Work Text:
It was their fifth anniversary that it happened. One moment--and then the next. They were singing Our Incomplete Selves, dancing, happy--and then Ban was shoving Yuki away, across the stage, and as he pushed himself up, sore, confused, he saw Ban, lying in a pool of blood and broken glass, part of a metal bar still on top of his head.
Yuki screamed. Somewhere, he was dimly aware that other people were screaming too, a whole audience of them, but it was all he could do to scramble across the stage, to where Ban was lying, bleeding, under what seemed to be half the lighting system, still as death. He didn’t move as Yuki called out for him, or when he was taken away on a stretcher. And Yuki wasn’t allowed to see him, not for days, until finally he was sitting on a chair next to where Ban was lying in a hospital bed, tubes running in and out of him and machines beeping as his head was wrapped in bandages. Ban hadn’t moved at all. The nurse had explained that the machines were breathing for him, even, and it terrified Yuki--the idea that Ban might be still and silent and motionless forever, unable even to breathe on his own. That the last of the smiling, moving Ban that Yuki would ever get to experience was Ban’s terrified voice, screaming out his name, and his hands shoving him to safety. He hadn’t even seen his face until it was slack and bloody.
“You’re his next-of-kin, right?” the nurse had said with a smile. “The doctor will be in in just a moment to discuss his options with you.”
“Shouldn’t Ban be part of the conversation?” Yuki had asked, voice hoarse from crying for four days straight.
The nurse’s smile went stiff, then, and she said: “You’re his next-of-kin, so you two are practically family, right?”
“Yeah,” Yuki said. “Ban’s...he’s all I’ve got.”
“I see,” said the nurse, almost at a loss. “You know...they say coma patients can sometimes hear what’s going on in the room around them. And we’ve tested his reflexes, and if you squeeze his hand he’ll automatically squeeze back.”
“Does that mean he’ll wake up soon?” Yuki asked.
“...The doctor will be in in a moment,” the nurse said rather than answer him. “I’m sure he’ll help you figure out the best course of action for your Ban.”
Yuki nodded, numbly. He wasn’t sure that this was the sort of decision that he should be making. Ban had always said to leave those sorts of things to him, to talk to him before signing anything that anyone offered. Ban hadn’t ever said anything about the doctor’s office except to complain about how much medical bills cost; Yuki didn’t think he’d even gone in for a check-up in years. What if Yuki made the wrong choice, and when Ban woke up, he had a bunch of medical bills to worry about? Or what if Yuki made the wrong choice, and Ban never woke up? He didn’t think he could live in a world where Ban died. They were best friends. They were going to be together forever, Re:vale, singing and writing songs and dancing. Yuki couldn’t live without Ban. He had once, but he’d long ago forgotten how.
The doctor came in. He was an older man, with stress lines around his eyes and silver hair. He held out his hand in front of him, but Yuki didn’t realize he had been offering it to shake until he was pulling it away.
Ban would have scolded him for that.
“You’re Mr. Ogami’s next of kin?” the doctor asked.
“...Yeah,” Yuki said.
“I wanted to discuss options for his care with you,” the doctor said. “Mr. Ogami’s motor cortex was severely injured in last week’s accident, and he’s slipping into a state of unresponsive wakefulness syndrome--or, to use the colloquial term, a coma. Due to his injury being an open-head wound, where his skull itself was fractured, and due to his current lack of responsiveness, his odds of survival are currently at less than 20%. While it is possible to put him on life support and attempt to treat him, he’s still likely to die at any point in the next few weeks, and even if he does eventually wake up, he will be unlikely to have much remaining motor control, and will need a lot of support and help. The chances of him living a normal life again are incredibly low, and he will probably never fully recover to the same level of independence he was before, if he wakes, which the chances of are extremely low.”
“But...he’s Ban,” Yuki said, feeling totally unmoored and strangely empty. “He--of course he’s going to wake up. He’s Ban .”
“...I’m sorry,” the doctor said. “I’ll give you some time, to think about it.”
“Think about…?”
“Whether or not you want to keep him on life support,” the doctor explained. “His injuries are extensive, and regardless of your choice he may very well die in the next few weeks. It will be very expensive to keep him on life support, as well, so you need to think about whether or not that’s feasible for you.”
Yuki thought about their small apartment, about how Ban worried over bills, how he hadn’t gone to the doctor’s office even for a checkup in nearly four years. He thought about what Ban would do if it was him in the bed. He thought about Ban pushing him out of the way, screaming out his name, lying here in this coma just for Yuki. He thought about the way Ban smiled at him as they were writing songs together, and the way they’d go out to dinner with Momo after a show. If there was any way in the world to possibly preserve Ban’s life, Yuki would take it.
He would do whatever necessary, whatever it took. He would make a deal with the devil himself to keep Ban breathing, just for the chance that one day he would look over at Yuki again, and smile at him, and say, “Good morning. I’m glad you’re awake. How did you sleep?”
No matter what, Yuki was keeping Ban alive.
The door to Ban’s hospital room opened. Yuki looked up as Kujo stepped inside.
“Good day, Yuki,” he said.
“What are you doing here,” Yuki growled. “Haven’t you done enough?!”
“How rude,” Kujo said, a small smile firmly affixed to his lips. “I came here to offer you a deal.”
“Ban’s injured,” Yuki said. “Even if we wanted to sign with you we couldn’t.”
“I’m not here for Ogami,” said Kujo. “I’m here for you. If you sign with me, I will pay all of Ogami’s hospital bills until such time as he has no more need of them.”
Yuki would do anything to make sure Ban kept breathing.
“Of course, I’ll have you specially trained overseas before you debut...you have the talent, but you still have a long way to go before you surpass Zero.”
He would even make a deal with the devil himself.
“You’ll pay all of Ban’s hospital bills?” Yuki said. “So that he makes a full recovery and is able to sing again?”
Never sign or agree to anything when I’m not there to check it over for you, Yuki. I don’t want you getting taken advantage of.
“He’ll have the best treatment money can buy,” Kujo promised.
Ban’s hand lay limply on the hospital bed, on top of the thin blanket. Yuki reached over and took it, squeezing gently.
Ban squeezed back.
“Alright,” Yuki said, squeezing Ban’s hand again and getting another squeeze in return. Good. Ban was asleep, but he could still hear Yuki. He approved of his choice. He wanted to live, too. “I’ll be your idol. I’ll do whatever you want. Just so long as Ban lives and wakes up.”
Kujo smiled, and held out his hand to shake. Yuki ignored it.
“I look forward to working with you,” Kujo said.
Yuki would do anything to keep Ban alive, even make a deal with the devil.
And now it was time to give the devil his dues.