Fae sighs in content as she takes the elevator up to the fifth floor. She stretches her arms above her head with a big smile.
"I'm back." Fae sings happy.
"Welcome back." Tsubaki waves. "You seem like you had fun." He comments as he watches her with half lidded eyes.
"It was fun. We first went to visit Emmy, Yuse and Fuuto. I got pictures too. They were so cute in those uniforms. Then me and Haruhi went to that restaurant you took me too. He ordered this really nice quiche as well." Fae grins as she walks up to Tsubaki.
"How do you know what it tastes like?" Tsubaki asks as he frowns at her.
"I ate some." She adds nonchalantly. Tsubaki stares down at her, holding her shoulder.
"Are you dating him?" He asks coldly.
"N-no Tsubaki." Fae's face turns red as Tsubaki stares hard at her.
"Stuff like that's really painful to me, you know." He turns her so she faces him properly as she blinks at him in bewilderment. "I may have been forceful about it, but I mean what I said then. So I want an answer." Tsubaki puts his hands on her cheeks, tilting her head back. Fae watches him wide eyed as her breath gets caught.
"T-ts-Tsuba..." Her voice gets quieter as he moves closer to her face.
"Don't do things that put her on the spot." A voice broke Tsubaki's concentration as he moved away from Fae. Fae lets put a breath as she sees the black haired twin.
"Azusa. Why are you butting in?" Tsubaki asks angrily.
"I don't mean to butt in. But she's upset, so..." Azusa informs.
"That's none of you business! That's a problem between me and her, right?"
"Tsubaki, listen to me."
"I don't understand you, Azusa! Why do things get like this when it comes to her?! Could it be you like her, too?"
"I'm worried about you, Tsubaki."
"Huh?" Tsubaki stops, his hands unclenching.
"Because when it comes to her, you're very foceful and I have no choice but to stop you. You have to think about her feelings, or things will go badly. . ."
"Shut up." Tsubaki cleches his fists.
"Tsubaki. . ."
"I don't want to hear what you have to say anymore."
"Tsubaki!" Fae speaks up, frowning. "You shouldn't talk to him like this. He's your brother, he's far more important than me."
"Fae, you may not see it, but I love you." Tsubaki admits, grabbing her shoulder. She pulls away, scowling up at him.
"And you love your brother more." She tells him.
"I won't stop at anything to get you." Tsubaki tells her. Fae gulps and hesitantly looks over to Azusa. He looks away, distant.
"Azusa. . ." Fae says cautiously. Said man touches his head and wobbles slightly.
"Tsu. . .ba. . . Ki. . ." Azusa reaches his hand out as his form falls to the ground. Fae and Tusbaki gasp in surprise as he reaches out for his twin, attempting to catch him before he hits the floor.
"Azusa, are you okay?" Fae shouts, running to his body and rolling him on his back. She hears footsteps from above and looks up to see Masaomi. "Masaomi, call up the hospital. Azusa fainted and I need to call an ambulance." Masaomi rushes down the steps. Fae brushes Azusa's bangs back before running to the phone. Masaomi picks up his phone and immediately calls.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Fae asks as she watches Azusa's unconscious body in the medical bed, his body wired up to machines.
"The drugs will keep him asleep until the morning, so you can go home for today." Masaomi tells her.
"Are you sure?" Fae asks, wrapping her arms around herself.
"He should be fine." Masaomi smiles softly. Fae lifts her hand to her mouth, chewing on her nails.
"Should isn't is." Fae mutters bitterly. Masaomi chuckles lightly.
"It's nice to see you care." Masaomi pats her head. She blinks up at him owlishly. Then blushes.
"I-I'm sorry that wasn't meant to be out loud!" She waves her hands around as Masaomi continues to pat her head. She clears her throat awkwardly as she starts again. "How should I tell Baki?" Fae asks, staring up at Masaomi.
"Well, there'll be tests and hospitalisation will be unavoidable, but his condition is stable, so tell him not to worry too much."
"Okay." Fae nods, her eyes back on Azusa.
"Oh, we'll need to tell Natsume, too." Masaomi adds.
"I'll do it."
It can't be much different from telling someone their child/parent is dead.
"Thank you. You being here is a great help." Masaomi thanks.
"I'm only doing what a sibling should for their family." Fae eyes the various tubes. Masaomi watches her for a moment before staring back at Azusa with her and placing his hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
||| Time Skip |||
Fae steps out the elevator and walks down into the living room.
At least he's not feeling any pain. That'd be hard for everyone if he was.
Fae tramps down the stairs. She stops at the bottom as she stares at Tsubaki. He's on the sofa leaning forwards, using his elbows to hold himself up.
"I'm back." Fae says softly. Tsubaki looks up at her.
"What about Azusa?"
"He'll be fine. His medicine will ware off tomorrow and I'm sure he'll be allowed visitors." Fae adds as she walks towards him.
"I see. You made the call to Natsume, too, right? He called out manager for me, too, and... I couldn't think at all... Hey, did you know?" Tsubaki asks, leaning back. "They say that siblings who are born together share one soul. No matter how many ways the body is split, there's just one soul, so you can supposedly tell what's going on with the other person when they're apart from you. I used to seriously have that feeling."
"Tsubaki. . ." Fae sighs.
"And yet. . . I don't feel anything right now. I don't sense Azusa. It's as if he's gone." Fae steps forward and crouches down in front of him, placing her hands on his knees.
"But Azoo is alright, he's in the hospital slowly getting better by each passing moment. When he's allowed visitors you can go and see him, and he'll be fine. . . And I'm sure when you see him, you'll find that connection again." Fae comforts. Tsubaki grabs his chest.
"It hurts. Right now, it hurts when you say kind things to me." Tsubaki's head drops in shame. "I was losing my cool about things like work and about you." Fae runs her hand through her hair.
"Sorry. . ."
"If I did something screwed up and hurt you, there'd really be no way to make things right. Azusa had been stopping me to keep things from ending up that way, and yet. . . I'm the worst."
"If this is how you really feel, don't you think it would be best if you told him?" Fae asks, peering up at him.
"Let him know?"
"About how you feel right now."
"There's no way. After the awful things I said. . . It's practically like I landed him in hospital." Tsubaki shakes his head frantically. Fae grabs his face, her palms on his cheeks as she holds him in place and scowls at him.
"But Azusa wouldn't think that. None of us think that. Just like if you did cross the line, I'd forgive you." Fae tells him, her brown eyes staring into his purple ones. He raises his hand and places it over her left one and nuzzles it.
"I know that." he squeeses his eyes tight. "I know Azusa will probably forgive me. That's exactly why I can't be forgiving. . . Towards myself." Tsubaki hugs her suddenly, pulling her chest towards his. "I know it's unfair to hug you at a time like this, but. . . I'm sorry." Tsubaki apologises. He tightens his grip around her as she smiles gently.
"It's fine." She whispers as she wraps her own arms around him. Then she giggles lightly. "But can I sit on the sofa and hug you? This is killing my knees." Tsubaki leans back slightly, tears still in his eyes.
". . . Yeah." He says hesitantly, his voice thick from holding back his tears. Fae smiles at him as she sits next to him, eliciting the hug first as she wraps her arms around his torso and buries her head in his shoulder. Tsubaki stiffens before nuzzling into her hair.
||| Time Skip |||
"I hope he's okay." Ema says, walking besides Fae.
"He'll be fine. Azoo is pretty strong. I'm surprised it took him this long to faint." Fae grins, shifting the bag around in her arms.
"You say that, yet your hugging the bag and not carrying it normally." Ema points out, smiling sadly. Fae laughs nervously, changing it do she held the handle now.
"I see I'm rubbing off on you." Fae gives a sheepish smile. Ema sighs with a smile as they enter the hospital.
"Fae, you're only ever hugging things when your worried, like how your furrow your brow or tilt your head when your confused." Ema smiles, watching as her sister huffs in embarrassment.
"What? Just like how your ears turn red when your lying, or how you brush your hair back when your biding time. Or like how you flirt when you-"
"Fae!" Ema whines.
"Okay, okay." Fae smirks, sniggering at her sister embarrassment. They approach the desk and stop, smiling at the lady. "We're here for Azusa Asahina, we're his sisters. Could you tell us which room he's residing in?" Fae asks.
"Oh, you're here." Both girls look over to the corridor to see Natsume and Azusa had.
"Natsume, Azoo." Fae grins, approaching the two.
"You came to see me." Azusa smiles to both girls.
"Is it okay for you to be up and about already?" Ema asks.
"Yup. I'm finally allowed to have visitors, too."
"We're glad." Fae smiles. Ema and Azusa smile to one another and Fae watches as Natsume checks his watch.
"I'll be going then. Take care." Natsume said to Azusa.
"Thank you, Natsume." Azusa thanks.
"Look after Azusa for me you two." Natsume faces both girls.
"Will do, Natsume." Fae answers. "See you soon."
"Thank you for coming all this way." Azusa turns to the girls.
"Why wouldn't we come see our strong big brother?" Fae teases. "Ukyo asked us to deliver these for you; there's some clothes and stuff." Fae lifts up the bag.
"I appreciate it." Azusa smiles. Fae looks him over, her brows furrowed in thought.
"You're not in pain, are you?" Fae asks, a sad look crossing her face. Ema looks down sadly as Azusa looks at her questionably.
"I'm fine, no need to be worried." Azusa smiles. Ema widens her eyes in surprise.
"I hope you get well soon, Azusa." Ema comments quickly. Fae raises a brow at her sister outburst. Ema looks sheepishly to her, twisting her lips. "I need to go get revision guides." Ema tells Fae. Fae nods her head and goes into her purse, getting out some bills.
"Here, take these. Be back before it gets dark." Fae smiles as she hands them over. Ema nods before quickly making her way out the hospital. "Isn't she just so grown up? I feel like a proud parent." Fae grins happily. Azusa smiles as he takes the bag from her.
"Would you like to go outside?" Azusa asks. Fae blinks at him before smiling.
"Sure. I got an empty schedule today to come see you." She follows after him as he walks back to his room.
"I thought you had work." Azusa notes.
"Yeah, but I got Ishida to cover for me. If he needs me he'll call. Besides, family is more important than work." Fae follows him aimlessly. They soon make it to his room and he places the bag of clothes beside his bed and they walk outside.
"Do you have a ride back?" Azusa asks, trying to find ways to fill in this silence between them.
"Nope. I walked here with Emmy so I could spend more time with her." Azusa smiles down at her as they make their way to a bench and hey both sit down. They bask in h sunlight as they sit in silence. It was a comfortable silence until Fae started to think of what happened just before Azusa fainted.
To think he fainted because me and Tsubaki were arguing in front of him. How childish of us.
Fae sighs. Azusa notices her uncomfortableness and starts speaking.
"According to Masa's explanation, I have something called meningitis."
"Meningitis? The curable kind, right? With no pain?" Azusa looks at her, his brow furrowing but smiling. She is so worried about him, its endearing.
"It'll be fine if I get it treated. I'm told I can expect to suffer almost no after effects. They said I didn't have too much to worry about."
"Thank god." Fae sighs in relief. If he would go through some sort of pain, she didn't know what she'd do. She couldn't go through that again.
"Well, in terms of work, the timing was bad, though. But there no point in fretting about it, right? Right now, the only thing I can do is to get well as quickly as possible."
"True, true." Fae nods. It was silent for another moment before Azusa speaks up again.
"By the way, how are things? I mean, back at home. . ."
"When you got sent into hospital everyone was worried, but that's to be expected. So other than that, it's the usual. But erm, what happened is really eating at him." Fae looks down at the ground. The wind starts to pick up as Azusa stands, leaving Fae sitting on the bench.
"You're talking about Tusbaki, aren't you?" Azusa asks. Fae nods as she runs her hand through her hair.
"He feels responsible for you ending up this way. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel partly responsible too." Fae looks down casted.
"I knew it. . ."
"He thinks he created the situation that caused you anxiety. I feel like I cause you anxiety because you fainted when me and Tsubaki were arguing."
"The situation?"
"Like the lead role for the anime, and the incident in the living room."
"Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Ask away."
"How do you feel about Tsubaki?" Fae froze. She stares at him, standing up next to him so she could at least be near the same height as him when she spoke. She looks off into the distant, watching the trees sway.
"Honestly." Fae runs her hand through her hair. "I have only ever seen him as an older brother, and if not that, a best friend."
"And as a man?" Azusa asks. Fae but her lip.
"I've never thought of him that way. That's why I'm grateful that you stopped him all them times."
"You're wrong." Azusa states.
"Huh?" Fae looks up at him, tilting her head.
"I haven't done anything that's worthy of your gratitude. It's like Tusbaki said. I was butting in." Fae's eyes widen.
Don't tell me--
"You see, I love you. Not as an older brother, but as a man." Azusa wraps his arms around Fae, pulling her to his chest. Fae tenses as she steps back slightly. "I'm sorry." Azusa apologises. "I shouldn't have said it. It's not just Tsubaki. Several of my brothers also have feelings for you. And the fact that you're troubled by it. . . I knew all that, and yet. . ."
"It's fine. It's best to get things of your chest, you know?" Fae tries to smile, but her eyes betray her. They hold uncertainty. Her phone rings in her pocket, making her jump. "Ah, sorry Azusa, it's probably work." Fae apologises as she takes out her phone and walks away. "Himata speaking."
"Himata, you don't need to come in right now, but I need you back later. We've got an inspection and I need to fill you in on the details."
"Inspections? They have those at precincts?" Fae asks, scrunching up her face.
"It's not exactly a inspection. . ." Ishida sighs.
"I'll come by later." Fae sighs as she quickly waves to Azusa. He didn't seem to notice but he saw her movement and stares blankly.
"Still there?" Ishida asks.
"Like I said, I'll come by later."