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Worry. Anger. Rage. Emotions rolled through Kuro as he cradled his eve to his front protectively. Blood was pouring out of a large wound in his chest. Try as Kuro might to stop the blood loss, it still leaked. “’m fine,” Mahiru gasped. His hand was gripping Kuro’s jacket so hard that his knuckles turned white. “Go help them.”
Kuro looked down at Mahiru worriedly. This was his eve. It was his job to protect him. He had failed so miserably that it actually hurt to think about. Despair ripped his heart to shreds as he fought back tears that were threatening to break free and roll down his cheeks.
“Kuro,” Mahiru’s voice was a bit stronger this time. He released his jacket shakily and put his hand back down. “Go help.”
Kuro nodded jerkily and shrugged out of his jacket. It took a bit longer than it normally would because he was still holding on to Mahiru and didn’t want to jostle him. He hastily bunched it together and laid Mahiru so that his head was resting on it. He knew that his eve had to be in a lot of pain and wanted to make him as comfortable as possible. As soon as Mahiru was on the cement ground, he was on his feet and pounced back into the battle.
They had been ambushed by Tsubaki himself. The Servamp was ridiculously strong. The Mother, Lawless, All of Love and their respective eves were all there and the four teams had barely been enough to hold the psychopath off.
Tsubaki still felt a huge grudge against Kuro most of all, and had gone after him more than anyone else. Under normal circumstances, Kuro probably would have been more understanding of his younger sibling’s anger and would have attempted to talk it out with him. At that moment, however, he was pissed.
He felt the darkness that was inside of him break out of the confines that he had managed to put up. It exploded out of nowhere and the already dark alleyway that they were fighting in became black as pitch. The edge of the shadows danced like flames near the tops of the grimy buildings. It was the only source of light that could be found. The humans most likely were unable to see, but all of the vampires had no issues. Everyone turned and looked at Kuro with wide eyes, though Tsubaki had a large grin on his face, as though this was what he had been aiming for in the first place.
He obviously didn’t know what he was asking to happen. Kuro made no noise as he pounced at Tsubaki. His facial expression was the same stoic mask. He was so angry that his brain refused to even compute unnecessary muscle movement. Every bit of concentration was aimed toward ripping Tsubaki apart piece by bloody piece.
Tsubaki danced out of the way, laughing maniacally. His face was warped into a taunting expression as he blew a kiss at Kuro. “Are you angry that I hurt your beloved eve, big brother? Are you in pain?” Kuro ran at him and Tsubaki didn’t even move. His smile became sinister as he sneered, “This pain that you’re feeling. It isn’t even a tenth of how hurt I was when you killed master.” Kuro didn’t even register the pain as Tsubaki backhanded him across his cheek and he went flying through the cement wall of one of the buildings.
He rolled to his feet and pounced again, taking Tsubaki off guard with how quickly he responded. Kuro tackled Tsubaki to the ground and both of them went rolling. Their momentum ended with Tsubaki underneath Kuro and Kuro straddling him. He brought his hand back, balled up in a fist and punched Tsubaki in the face so hard that his head pushed back into the pavement and made a crater. Blood spattered and flew everywhere, and the bastard was still laughing. Kuro was angry. He hissed and swung again, unable to stop the laughter that was flowing out of the maniac’s mouth. He wanted to rip his tongue out and shove it down his throat just to stop the noise.
“You bastard!” Kuro cried. Just as he was about to swing again, someone caught his arm at his elbow. He looked up and saw that Lily was standing behind him. His eyes were sad, but there was a weak smile playing at the corner of his lips.
“Mahiru needs you,” he told him quietly. “Take him to the hospital. We’ll deal with our younger brother.”
At the mention of Mahiru, all of the darkness receded back into its confines. He would worry about everything else later when Mahiru was safe. Right now, his eve needed him more than Kuro needed to be angry.
He nodded and jumped off Tsubaki and rushed to Mahiru. His eyes were open, though they seemed glazed over. His expression was pinched, and Kuro knew that he was in so much pain. The fact that he was trying so hard to be strong felt like a kick to his gut. “I’m so sorry,” Kuro whispered as he gently lifted Mahiru up and cradled him against his chest.
When he straightened up, Tsubaki was on his feet again, laughing at him. “I don’t think you’re going anywhere, big brother. Not until that little brat of yours dies!”
When Tsubaki lunged at him, Hyde tackled him from the side and slammed him against the wall of the already broken building, putting a large crack in it. Kuro turned around and rushed out of the alleyway. He grimaced at what he was doing. It felt like he was running away from his problems all over again. Mahiru would be so disappointed in him.
When he was a few hundred yards from the alleyway that his siblings were in, a limo pulled up beside him. The driver immediately got out and opened the back door from him. “You’re Misono’s friend, right?”
Kuro nodded numbly. “Hospital,” was all that he could get out of his mouth.
“I know,” the driver told him. “Get in.” Kuro didn’t need to be told twice. He cradled Mahiru more firmly to his chest and dove inside as fast as he could. The door behind him slammed shut and a moment later, they were off, speeding toward the hospital.
Mahiru was taken in for emergency surgery as soon as he was brought there. Kuro waited outside in the waiting room with his head in his hands. He could tell that Mahiru was still alive, but the bond between them didn’t feel very strong anymore. He couldn’t take the anguish of feeling his eve slowly dying. Just when he thought that he was going to snap from the nerves, someone took the chair next to him. Kuro numbly looked up and saw his sister. Wrath looked as stoic as usual, but her aura felt a little less threatening than usual. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close her, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder as she rubbed comforting circles in on his arm.
“I love him,” Kuro mumbled to her after a few moments of silence. He knew that the rest of his siblings were all sitting around him, but he honestly didn’t care if they heard his admittance. “I love him and he doesn’t even know it. How…how do you cope with this. How do I handle knowing that he’s in danger and there’s nothing that I can do to help? I feel like I’m going insane.”
“Have faith in him,” Wrath told him gently. “I know that you’re worried and that all of the worst-case scenarios are running through your head right now. Look past that, though, and have faith in the fact that he’s strong enough to pull through.”
“Tsubaki’s sword didn’t cut too deep,” Misono’s voice reached his ears a moment later. “I was next to him when it happened. He jumped back and avoided most of the impact. I’m sure that he’ll pull through it. Shirota is a strong person. He’s too willful just to give up.” His reassurance sounded awkward and uncomfortable, but hearing it from Misono, of all people, made him feel a little more secure about the entire thing.
An hour later, he felt his bond tighten a little. He was able to feel Mahiru a bit more securely. That was the first time he’d properly inhaled a breath since they had gotten to the hospital. Everything was going to be okay. For the first time in as long as Kuro could remember, he managed a small ghost of a smile in relief.
“It’s okay,” he whispered to himself, slumping forward in his chair, suddenly feeling boneless. “Everything is going to be okay.”
About half an hour later, a man walked into the waiting room. He looked at the group of them, all misfits and oddballs with blood covering them. “Are you all here for Mahiru Shirota?”
Kuro felt himself nod, and the others mimicked him. “H-how is everything?”
“He’s stable,” the doctor told him. “We had to do a blood transfusion while he was on the operating table, and we almost lost him a couple of times, but he pulled through. He’s lucky, though. If he would have been any farther to the left, he could have severed a major artery and would have bled out in minutes.”
Silence flooded the room as everyone took in what a close call it was for their friend. Kuro grimaced at the thought. Mahiru was the glue that held everyone in their band of misfits together. Without him, everything would fall apart and there would be no hope in defeating Tsubaki. That thought hurt almost as much as losing Mahiru did. Kuro wanted to be a hero. He wanted to be the person that Mahiru saw him as. He didn’t want to go back to being lazy and pathetic like he was before his eve had broken down all of his walls of snarky comments and perpetual apathy.
Kuro took a deep breath and pushed out all of the images of what could have happened to the guy that had become such a vital part of his life. “Can we see him?” Kuro asked.
“He’s still being closely monitored,” the doctor informed them. “One person can go in and visit. He’s still asleep and probably won’t wake up until tomorrow.”
“You should go in,” Lily told Kuro. “You’re the closest to him out of everyone here, and you should be there when he opens his eyes.”
Kuro shook his head almost immediately. “I don’t know if I—”
“It should be you,” Hyde told him. “Go to him and wait.”
Kuro looked at everyone helplessly. Someone else should be there when Mahiru woke up. He should have to see the reason that he had been wounded in the first place as soon as he regained consciousness. Please, he mentally pleaded to everyone else, please, someone else volunteer! When no one stepped up, he just sighed and nodded his head. Mahiru was a firm believer in taking a stand because it was simpler to do the task that no one else was willing to do so that it got done.
He turned to the doctor, who was respectfully waiting at a distance for the group to decide who was going into the room. Kuro stepped forward and looked at the man. “Where is he?”
The doctor frowned at him. “Are you sure that you don’t need to be looked at too?”
“I’m okay,” Kuro told him. “I’m just tired is all. I really want to see him.” And he did. He wanted to make sure that Mahiru was okay with his own eyes. Sure, he could feel that his eve was still alive and was going to pull through, and the doctor had confirmed what he already knew, but it wasn’t enough. He needed visual confirmation that Mahiru was going to be alright.
He led Kuro through the double doors and through a sterile maze of white walls, circulation desks, and doors…a lot of doors. He finally stopped at one of them and opened it up. He heard a steady beep of some machine before he even got past the doorway. A moment later, he saw Mahiru. He gasped at the look of the sleeping boy. He was hooked up to an IV drip and a heart monitor. Kuro saw bruises and cuts on most of his visible flesh despite the low lights. Everything was silent other than the pounding of his own heart and the monitor that was reading Mahiru’s.
“I’ll leave you alone,” the doctor said. Kuro listened for the sound of footsteps and the door shutting. When he heard none of that, he turned around and saw that the doctor was still standing there. The practical stranger placed a hand on Kuro’s shoulder. “I can tell that he means a lot to you. It’s not my place to ask any questions about what happened. I’m just saying that whatever it was that you and your friends were up to, I wouldn’t do it again. He was lucky this time, and next time that might not be the case. You’ve already had your scare. Imagine next time if he doesn’t move to his left.”
Kuro nodded numbly. After those words, the doctor departed and left him there in roaring silence. Kuro hadn’t needed the man to tell him that. It had just driven home how much danger Mahiru was in because of him. It was so easy to forget that his eve with his can-do attitude was only human and while he might be stronger than most because he was an eve, he was still fragile compared to the monsters that they were fighting. He was breakable. A wave of protectiveness washed over him as he sat down in the uncomfortable recliner next to the bed. He wanted to grab Mahiru’s hand and hold it but refrained from doing so. He was afraid that he might hurt him if he did.
“I’m so sorry, Mahiru,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to get you tangled up into all of this. I will keep you safe, no matter what it takes. This is never going to happen again.”
Mahiru was in a lot of pain. His chest and head were hurting the most out of anything, but his entire body ached. He let out a low groan and opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he tried to force the sleep out of them. The room that he was in was blessedly dim, and it didn’t take his eyes too long to adjust. He squinted as he looked around, trying to focus his vision enough to take in his surroundings. The walls were a sterile white, all except for one, which was covered with a large, grey curtain. There was a lone picture of an ugly flower on the wall opposite to him and a television perched above it. He looked to his right and saw a door and a table. To his left was a chair with a very familiar occupant.
Kuro was asleep with his head tilted back, resting against the ugly chair. His mouth was open slightly and the lowest snore was coming from the back of his throat. He smiled fondly at the sight despite the pain he was in. Sure, he didn’t know what was going on, but simply thinking, he knew that Kuro wasn’t getting enough rest lately, and seeing him so blissfully asleep made him feel much better.
Okay, he thought to himself. This is clearly a hospital…why am I in a hospital? What happened? He frowned as he tried his best to dig through his murky mind. He briefly remembered a bunch of jumping around, dodging and yells. There was an insane laugh that was permanently ingrained in his memory. He remembered the flashing of metal in the moonlight and then a lot of pain and blood.
He flinched at the memory and winced as his muscles screamed out in protest of the abrupt movement. They had been fighting Tsubaki last night with a few of his teammates. Mahiru hadn’t been fast enough to dodge the sword and had fallen prey to Tsubaki. He thought that he had been dead for sure. He remembered Kuro’s anguished cry and being cradled against his Servamp’s chest. Despite the obvious danger and the agony, Mahiru had never felt safer. The thought made his cheeks heat up profusely and he bit his lower lip as he turned and looked at Kuro.
The object of his thoughts was still out cold. He smiled warmly at the sight all over again. Sure, his heart picked up speed whenever he looked at the vampire, and his head swam slightly when they touched. He was okay with that, though. Kuro was an important part of his life and Mahiru cared for him deeply, and he knew that Kuro cared for him as well. It was totally normal to feel an attraction toward his partner. This wasn’t a new feeling at all, but it felt more intense than it had before. Maybe the near-death experience was causing him to subconsciously grasp on to the things that were so important in his life.
He sighed and settled back in his bed, trying his best to ignore the pain that flared up with every heartbeat. Kuro probably wouldn’t be out for much longer. He would be able to fill the holes in Mahiru’s memory.
It was maybe fifteen minutes later when nurses came through the door. The abrupt movement woke Kuro up from his slumber. Mahiru saw his friend’s eyes widen and him inhale sharply. “Y-you’re….”
He trailed off as two women came to stand beside Mahiru’s bed. They asked him various questions that ranged from his identity to how he was feeling and if there was anything medically important that they needed to know, such as allergies. After the questions were finished, they took his vitals and left again, promising to be back later to do everything all over again. Mahiru smiled at them as they walked out and kindly thanked them for doing their jobs.
He slowly looked over at Kuro. He had been staring at Mahiru intently before they locked eyes. Mahiru grimaced as Kuro’s red ones lowered to the ground. His entire demeanor was shut off as though he was upset about something. He frowned…what could it be.
“Kuro?” he asked quietly, desperate to break the tense atmosphere.
His vampire tensed visibly. He saw Kuro’s hands clench into fists and shake. Mahiru was worried. “What’s wrong?”
“I…” Kuro trailed off. He looked up at Mahiru, his face pinched into a frown. “I’m so sorry,” he told him. “I don’t want you to forgive me…I don’t expect your forgiveness at all. I just want you to know that I know that I was wrong and that this is all my fault.”
“Wait,” Mahiru shook his head, attempting to clear it farther. Had he missed something vital? “What’s your fault?”
“You…Tsubaki…all of this is my fault!” Kuro exclaimed. His eyes were bloodshot, Mahiru realized. It wasn’t like he’d been crying; it was more like he’d been staring at something intently for a long time.
“When was the last time that you rested?” Mahiru asked. “Please tell me that you’ve gotten some sleep since I’ve been here. Just let me know that you haven’t been up here by yourself all night just watching over me.”
“That’s not important right now,” Kuro told him. His voice was sharp. Mahiru could tell that he wasn’t angry at him, but Kuro was furious at himself. Mahiru had never saw Kuro like this. He’d never been this distraught. “What’s important is that you’re okay. Get some rest and fully recover.”
Mahiru didn’t move from his sideways position as he looked at his Servamp. “It’s not your fault,” he told him quietly. He reached over and grabbed Kuro’s hand before he could bury his face back in it. He held it firmly, squeezing it tightly for a moment before he relaxed his grip, but didn’t let it go. “I know this is dangerous for me. I know that I could get myself hurt doing this, and it’s not your job to babysit me all of the time. I have to get stronger so that I can stand by your side as an equal. That can’t happen if I’m just standing on the sidelines for the rest of my life.”
“You’re not my equal,” Kuro told him quietly. “You’re better than that…stronger too. I’m a pathetic excuse for a vampire. I couldn’t even do my job.” He finally looked up at him, his eyes wide and pleading. “Please, Mahiru…let’s just forget about Tsubaki. Let someone else take care of it. I don’t want you to get hurt again. I don’t think that I can handle it.”
There was a light knock on the door before it opened. Lily peered through the crack and smiled at them warmly. A moment later, Misono came bustling through, speaking loudly as Lilly laughed lightly and followed, holding a large bouquet of colorful flowers. Kuro sighed in relief. He had never been so happy to see that short and high-strung runt.
Kuro stood up abruptly and said, “I’m gonna go and get something to eat and some fresh air.” He walked out and left the trio behind, knowing he was getting questioning looks before he did.
Mahiru was discharged from the hospital three days later. The doctor gave Kuro strict orders of bedrest for the busybody teen. As much as Kuro was ready to get back to the house, he liked that Mahiru had constant visitors at the hospital, which gave him an excuse to not be around him. They hadn’t spoken since the day that Mahiru had woken up, and Kuro didn’t know how to break the ice; it would be too much of a pain to attempt anyway, since Mahiru was in such pitiful condition.
Misono had everything taken care of, and a limo was waiting for them in the parking lot to take them to Mahiru’s apartment. Kuro helped Mahiru get up the stairs while he carried his bag. Once they got inside of the apartment, Kuro dropped the bag by the front door and escorted Mahiru to his bedroom. He sat Mahiru down on the bed and knelt down in front of him.
“What are you—”
He trailed off as Kuro began untying his shoes. “I can do that—”
“And tear stitches?” Kuro snapped at him quietly. He didn’t say anything more as he finished and pulled the shoes and socks off his feet. He motioned for Mahiru to lay down, but his eve stubbornly refused.
“Not yet,” Mahiru insisted.
Kuro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He might not be psychic, but he had a feeling he knew where the conversation was going. “Simply thinking,” Kuro said, stealing Mahiru’s phrase for a moment. “You’ll heal the more you rest. So just lay down and go to sleep. Whatever you want can surely wait until later.”
“Kuro,” Mahiru told him quietly. “We need to talk.”
“No we don’t,” Kuro replied. “You need to go to sleep, and I have a show that I’ve been neglecting lately that needs to be watched.”
Kuro moved to grab Mahiru’s shoulders to push him into the mattress and make him rest when Mahiru threw his arms around Kuro’s neck and held him close. Kuro stiffened, unsure of what he was supposed to do. After a moment, he lowered his arms and wrapped them gently around Mahiru’s waist and hugged him back. “I’m okay,” Mahiru whispered to him. Kuro suddenly felt himself trembling. All of the stress that he hadn’t wanted to deal with came crashing out of its confines and attacked him.
“Y-you could have died,” Kuro told him quietly. “If it would have hit any farther to the left, you would have bled out. I…I don’t want you to die, Mahiru. Please don’t die.”
“I took on this responsibility knowing the consequences,” Mahiru told him as he let Kuro go. “I can’t just run away now that things are starting to get tough. I want to help, Kuro, and I can’t do that if I just back out because things didn’t go right once.”
“Didn’t go right…?” Kuro breathed incredulously as he pulled away from Mahiru’s embrace and looked at his eve wearily in the eyes. “Not going right is one of the subclasses that we might be after getting away, or failing to win an ally over. It’s not getting slashed in the chest by a psychopath. That is a sign for you to give up and go back to living life normally while you still have a life.”
“Kuro,” Mahiru told him, “I can’t just abandon my friends.”
Kuro looked down, not wanting to see the innocent and earnest look in his eyes. He felt soft hands on his face and the tugged at him until he reluctantly looked up. “Please, Mahiru,” he said pathetically. He never said please to anyone. Manners didn’t come naturally to him, but here he was, pleading for him to give up. Kuro grimaced at how pathetic he must look. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Can you be selfish for just this one time?”
“I trust you, Kuro,” Mahiru told him kindly. “I believe that you will do everything in your power to protect me if it comes to it. I will grow stronger, but until that time, I am going to be selfish and ask you to help keep me safe whenever something like this comes up.”
Kuro reached up and brushed the pad of his thumb against Mahiru’s cheek. He felt his resolve pathetically crumbling. Due to his sloth-like nature, he was never able to hold up any form of ambition, but against Mahiru it totally disintegrated. He would never be able to tell him no when he stared at Kuro with that kind face full of hope and determination.
“Just promise to be more careful,” Kuro murmured to him. There was no way that the stubborn guy would ever get out of Kuro’s sight any time soon, but that didn’t mean that there was no chance in Kuro slipping up.
Mahiru smiled sweetly at him and nodded. “I promise.” He lifted one of his hands and ran it through Kuro’s blue tresses. “I’m sorry that I scared you so badly. I was pretty scared myself.”
“I’ll get over it soon,” Kuro told him honestly. “As long as it doesn’t happen again, I guess everything will be okay. If you get hurt again, though, we’re through…you mean too much to me for you to get yourself killed in a fight that isn’t even yours.”
“It’s your fight, though, Kuro,” Mahiru said. “You mean too much to me to just give it up Tsubaki’s a total menace. If we give up and he doesn’t come after you again in my lifetime, what about when you’re on your own again. I don’t want you to have to go into hiding, or look over your shoulder every time someone passes you by. I want you to be free.”
Kuro looked at him with wide eyes. His mouth went dry at what his eve told him. The thought of a time after he died made him ache like few things ever had. Beyond that, however, he had said that he was fighting for Kuro’s future long after he had passed on. No one had ever cared about him so much, that he was certain of. Sure, his siblings cared for him, but not enough to help unless it involved his own personal gain. Mahiru was…he was….
“You’re the single greatest person that I’ve ever met,” Kuro told him truthfully. He suddenly felt unworthy of Mahiru’s attention. He wanted to crawl somewhere and hide away from the metaphorical light that was shining off the boy. Licht claimed to be an angel, but Kuro was certain that Mahiru was actually what an angel was like. He meekly shook his head. “I…I don’t deserve any of this. Why me? Why are you doing this for me?”
Mahiru chuckled at him softly and leaned forward. Kuro, not wanting him to hurt himself, quickly shot upward and pushed him back. Mahiru laughed and wrenched him forward, tipping him off balance. He nearly toppled on top of Mahiru, but managed to catch himself with his forearms on either side of Mahiru’s head a couple of centimeters from impact. He looked at his eve with wide eyes, wondering if Mahiru had actually lost his mind.
He felt his cheeks redden as he realized the intimate position that they were in. He tried to push himself off Mahiru, suddenly feeling more than a little self-conscious. Mahiru’s arms were locked around his neck, however, and Kuro stilled himself. He didn’t want to hurt his eve by accidentally using too much force. Mahiru pulled him down and Kuro watched with wide eyes as their lips connected. After a moment of getting over the shock, his eyes fluttered shut and he sighed, at the feeling of Mahiru’s lips brushing softly against his. They separated for a moment, and Kuro looked at him dumbly with wide eyes only to lean back down and kiss him again a heartbeat later.
“I care about you, idiot,” Mahiru told him when they parted. His cheeks were tinted red as well, letting Kuro know that he wasn’t the only one that was flustered. He put his hand on Kuro’s chest and pushed on it lightly. “Now go. Like you said earlier: the sooner I rest, the sooner I get back on my feet.” He leaned up and kissed Kuro on the cheek. “Don’t you dare wreck the house while I’m like this, or I’ll kick your ass when I’m better.”
Kuro shook his head at the abrupt change in his eve’s attitude and felt a slight twitch in the corners of his lips, as though he was fighting off a smile. Huh…that was something that hadn’t happened in a long time. He scrambled off Mahiru, who allowed Kuro to help him get under the covers.
Kuro walked out a few moments later. After he closed the door, he shook his head. For someone that claimed to be so simple, Mahiru made Kuro’s life the most complicated it had ever been.