was hovering hesitantly. "Would you watch for any nurses or doctors who might be coming here? I'm going to enter Yuki's mind and try to get him to come back out."
Kisa's large amber eyes widened slightly, but she nodded nonetheless and moved out the door, closing it behind her.
Once the door was closed, Kyo place his hand over Yuki's forehead.
(space)
It was a room.
Kyo didn't know what to expect, but it sure as hell wasn't a room, let alone a room as boring as this one.
It was an old style room with big windows overlooking a garden, several loaded book shelves, a mat, a stereo and positioned next to the window, a padded recliner chair.
In the chair, covered in a pale blanket, was a sleeping child. A child Kyo recognised as a six-year-old Yuki.
Kyo moved forward, but paused when he realised he too was only a small child.
Kyo sighed.
Leave it to Yuki to use a childhood memory to get trapped in.
Kyo padded forward and shook Yuki's shoulder.
(space)
"Wake up, you stupid rat. You've slept long enough."
Yuki stirred and his deep violet eyes fluttered open. "Huh? Wha?"
"Get up. We have to go."
Yuki was confused. Someone was there? No one ever came into his room except the nurse. He looked to the side and saw a boy with short orange hair, garnet eyes and an irritable scowl on his face. Yuki's confusion grew. What was the cat doing here?
"…Go?"
The other boy twitched. "Yes, 'go'. You've been in here too long. Everyone's waiting for you to wake up."
Yuki was obviously very, very confused. Everyone was waiting for him? But didn't everyone hate the rat? Why were they waiting for him? Akito said everybody but God detested the rat. And didn't the cat say that Yuki should cease to exist?
Then…
Yuki's head came up slowly. "Wake up?"
The cat gave the rat a 'No-Duh' look. "Yes 'Wake up'. You've been asleep for three years. Did you honestly believe that this room was all that there was? Why do you think no one ever comes in here? It's because this place is a scape produced by your mind to hide the truth and keep you trapped here. A trap of your own making, in fact."
Yuki's eyes widened in distress as he leant towards the other boy earnestly. "But why would I do that! I hate this place!"
The orange-head shrugged indifferently. "The hell would I know? I lived with you for a few years and I still never really understood what goes through your sad little head. All I know is that this was caused by emotional distress enhanced by frequent exposure to the cancer that is Akito." Yuki blinked at the cat's blanent disrespect for their God, but the other boy continued. "It's called Tentei. It's were someone, unable to accept emotional pain, stops their thought processes and regresses into something familiar in their mind until the subconscious feels that the person is now able to handle the situation. I was the only one who knew you did this, but before this, you only ever stayed out for anything between a few seconds to a few hours."
Yuki looked away out the 'window'. Yuki had never noticed, but now that he looked, the room was slightly distorted, and the lighting was odd. "Then why can't I get out? Why am I still in this place?"
The cat shrugged. "Have you tried going out the door?"
Yuki's head snapped around. "The door?"
(space)
Kyo sweat-dropped. "You haven't tried the door, have you?"
The little pale head was shaken in a negative.
The poor kitty heaved a sighed. "Okay. Let's go then." Kyo offered a hand to the other boy.
The boy stared.
(space)
The cat was…offering his hand. Offering a hand up.
Yuki hesitated. What if it was a trick? What if he would pull away at the last second and laugh at him? What if-
'But I want a friend! He won't leave me here! He came to get me!'
'But how do you know he's not lying?'
Yuki pushed the thoughts away and reached for the hand.
(space)
Kyo clasped the hand and pulled the smaller boy up. He smiled slightly as he pulled the rat towards and out the door.
The only thought running through Kyo's head as there was a 'flash of light' was 'He trusts me? Since when?'
(space)
Neither noticed the dark shadow with red eyes standing in the corner.
Hiei frowned. 'Akito? Tentei? Rat?'
(space)
Kyo shook himself and removed his hand from his cousin's forehead as the young man stirred and blinked his violet eyes.
There was a raspy sound when Yuki's eyes locked on his own garnet ones, and he frowned, trying to speak.
Kyo blinked at the bane of his existence. "Hang on. I'll get you some water."
The tall orangette moved to the door and opened it, startling Kisa in the process. She looked relieved when she saw it was just him.
"Go tell the nurse on duty that Yuki's awake."
Kisa's eyes widened when she shot a glace around Kyo's shoulder, before taking off down the hall without another word.
Kyo wandered across the hall and got Yuki some water from the water-dispenser like he said he would.
Returning to the bed, Kyo helped Yuki sit up to take a sip of the water.
Yuki got half-way through the glass before the door burst open and a doctor and several nurses rushed in, followed by the tiger.
There was much fussing over the boy, before the doctor started asking questions, at which point they hit a pitfall. Yuki thought he was six and he didn't remember anyone except a little boy with orange hair and garnet eyes.
When he heard this, the young man with orange hair and garnet eyes froze.
"Crap."
Pleez Review