Silence is Golden

Silver Lining

  "What is it?" Hiroki paused.  

  "Make sure you get Takahashi-kun back in school soon. He's a lost cause when it comes to literature, but he's the only damn student I have that I don't have to yell at on a regular basis." Akihiko hesitated. The great Devil Kamijou was actually worried about his students. Whether he would ever say that directly or not was another case, but the fact still remained, and it touched Akihiko's heart a bit.  A couple moments later, Nowaki was put on the phone.

  "Hello? Usami-Sensei?" Akihiko's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the man's voice, his breath slightly unsteady.

  "I-I'm here." He managed to choke out, his throat suddenly dry from anticipation. 

  "There's no need for self introductions, so if you want I can just go ahead and tell you what we found." Akihiko wasn't sure whether or not to be comforted or offset by the man's professional tone. He assumed it just came with his job.

  "That'd be best." Nowaki hummed in agreement, the sounds of footsteps then the, rustling papers followed. 

  "Usami-san?"
 
  "I'm here."

  "Aliright, so..." More rustling. "About Takahashi-kun. I don't originally work in the department with his age range, but I can still help I believe. I was told he experienced sudden deafness?"

  "Yes." Akihiko put his forehead in his hand. "I don't know what happened, but he was distraught and said he couldn't hear anything."

  "Hmm, okay. Sorry about this, but give me a moment to find the copy of the paperwork and scans. It's mixed in with all of my other copies."

  "No problem." Akihiko tried to steady his breathing, telling himself that it was pointless to get worked up, and he began praying to whatever god would listen that the results would come out alright.

  "Here it is." Akihiko bit his lip. A tense silence passed over the conversation as Nowaki examined the results 

  "Well, the problem isn't that we don't know what's causing it," Akihiko felt as if his heart was going to stop. "It's just that, Usami-san, I'm almost certain there's no way Takahashi-kun will hear again." And at that Akihiko felt his heart dropped.

  "W-wait, so there's no treatment for this?" He asked frantically, wishing that what he was being told wasn't the truth.

  "Don't just use this call to skip the follow up, because seeing him may be vital, but based on the other doctor's evaluation and what I'm seeing, I'm afraid there's little we could do." Akihiko clutched at the table, his knuckles turning white. 

  "Well, w-what's the...what's the problem?" He asked, not really sure if he wanted an answer. 

  "Based on the scans, it seems to multiple problems."

  This is all my fault. This is because of me. 

  "Some of it may be related to head trauma and other parts of it may be caused by the loudness of the crash..." He trailed off. "I'm sorry." Akihiko's didn't know what to feel. How hard is it going to be for Misaki now to do the things he loves? How much is he going to miss out on because of his selfishness? Everyone has told him that he couldn't have know, that the other person wasn't paying attention so he shouldn't blame himself, but what if he'd just waited. What if he had followed his gut feeling? This could have all been avoided. 

  This was because of me.

  "Usami-san?"

  "I-I've got to go." Not bothering to listen to Nowaki's goodbye, Akihiko hung up the phone, grabbing it with both hands. He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

  I'm sorry. He thought to himself. I'm so sorry. A prickling sensation flooded the corners of his eyes and he gripped the phone tighter, a dry laugh escaping his lips. Akihiko never cried, and yet the past week it seems he's done nothing but.

  I know I'll never be able to tell you, because you won't ever hear me...but, I'm so terrible sorry, Misaki. A sharp pain filled his chest as he brought his filled hand to it, taking in a sharp breath.

  "Usagi-san?" Akihiko froze.

- - -

  Misaki stood at the foot of the couch, worriedly staring at Akihiko intently. The man was crying again; an act that was extremely out of character, and yet he seemed to be doing it more often than not. It, of course, was not good for Misaki's nerves. The older man wiped his eyes, glancing up at him before looking back down at the ground. Misaki sat down tentatively next to him. 

  "Usagi-san, what's wrong." He whispered. Misaki could tell that Akihiko sighed as he reached down for his satchel resting against the couch. Pulling out a notebook and a pen, he began to write; handing the note to Misaki when he was finished. The writing was elegant and neat. An obvious trait for someone who writes constantly, but the message was not something Misaki was not expecting. Two words, one a contraction, one not.

   I'm sorry. Misaki frowned, scanning the page for more writing. Lower on the sheet, it continued.

  There is nothing they can do to help. It won't get better. I'm sorry.

  I love you. 

  Misaki's breath was sucked out of him, causing him to feel empty and void. His lungs stopped working and he felt tears burn in his eyes. He gripped the paper tightly, a sudden sob escaping his lips.

  I love you. 

  It hadn't occurred to him just how much he's lost. Just how much he would miss those three words that he had so easily taken advantage of before. He was never going to hear them again, and that was the one thing he'd regret for the rest of his life.

  Akhiko's pulled the boy into his embrace, Misaki burring his face into the cloth of his shirt as Akihiko caressed him gently with his large, cold hands. Misaki held nothing back, gasping for breath as the violent sobs claimed him. 

  "U-Usagi-S-san." He choked out. "I-I love you. I love you." Akihiko's grip on him tightened, warm droplets falling into Misaki's hair, but he didn't care.

  And as he too wrapped his arms around Akihiko, something suddenly occurred to him. Misaki tried to control his weeping to focus, his ragged breaths calmed as he put his face to Akihiko's chest. 

  Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump. 

  Misaki gripped the back of Akihiko's shirt tightly as he felt the man's heartbeat, thumping rhythmically within it's warm confines. And it made Misaki cry for a whole new reason; he laughed, never wanting to let him go.

  I love you, Misaki.

  And he could feel it resonating within Akihiko's chest, his own name almost heard as he felt it spoken.

  "I feel it." He chuckled, snuggling his face into the essence of the man. "I feel it." And suddenly, nothing else seemed to matter.

- - - 

A/N 

  Guys. It's over. That's the end. 14, 986 words, I'm going to reach the 15,000 using this A/N since I didn't include any other and this is the last. ;-; It's kind of sad to say this, but I suppose this is goodbye. I'm going to have to leave you with an ending that I hope did justice to the rest of the story (or vise versa I suppose) But wow, It's been, not a very long, but a fun journey writing this. One month. Exactly one month it took me to finish. Thank you all for reading, it's been a pleasure getting to know your opinions on this. It means a great deal to me. Love you guys.

  However, despite this being an end to our current journey, we must look to start the next. If you decided to embark on your next with me, It would be my pleasure. Just hop over to my account and I'll clear out some space for you to have a seat. No, no. I don't mind, really. :3

Thanks again for all of your support. Stay absolutely fabalous lovelies and don't forget to leave your mark. Comment and vote, or don't if you so choose.

  Adieu for now,

     ~Sensei