Who: Sayuri and Touya What: Waking up Where: Medical Center When: Sunday, November 27th, 2009 Rating: PG-13 Status: Incomplete.
She feels a little bit like how she imagined Hachiko would, the way she's become something of a permanent fixture at Touya's bedside. The volunteers have all learned to work around her, and she supposes she should be a bit more accomodating, but she hasn't been. The chair they'd given her to put next to the bed hadn't moved an inch since she'd set it there and sat down. Sayuri sighs, hugging her knees, wondering if she should be alarmed that she doesn't even feel uncomfortable anymore, even after barely sleeping, even after all the worrying.
Touya's consciousness came slowly, much slower than anyone else's had, a finger twitching here, eyelids fluttering there, but once it started, he moved inexorably toward that point. A rolling stone gaining momentum the longer it moved. As his body started to wake up, so did his mind and his eyes didn't open gradually, instead they snapped open as he pushed himself up, heedless of the pain that still wracked his body. Eyes wide and unseeing at first, he reached for a weapon that wasn't there, lips curled into an almost feral snarl as his mind was still stuck in what he had seen before he'd fallen, a ten foot tall angelic looking creature who had downed Blaze in one hit.
She straightens when she sees him move, the first flinch of his hand alerting her. She's moving to her feet by the time he sits up, and she both hates and loves how she somehow knows what to do. "Touya!" she whispers urgently, reaching for his hand. "Touya."
The instant her fingers curl around his hand, Touya flinches, his head turning so fast to look at her that a normal person would have whiplash, but then he sees her, his eyes taking a moment to adjust. "Where..." He shakes his head slightly, trying to clear it, looking around them, bewildered by the hospital setting when they had been underground. They'd been underground in a basement even further underground. There had been children. A cave. He'd seen Blaze go down, he'd seen the sword slide through her, felt it cut through him. "Saya.... what...?"
"Back," Sayuri says quietly, tugging his hand down, but never letting go, her hold on his hand gentle but firm, trying to anchor him back to consciousness. She's seen his face like this before, confused and muddled, but at least this time he remembers her name. "You're back." She presses a hand on his shoulder to coax him to lie back down. "How are you feeling...?"
Touya lies back down, more meekly than is normally his wont, He feels weakened, not only physically, but mentally as his head hits the pillow, his eyes never leaving hers. "Did I die...?" He asks, not bothering to add on the 'again' as he looks up at her, searching her face, his fingers curling around hers. Where is back? Where is this? There are too many questions he wants to ask, too many to be answered and a part of him just wants to tug her into his arms wherever the fuck they are. No matter what happens, she's always been the one thing that makes sense in the whole mess that is his life, the mess that he dragged her into and entangled her in.
Sayuri presses her lips together in a line, deciding not to answer. Almost, but not really, but she doesn't even want to acknowledge that. "You got hit badly," she says instead, reaching up and pushing his hair from his face, her touch light but never hesitant. "We're back on campus, you've been resting for a while." The wait hasn't been too torturous, only slightly. "Just a few days."
Touya relaxes slightly at the touch, allowing her to touch him in a quietly intimate way that no one else is allowed. He had lost days? It wasn't a feeling that sat well with him. Unconsciousness is far too close to death, to the feeling of waking up to realise that time had been lost, lives had been lived and even if it is only slightly, that the world has changed without you there. "The fuck wasn't I healed?" He asks, his voice fairly mild despite the harsh words, more confused than anything.
Sayuri sighs, shaking her head. "You were." Eventually. She thinks back to Liadan and Keiko and their magic, magic she hasn't learned and will never master herself, and how Liadan's efforts had failed. But Touya had made it again. Stubborn man. She can't help but smile slightly at the thought, drawing her hand away from his hair and resting on his shoulder again. "Whatever that...thing, was, it was so strong. Watanabe-san did the best she could until we could get you here."
Touya squeezes the hand which he still holds onto, his fingers holding hers tightly, almost as if he is afraid that she will disappear if he lets go. "I... I only remember the first fuckin' hit," he murmurs under his breath, closing his eyes for a moment before he forces them open once more, not resisting as they fixed themselves on Sayuri's face once more. "Were you hurt? Did she fuckin' get you too?"
He's holding on too tightly, but she doesn't mind. It's almost comforting, the way he won't let her go. She's the same, she knows. "There was only one hit," she tells him, absently fixing the blankets around him with her free hand. "And I'm alright. Watanabe-san managed to get us away eventually." She doesn't tell him of her own recklessness, of sprinting into the cage to pull him away from the monster. "We didn't try to fight it."
Touya nods, and then pushes himself up slightly, reaching up awkwardly to touch her shoulder, pushing her hair off it so that it flows down her back. "Good," he mutters, releasing his hold ever so slightly, relaxing it. "Have you slept?" Strange that such a question would come in this situation, but he is more worried about her than he ever is about himself.
"I did." She doesn't explain how much - how little, actually. Technically, that wasn't the question he'd asked, so she has no problem omitting the finer details. "I'm alright," she tells him again, trying a smile. It's faint and a little bit faded at the edges, but it's there. She's tired and her back is cramped and she could do with a decent meal, but Touya's awake and that's enough to make her happy.
Touya is quiet for a moment and then he's pushing himself up, his stomach ravenous, clawing at him as he forces himself into a sitting position, already tired of staying confined to a bed as he moves, releasing Sayuri's hand to tug the covers off of himself. "Let's get outta here and..." Get some food. Be alone. "do something."
Sayuri blinks, startled as she automatically steps back to allow him room to get off the bed. "Should you even be up?" she asks, but her tone is resigned, the question ending in a soft sigh. Touya's notoriously bullheaded, and she doubts she can talk him back into lying down and continue resting. She's glad he's awake, but she thinks she should've known he wouldn't rest once he opened his eyes. "And do what?" she concedes, crossing her arms.
"Eat. Sleep somewhere that ain't a goddamned hospital bed." Be alone. The implication is there in Touya's tone, hidden away where most wouldn't be able to find it. He pushes himself to his feet, testing his balance. He wants to be with her, away from people. Like he would have been in Japan. In that other life. "Something, Saya. I don't know."
Sayuri studies his face for a moment, then lowers her arms to her sides. "Okay." There's a hint of disapproval in her tone, but not very much; she reaches for his hand under the pretense of helping him stay on his feet. They've always been good at dancing around the real reasons they did anything like this. Besides, she's tired of sitting around doing nothing. "If you can complain, I guess you're completely recovered."
"Completely," Touya says, but when he sets off, he's limping heavily, stopping to wrap his arm around Sayuri instead, resting some of his weight on her. "...or mostly." This close, he can smell her, as strange as it sounds and he resists the urge to lean into her more.
"Definitely," she says sarcastically, giving him her most deadpan stare even as she let his hand go to slide an arm around his waist. "Stubborn jackass." But her voice is mild, the words casually thrown without any intention to harm. Besides, he's stressed her out and she has to let him know. She helps guide him, patient and careful, annoyed and relieved all at the same time.
He smiles inwardly at the words, making his slow way back to the dorms, limping heavily. There's something inside of him, tugging at his chest, but he doesn't put it into words, simply lets his thumb slide gently over her shoulder, stroking over it a few times before he rests again, unable to find a rational reason to continue. It's only when they reach his dorm room and he's fumbling for the keys that he looks at her. "Stay." It comes out as a command even though they both know she could refuse if she wanted to.
She's hugging him as they walk, but it's hidden again; she's keeping him from stumbling. "If I leave you'll fall over," she retorts, though they both know it hides her answer to his request. He's brusque, she's wry; it's the way they talk to each other, familiar and easy and just a touch argumentative. It's just how they are.
A smile touches his lips, making them curve ever so slightly as he opens the door, leading them both in before he closes it behind him and once the world is shut out, kept away from them, he relaxes more. His hold becoming more natural as his arms slide around her.
Sayuri sighs softly when she hears the door close, leaning close to him as her hands slide up the slope of his back, curling in the fabric of his shirt. She buries her face against his shoulder, sighing again as she closes her eyes. She's missed this, more than she'd ever admit out loud, not that she'd ever admit to it in the first place. "Touya," she murmurs, and that's all. He's alright. He's holding her.
He doesn't murmur her name in reply, but he lets his fingers slide up her back, his arms wrapping completely around her. He's scared her, he knows. He's left her alone, even if it was only for a couple days and he lets his lips brush over her hair, refusing to let it linger long enough for a kiss.
She doesn't say anything else. There's nothing else to say, anyway. She just hugs him; Touya, solid and warm and awake, after worrying her needlessly for days. Sayuri doesn't know whether to kick him or kiss him, and strangely enough the thought makes her smile against his shoulder. His breath is soft against her hair, and she tilts her head back so she can look at him.
The fingers of one hand push back her hair from her face, looking down at her with a much softer expression than anyone else ever is allowed to see. "What?" he asks, watching her.
"Nothing," she answers promptly, still studying his face like she wants to commit it to memory. Like she hasn't already. Touya's the single constant in her life, it's not like she'll forget him anytime soon. "I don't like you." Her expression is calm, her voice steady, but she still hasn't quite forgiven him.
"Deal with it," came the off-hand reply as he leads them over to his bed, still limping, still in a huge amount of pain as he tugs her along with him. He wants to kiss her, but can't find a good enough reason. He doesn't sit down when they reach the bed though and instead he leans down, pressing his lips firmly (yet still somehow gentle, in their own Touya way) against hers.
"Annoying," is her answer as she follows him, holding his hand tightly. When he kisses her, it's abrupt, but then again, this is Touya. She tilts her face up to kiss him back, pressing closer to him. He always kisses just this side of rough, but she's never shied away.
His fingers slide up her back once more, mouth moving against hers as he sits down, pulling her with him, one hand tangling in her long hair before he breaks the kiss, simply looking at her, eyes saying all the things he can't put into words.