• CHAPTER 147 - RETURN

    What better thing to do than go back to the home you missed so much? Too bad it's the home where the worst thing happened.

    That afternoon, after a mere twenty minutes of sleep, I was rudely awakened by the feeling of bile creeping violently up my throat and dashed to the toilet. At first, Kai thought I was struggling from a bad dream until I elbowed him on the side by accident. The toilet became my best friend that afternoon and I heaved up bile nearly every twenty minutes. Not only was I sick with the flu, but I was nauseous from the bloody images still swimming through my head. Every time I would vomit, some of the blood Kai gave me would come up and make me even sicker.

    "I feel horrible," I almost started bawling. "I'm hungry..."

    "Will you be okay to eat?" Kai asked me while I was still leaned over the toilet.

    I shook my head, "I don't think so, but I'm so hungry,"

    Kai paused, thinking, "Maybe some rice soup and crackers should do it,"

    I flushed the toilet and fell over into Kai's arms, who was sitting next to me, "I don't know..."

    "It's the least we could try," Kai kissed my head. "You have to try to eat something or you'll become malnourished."

    "As if I'm not already," I groaned, holding my stomach. "I'm tired."

    Kai rested his chin on my head, "Will you be okay here for an hour as I run to get some food?"

    I nodded, "Yeah, I'll stay in here,"

    Kai paused for a moment, "I'll call Akatsuki and have him come over,"

    "Why?"

    "I can't risk you being alone," Kai sighed.

    Before I could answer, Kai had already dialed Akatsuki's number on his cell phone and held it up to his ear. Kai held me a little closer with his one arm and stroked my waist. I rolled up the sleeve of his shirt of his left arm and sighed in relief that the bullet wound was finally healing. Kai had removed the bandaging and there was only a small black wound where the bullet hit. He seemed to have more control of his arm.

    "Okay, see you then," Kai nodded and hung up. I didn't even hear him and Akatsuki talking; I was too distracted. "He'll be here in twenty minutes."

    Instead of complaining to him, I sighed and buried my burning face in his chest. The biggest reason I didn't want Akatsuki over was because I looked like a train wreck; my face was pale and hot, my hair and clothes were a mess, I had rings under my eyes, and, well, I just looked downright awful. I didn't need anybody else worrying about me, but I couldn't really do anything about it.

    Kai scooped me up and carried me out of the bathroom after my absence of vomiting. Carefully, he lay me down on the bed and pulled the covers up to my chest. He kissed my forehead firmly and moved my bangs from my forehead. Even though I was sweating and my face was burning, the rest of me was so cold; my body did such strange things when I had the flu.

    After a while, there was a knock at the room door and Kai glided gracefully over to it. The door opened, they greeted each other, and Akatsuki rounded the corner and he stared at me in shock. I smiled weakly and lay my arms over my stomach.

    "Don't come too close," I warned with a smile. "I don't want you getting sick."

    "You look horrible," Akatsuki commented freely, still shocked.

    "I always do when I'm sick," I sighed. "Especially with the flu."

    "I'll make it quick," Kai butted in. "Keep her company."

    Kai left the hotel room and Akatsuki and I were alone in the room. He sat at the edge of my bed near me, careful not to get too close. He chuckled, "Aya never seemed to get sick; she must have taken your immunity."

    I nodded, "Big time," I coughed. "She's always been better than me."

    Akatsuki paused for a long moment and looked down in sorrow, "Uketomeru told me what happened earlier...with the whole Minoru and Kaiba thing."

    My heart skipped a beat, "He did?"

    He nodded, "I'm sorry you had to see that,"

    My chest started hurting again, igniting a long-lost inferno, "I-I wish there was a proper funeral,"

    Akatsuki looked at me thoughtfully, "Maybe we could do something for them. You were in the hospital right after they died, right? So you weren't able to do anything."

    "And their bodies were donated to science," I mumbled. "They wouldn't let them have a proper funeral."

    Akatsuki smiled lightly, "I think we should have our own celebration," he suggested. "Celebration of their lives, of course."

    "Their lives that they hid from me my whole life," I halfway smiled. I was upset they never told me what they were all about, but I appreciated it as well because it kept me from getting hurt when they were alive.

    Akatsuki reached his hand over to cup over mine that were folded across my stomach, "They were good people," he smiled at me, lightening up the atmosphere.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    After I downed the mushy rice soup and crackers, I managed to take a nap for a few hours. Kai was right; the soup really would help. I wasn't feeling as nauseous as earlier and I felt safe with Kai and Akatsuki watching over me. Akatsuki was my guardian and Kai was my boyfriend; I almost couldn't be with anybody safer than them.

    Once I finally woke up, I noticed Akatsuki sitting at the end of the bed, watching television, and Kai was curled up next to me with his head lying lightly on my stomach. I stretched my arms and my legs a little, trying not to move Kai, and I yawned. Akatsuki turned around and smiled at me lightly.

    "It's about time you woke up; I've been bored witless." he chuckled.

    "You and Kai didn't talk at all?" I asked weakly, playing with Kai's hair.

    Akatsuki shrugged, "A little bit, but we didn't want to wake you,"

    I yawned again, "I must have really been out of it if I didn't even feel Kai rest his head on me," I looked down at Kai in awe.

    "You talk in your sleep; did you know that?" Akatsuki informed me, on the verge of laughter.

    I panicked, "Wh-what did I say?"

    "'Kai, not here, not here, it's too obvious'," Akatsuki laughed.

    My face burned hotter than my fever, "I-I--You liar..."

    "Ask Kai; he's a witness...and a victim, apparently," he buried his face in one hand to laugh a little more.

    I fondled with my fingers nervously, embarrassed. I was never told that I talked in my sleep. I knew I would scream sometimes from nightmares or nightglares, but talking? Maybe I was in too deep of a sleep...what did Kai think about what I said?

    "Humorous," Kai mumbled with a small smile, keeping his eyes closed.

    I looked away, still blushing, "Don't talk about it; I don't even remember having a dream." did I really dream of Kai and I--

    "Are you ready to leave?" Kai sat up slowly.

    I furrowed my eyebrows together, "Leave where?"

    "Home," Kai stared at me. "Your home."

    "My home...?" I had to think for a moment before I finally caught on. A knot tied in my stomach. "The house I lived in before I met you?"

    Kai nodded, "It's unoccupied; we can go visit and pay tribute to your parents."

    I stared at Kai, unsure and uneasy. What would the house look like? Would mom and dad's room still be coated in blood, as it was two years ago? What even happened to the house after I left it?

    "Arisa?" Akatsuki asked, concerned.

    It wasn't until Kai reached his hand over to wipe off a tear that I was silently crying. I removed Kai's hand from my face and nodded, "Yeah, let's go,"

    I sat up and Kai stopped me by gripping my shoulder gently, "You don't have to,"

    "I want to," I stared at Kai confidently. "They never had a proper funeral; I need to honor them in some way..."

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    Exiting out of Kai's car with his assistance, I looked down at the ground first. My heart was in knots and the violent butterflies were launching in my stomach. Kai kept one arm wrapped around my waist and Akatsuki was standing on the other side of me. Taking in a deep breath, I lifted my head and looked, once more, at the house I lived in just two years ago. It appeared very eerie with the redeveloping storm coming in. The lights were off in the house and the garage was halfway open, showing mom and dad's cars. There was a long stream of yellow caution tape all around the premises.

    "It's still under investigation," Kai spoke before I could ask anything. He was referring to the murder.

    "Are we even supposed to be here?" I looked up at him with a cracking voice.

    He shrugged, "It's still your house; you have the right to enter, in my opinion."

    "We should make it quick; you never know when they could come back to investigate." Akatsuki suggested, looking over at Kai and I.

    Kai held me a little closer to his side and nodded, "Agreed,"

    One slow step at a time, we inched our way to the caution tape. After ducking under that, we made our way towards the house and I limped the whole way. The grass and weeds and plants around the house were overgrown and unkempt. The driveway was faded and cracked compared to when it was newly paved a few years ago. I tried to distract myself with anything possible until we reached the front door.

    "If you wish to stop, just tell me," Kai advised.

    I shook my head, "Let's just go in,"

    Akatsuki opened the screen door for us and Kai slowly turned the knob of the door. I held my breath and bit my lip to hold my tears back as Kai opened the door slowly. After a loud creak of the door, we took a step inside and I released my breath. For the first time in two years, I finally stepped into the building I used to call home.