Disclaimer: I'm running out of ideas as to what to put here…

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Language, shounen-ai/yaoi, angst

Summary: Akaya recieves some devastating news from his mother. And there's nothing he can do about it. ANGST, mwa!

Author's notes: Another Rikkai drabblething. You don't have to have read the ones that come before this, but it might help a bit. The drabblething list goes:

Times of Stress

Passing the Time

How to ask out Marui Bunta

Four Days Later

October Ice

Because I Love You

Evil

Further Nonsense

Dear Diary

Kind of… the same

100 Word Challenges

Driver in a Hurry, Child in a Coma

Doctor, doctor!

The Woes of Solomon Grundy

I'm Not Going

This is the fifteenth Drabblething. Can you believe it:o I can't. So, I'm bringing on the angst! ;p No humour here. Not much, anyway.

Dedicated to KikuTaichou. She knows why. :33 Hope you like, m'dear.

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Yukimura actually quite liked being home alone. It was quiet, and he had the chance to work on some of his little home projects without being disturbed by his little sister or his highly-inquisitive mother. Currently, he was trying to build a palace purely out of origami and some glue. It was over half done, which was pretty good for two day's worth of work. He had no idea what he was going to do with it when it was finished, but he'd think about that when it was actually done.

He sighed as his elbow knocked the gluestick off the table, again, and bent down to pick it up. It had rolled under the table, and while he was lying on his stomach trying to reach it, he heard a knock on the door. No, several knocks, each one louder than the last.

He got up and brushed dust off his front (he really did have to remember to either tell his mother how dusty the livingroom floor was getting or just hoover it himself) and walked to the door. He opened it, not sure who to expect. He definitely hadn't expected Kirihara Akaya, though, that was for damn well sure.

"Akaya!" he said, surprised. "I thought the hospital wasn't going to release you until next week?" He blinked as Akaya brushed past him wordlessly, kicking off his shoes and heading into the house.

"…" Yukimura shut the door and hurried after him, concerned. "Akaya?"

The curly-haired boy was sitting on the dark sofa in the livingroom, staring at Yukimura's origami project with a worryingly vague interest. He seemed somehow smaller than usual; maybe it was the way he was almost curled into himself, shoulders tight together, face pale.

Yukimura sat down next to him, peering into his eyes carefully. "What happened?" he asked.

"I ran away from the hospital," Akaya muttered, still staring at the mass of patterned paper.

Alarm bells rang. Yukimura wanted to scold him and lecture about how the hospital was trying their best to get him fully healthy again, and running away from it would probably cause a lot of problems, but his natural intuition told him that something deeper was going on here.

"Why?" he asked, as gently as he could. Which, considering that this was Yukimura, was very gently indeed.

Akaya shrugged moodily.

"I'll get you some green tea," Yukimura said, getting up and heading for the kitchen. That should make Akaya feel better. He was curious, though, as to why Akaya had chosen to come here. Surely Marui was the obvious choice? Unless… ahh, maybe they'd had a fight.

The tea didn't take long to make, and Yukimura brought two cups in on a little tray. He set it down on the table (it was a wonder there was room for it there) and offered a cup to Akaya, who took it and sipped at it slowly, green eyes never leaving the paper palace.

They sat like that in silence for a few minutes until Yukimura had drank half his tea. He exhaled and put the cup back on the tray, folding his hands in his lap and tilting his head to the side at Akaya. "What's going on?" he asked kindly. "Did you and Bunta have a fight?"

Akaya shook his head.

Yukimura took in Akaya's dishevelled appearance slowly. It looked as though he'd come straight from the hospital as fast as he could. He was still wearing the hospital pyjamas, those awful green things, with a jacket carelessly slung over. He must've gotten some strange stares on the way here.

"Did one of the doctors or nurses say something you didn't like?" he guessed. "Some bad news?"

Akaya shook his head again. He didn't seem to want to talk at all.

Really worried now, Yukimura stood up. "I'll phone Bunta and ask him to come over," he said, heading for the phone in the hallway.

He stopped as a hand grabbed his sleeve, and he looked over his shoulder to see Akaya clinging to it, finally looking at him with wide eyes. "Don't," he pleaded. "Stay here. Please."

Yukimura nodded and sat down again. Akaya didn't let go of his sleeve, but Yukimura didn't mind. He gently wrapped his other arm around Akaya's shoulders. "Do you not want to see Bunta?" he asked. Akaya shook his head vehemently. "Why not?"

"Cos… I don't wanna upset him," the boy mumbled. Then, without any warning, he buried his face into Yukimura's chest and burst into tears.

Desperately concerned now, Yukimura wrapped both arms around him and rocked the sobbing boy back and forth soothingly, murmuring comforting jibberish and petting Akaya's hair.

"Tell me what happened," he persisted gently. "Please, Akaya?"

Forcing his tears under some semblence of control, Akaya hiccuped, "Kaasan won a lot of money in compensation, cos I got hit by that car, and she says it's, it's, it's enough to buy a house and we c-can move to, to, Hokkaido, cos she'd always wanted to live there, and…" he started crying again. "I'm not going!" he sobbed. "Hokkaido's a million miles away! And it's cold, and stuff, and I'm not g-going!"

"Hokkaido?" Oh, god. It was no easy thing to travel from Hokkaido back to Tokyo. It was pretty expensive for one thing. And Yukimura knew Akaya's mother didn't have a particularly high income. "She wants to move to Hokkaido?"

"She came and told me today," sniffled Akaya. "I ran away from the hospital as soon as she left. I'm not going!" But it was the defiance of a small child that knows it won't get its own way.

Yukimura didn't know what to say. He tightened his hug, letting Akaya cry out the last of his tears. It seemed never-ending, but at last Akaya quietened and simply lay in Yukimura's embrace, clinging to his shirt and sniffing quietly.

"Can I live with you?" he pleaded. "I'll be really, really good, I promise. I'll help with chores and stuff, I really will."

"If it was up to me, I'd let you in a heartbeat," Yukimura said. "But it's not, Akaya. My parents wouldn't be happy about it, for one thing, and it's up to your mother whether she wants you to move to Hokkaido or not."

"But you're Mura-buchou! You can do anything!"

Sadly, Yukimura shook his head, a small chuckle escaping him. "Only as far as the tennis club goes," he said. "Outside of that, I'm only fifteen, Akaya. And it's not as though I'm related to the Emperor."

Terrified green pleaded at him, and Yukimura almost felt like crying himself at the world he could see crumbling in Akaya's eyes.

"B-but…" Akaya couldn't seem to find any more words.

"I'm so sorry, Akaya," Yukimura said unhappily. Then, "Has it been decided, or is it just something she's just thinking of doing?"

"Dunno. But she was talking on the phone about selling our house, so…"

Oh, hell. Yukimura thought for a few moments, summoning up all the practicality he could. "Have you told your mother how you feel?" he asked.

Akaya nodded. "Of course I did! She said that there was a really good school in Hokkaido, and she'd find one for me with a good tennis club, and she wouldn't listen when I said I didn't care about that, and I just wanna stay here with everyone…"

Yukimura nodded slowly. "Right. Tell you what, Akaya. Sometime today I'll phone your mother and arrange to have a word with her, and myself, Genichiroh, Renji and possibly Bunta… Does your mother know you're dating?"

"Yeah. I think so, anyway."

"Right, Bunta too, then. We'll have a talk with her, and see if we can't persuade her to stay here."

Hope practically exploded in Akaya's eyes, and he hugged the breath out of Yukimura's chest. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!" he gabbled. "You're the best, Mura-buchou. I knew you'd be able to do something."

"I'm not making any promises, mind," Yukimura chided. "Don't get your hopes up too high, alright?"

Akaya nodded obediently, although he obviously rested now completely reassured that things would work out.

"Can… Do you mind if Maru comes over?" he asked. Yukimura smiled, and Akaya beamed back.

"Of course not. Here," he pulled his mobile out of his pocket, "you can phone him now. Better ring his mobile rather than his house; I think he's out somewhere."

"'K." Akaya scrolled down Yukimura's contact list until he found Marui's number, then pressed the dial button and waited for him to pick up. He put it on loudspeaker as an afterthought so that Yukimura could hear.

"Moshi moshi! What's up, 'Mura?"

"It's not Mura-buchou, it's me."

"… Akaya?"

"… Yes!! Who else sounds like me?"

"Why're you using Mura's phone?"

"Cos. Listen, I'm at his house, so you wanna come over?"

"Wait, you're at Mura's house?"

"Yes. Long story. Hanging up now, so please come over." Akaya terminated the call.

Yukimura stifled a grin. "Well, he's definitely going to come over now."

Akaya gave him a smug grin. He looked much more like his old self. "Yep. Can I have some more tea?"

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"WHAT?!"

Yukimura rubbed his ear.

"Yeah, yeah, exactly, but it's ok cos Mura-buchou and fukubuchou and Yanagi-senpai and you are gonna go make her stay," Akaya babbled happily.

"But why Hokkaido?! It snows practically all year round, for one thing!"

"Yeah, I know, that's what I said!"

"Well, don't worry, we'll make sure you stay," Marui nodded earnestly.

The kettle in the kitchen started to whistle, and Yukimura got up to go make the green tea. He's contemplated not giving Akaya ny more, since he'd already had four cups, but since the poor boy was recovering from a crying attack, Yukimura figured it wouldn't hurt to let him have some more. he'd be going back to the hospital later, after all, and they didn't have green tea there.

He carried the cups in on a tray again, and raised his eyebrows as he saw that Marui and Akaya had used his temporary absence to start up an enthusiastic make-out session.

Coughing pointedly, hiding his amusement, Yukimura set the tray down. He coughed again when Marui and Akaya didn't seem inclined to stop, and eventually had to flick Marui on the forehead. "Save it for when I don't have to be in the audience," he said dryly, eyes twinkling a little and moving Akaya's legs so that he could sit down.

"Aww, you know you don't mind," Marui said, winking at Mura but stopping anyway, snuggling Akaya against his chest.

"So when are you gonna have a chat with Kaasan?" Akaya asked.

"Sometime today," answered Yukimura. "I'm going to phone Genichiroh and Renji now. Try not to destroy the furniture."

Marui smirked.

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The air was heavy with gloom and misery. And, on the part of the Kiriharas, anger.

"If you make me go then I'll just run away!" Akaya yelled furiously.

"And how do you think you'll manage that? It's a lot harder than you think to travel to Tokyo from Hokkaido!"

"I've saved up some money, and Marui'll help too!"

"He'd better not!"

"I'm not going!"

"Yes, you are! I'm your mother, and you don't have a choice here, young man!"

"Why are you so selfish?!"

"Me?! Why are you being so selfish? I've already promised to send you to a good tennis school!"

"That's not the fucking point!!"

"Kirihara Akaya, you watch your language!"

"No! I'm not going to fucking Hokkaido and you can't fucking make me!"

"Oh, yes I can! I can get a court order, and then you'll really have to come with me!"

"I HATE YOU!" Akaya screamed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Akaya! Now stop arguing, because we're going and that's final! God, your sister isn't so much trouble, I'm sure."

"Then you should've picked her to stay with you when you and Otousan got divorced!"

"You're the one who chose to stay with me!"

"I was only eight! I wish you weren't my Kaasan anymore!"

"Akaya, you are either coming with me, or I'll go by myself and you can go and live with your father. Which would you prefer?"

"Neither!"

The argument had been going on for the better part of half an hour, with both participants yelling at the top of their voices.

The negotiations from Yukimura, Yanagi, Sanada and Marui hadn't gone down well. Kirihara-san had been polite but firm, explaining that she'd always hated Tokyo ever since first moving there, and she wanted to go back to Hokkaido where she'd been born, since she'd be a lot happier and besides, she'd already found a high-paying job there. Nothing they could say could persuade her, and finally Akaya, who'd been listening through the keyhole, had burst in and started protesting. Things had gone downhill from there.

Yukimura and the others listened to the shouting with various expressions on their faces. Marui, for his part, looked as though he was ready to strangle Akaya's mother.

They listened to the arguments for another ten minutes, before Kirihara-san left in a fury, swearing to go and obtain a legal order for Akaya to come with her.

And that was that. Akaya was moving to Hokkaido.

"I'm not going…" Akaya said, trembling. But he knew he'd lost. Everyone there did.

Yukimura stood up and pulled Akaya into a tight hug. Marui joined in, fighting back angry tears. There was nothing more they could do.

"I'm sorry, Akaya," Sanada said quietly from the sofa. Yanagi nodded in agreement.

Akaya pulled away from the hug and muttered something about going back to the hospital. Marui started to go after him, but Yukimura stopped him with a sad shake of his head.

"Let him have a bit of time alone," he said.

"But I'll hardly ever see him once he moves!" protested Marui.

"I know. But let him have the time anyway."

Marui sat down on the sofa with a thump. His bottom lip trembled. "Why does he have to move?" he asked brokenly. "It's not fair. I love him."

"I know."

Yanagi stood up. "I'm going to phone the others," he said, "and let them know what happened."

"Good idea."

"It'll be ok," Sanada said, awkwardly patting Marui on the shoulder.

"Easy for you to say," the boy sniped. "I don't see your boyfriend moving to practically another country."

"It's not another country," Sanada said.

"It's a different island. It might as well be."

Sanada didn't have anything to say to that.

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There was a big, blanketed lump in the middle of Akaya's bed. It was shaking and making sniffling noises, and occasionally emitting words along the lines of, "Stupid bitch," and "Not fair."

It was late at night; nearly midnight, in fact. The rest of the hospital was pretty much quiet, and the night staff alternated patrolling the wards and drinking coffee to keep themselves awake.

The small window suddenly clattered. Startled, Akaya's curly head popped out of the top of the blankets, wiping tears from his face.

The window clattered again; something was moving outside it.

Scared, Akaya said, trying to sound as though he hadn't been crying, "Hello? Who's that?"

The window didn't answer, but the clattering got louder. Akaya stayed where he was, wide-eyed, and squeaking in fright when the window suddenly opened.

"Who's that?"

"Shut up, baka, do you want the night staff to hear you?"

"… Niou-senpai?!"

Sure enough, it was Niou, climbing in through the window with difficulty.

Akaya sat up. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked numbly.

"Get out of bed," Niou said, sounding as though he climbed through second-story hospital windows on a regular basis. "Get dressed."

Akaya gaped. "… It's midnight, Niou-senpai."

"Yeah, I know that. So? Get dressed."

Completely confused, wondering whether he was dreaming, Akaya did as he was told, hurriedly changing into his own clothes and pulling a jacket on. It was freezing cold now that the window was open.

"Bloody hell, this hospital couldn't have had some convenient ivy or a drainpipe up the side, could it?" Niou complained grumpily while Akaya got dressed. "But no, just a bit of rough brickwork here and there. My hands are probably bleeding from clinging on so damn tight."

"Why're you here?" Akaya asked blankly, eyes wide.

"Never you mind," Niou said firmly. "Come on; I'm not climbing down that wall. It was hard enough getting up it. Besides, we don't want you falling and breaking those delicate bones of yours, do we? Come on." He pushed Akaya's door open and peeked round it, checking to make sure that the coast was clear. "Right, follow me. And don't talk."

"But what…?"

"We're going to your house, ok? Now shut up and follow me."

"… Ok."

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Sandy: Mwahaha. My poor Akaya. He's so easy to torture, poor baby. Again, I hope you liked it, KikuTaichou.

Hokkaido, in case you're not sure, is the northern island of Japan. I think it's attached to Honshu (the main, curvy island where Tokyo is), but if it is then it's literally by about a mile of land or less. It's bloody difficult to travel between Tokyo and Hokkaido cos of that. And yes, it is expensive.

All will be explained in the next drabblething ;pp So if you wanna see that, then please leave a review! Otherwise I might not have the inspiration I need to write it -sticks tongue out- LOL

So yeah… please review!