Thankful Meeting

Here’s the final chapter for you all. Yes, it’s a sad day. But have no fear, my next story, the first chapter, will be up soon. It’s called ‘Train Wreck’. Hope you all liked reading this story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it and will give my next story a chance. Hope you all love the ending.

“word” = spoken, ‘Word’ =thought, (word) =author notes

“Thankful Meeting”
Chapter 9: Meaning of Life

Akuma walked out of the hospital’s side entrance and over to his car. As he got out his keys from his pocket, his cell phone started to ring. Akuma unhooked the phone from his belt and flipped it open, bringing it up to his ear. “What?” He answered.

“It\'s me. Look, I’ve...” Atari started but was cut off by Akuma’s angry yell.

“What the hell are you doing calling me so soon? You better not be backing out on me!” Akuma reached his car and unlocked the doors, fuming. He got in and slammed the doors closed. As the silence continued Akuma asked, “Well?”

“Well, you see. It’s like this. I took out that Hiro guy like you said and then I went after that author.” Atari spoke slowly and calmly, trying to hide the fear in his voice. ‘Dammit, Akuma is going to kill me. I just know it.’ He thought.

When Atari didn’t continue, Akuma sighed in impatience. “Yeah, so what did you do? I don’t have all day waiting for you to grow some balls in order to tell me.”

“Alright, just give me a minute will you?” Atari sighed heavily and wiped at his forehead, removing the sweat from his brow. “That author took me out.” Atari finally said quietly.

“What?!” Akuma could not believe what he had just heard. He laughed shortly and then yelled, “I had better not have heard what I think I did, Atari! I pay you to take care of those people that I deem to be in my way. You’re not supposed to mess this up! I need him gone got it? Now go back and do your job!” Akuma finished his face red with anger.

“Um, that’s a problem. The guy knocked me out and I have no idea where he could be. He might already be at the hospital.” Atari stated carefully, hoping Akuma didn’t ask why he thought that.

Holding back his anger, Akuma asked through clenched teeth, “And why would you think that?”

Atari sighed quietly and covered his eyes with his free hand. “Um, because I ah, told him about the guitarist that I took out.” He mumbled.

“Why on earth would you tell him that, you moron! You are completely useless! Why did I even bother with you?” Akuma screamed into the phone blind with anger. Calming down, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Akuma managed to say in a low voice, “I’ll take care of the rest myself. After tomorrow I don’t want to ever hear from you again.” Akuma slammed the phone shut and threw it on the passenger seat beside him. He
rested his head on the steering wheel and took a couple of deep breaths. Fisting his hands, Akuma slammed out of the car and stormed back into the hospital.

^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^

Yuki and Shuichi got back up into Shu’s hospital room. As Shu put aside his crutches and sat on the bed, Yuki got his clothes out of the closet where they had been stored. Yuki turned around with clothes in hand and walked over to the bed, setting them down next to Shuichi.

Trying to keep his mind off of Shuichi’s body, Yuki helped him out of the hospital gown and asked, “So how long till the cast can come off?”

Shuichi looked at his arm. “The one on my arm can come off in a couple of weeks I think. My leg, I’m not sure about. I can’t remember how badly it was broken.” Shuichi answered sadly, looking down into his lap.

Yuki tipped Shu’s head up with his fingertips and looked into his eyes asking, “Are you worried about Akuma?”

Shuichi grabbed hold of the hand on his chin and held it in his. He looked down at it pretending to study each finger with interest. When Yuki called his name, Shu sighed out “Yeah.” and then looked up into his eyes again. “He’s going to come back and find the bed gone. He’ll be really pissed off. Even more so when he asks the staff who signed me out?” Shuichi said quietly.

“Does that mean you’re having second thoughts about coming with me?” Yuki asked him, trying to control the pain that creped into his voice.

Shuichi quickly answered, dropping Yuki’s hand and reaching up to grab a hold of his face with both hands. “No! That not it at all! I really want to go with you; it’s just that I don’t want you to get hurt. I mean, if Akuma finds out where you live than he can take me when you go to work or something.”

Yuki let a small smile cross his face and put his hands on top of Shuichi’s. He brought them together in his and laid a simple kiss on Shuichi’s knuckles. “Don’t worry, I work at home.” After a beat of silence where understanding came across Shu’s face, Yuki asked with an amused voice, “Now, what do you say to getting dressed? Or would you rather stay in your underwear?”

Shuichi blushed, “Sorry.” He picked up his pants, looked at them and realized that his cast might not fit thru the pant leg. “Uh, I don’t think this’ll fit Yuki.”

“Well that’s your fault for wearing leather pants.” ‘Though the leather makes his ass look good.’ He thought. “Just cut the side of the leg open.”

Shuichi, surprised by this suggestion, said loudly, “What? I can’t do that! I love these pants.”


Yuki raised an eyebrow. “They’re just pants.”

“Can’t you just go ask the nurse for some hospital pants that I can wear?” Shuichi asked pleadingly. “Please?”

Giving in, Yuki sighed and said, “Yeah, fine. I’ll go ask.” As Yuki walked out the door, Shuichi yelled out after him, “Thank you!”

*~^~*
By the time Yuki came back, Shuichi had managed to get on his t-shirt and was putting on his shirt, trying to button it up. Yuki walked over to the bed and threw the pants on it next to Shuichi. “I got some pants for you. Just don’t complain that they won’t match your outfit.”

Shuichi looked up from his shirt at Yuki then over to his side at the pants. Shuichi opened his mouth in mock horror. “Green?! But they’re green.” Seeing Yuki narrowing his eyes, Shuichi smiled and laughed. “I’m just kidding. I don’t care what color they are.”

Yuki smiled. “So in other words you have no fashion sense?” Yuki joked. Shuichi gave him a sour look and Yuki laughed softly. “Here, let me help you with the pants.”

Shuichi picked up the pants and put his good leg thru then with Yuki’s help, managed to put the other leg thru and pull the pants all the way up. Yuki tied the string on the pants for Shuichi thinking, ‘I’ll have to get him out of these as soon as he feels better.’ Yuki shook his head briefly. ‘Dammit. I got to stop thinking that.’ “There, you’re all set. I’m going to go check you out now. Make sure you get everything you need together.” Yuki then leaned forward and kissed Shuichi lightly on the lips.

When Yuki left the room, Shuichi started to gather his things in a small bag. A nurse walking down the hall, just then, happened to pass by Shuichi’s room and see him dressed. She just smiled sweetly and continued on down the hall.

^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^

Akuma walked into the lobby, making his way over to the elevators. When the elevator doors opened, a nurse stepped out. She was smiling sweetly. When she saw Akuma she stated, “Oh, Shoyu-san. I’m glad that Shindou-san is finally going home. I hope he’ll heal soon.” Then she walked away. He quietly went inside the car with seething rage.

*~^~*
Akuma made his way to Shuichi’s room and stopped just outside of the doorway. He saw Shuichi dressed and dancing around the room in his crutches, trying to put on his shoe. In the process, he managed to trip and started to fall backwards. Akuma rushed into the room and caught him around the waist with his arms as Shuichi fell against Akuma’s chest.

“Thanks Yuki. What took you so long?” Shuichi asked, sounding out of breath.

Akuma smiled and set Shuichi on his feet. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him?” Akuma said in a dangerous tone.

Shuichi’s eyes grew wide and he quickly turned around to face Akuma, stepping away from him. He mouth gaped open but nothing managed to come out. Shuichi just stood frozen to his spot.

Akuma laughed still speaking in a dangerous voice. “What’s wrong? Surprised to see me so soon?” Akuma took a step forward as Shuichi took a step back. “I heard you were planning on leaving, that true?” Shuichi took another step back not answering. “I told myself that it couldn’t possibly be true.”

Akuma heavily sighed. “But then I get a call saying that Yuki was still alive. Now can you imagine my surprise at that? So I’m assuming that’s whose taking you home. But of course I remember telling you that you could never see him again, so explain to me why you’re packing, Shuichi.”

Akuma took two steps forward and Shuichi took three steps back, ending up against a wall. Shuichi slid down the wall to the floor, his legs brought up against his chest. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Shuichi shook his head slowly and mumbled out, “Leave me alone.”

Akuma laughed in reply. “Sorry, I can’t do that. I’m afraid that you need to be punished for disobeying me.”

^~*~^~*~^~*~^

Yuki had a hard enough time trying to find someone that wasn’t busy let alone having to deal with all the nurses gawking at him. Finally after five minutes of aggravation that seemed like forever, He managed to get a hold of a nurses’ attention. Then after another three minutes, managed to get the nurse to stop pawing over him and was able to sign Shuichi out of the hospital with in the next four minutes. That was a total of eight minutes wasted compared to the four it took to just be able to sign and date a simple form. ‘Uh, I hate hospitals.’ He thought.

Yuki was walking back down the hall that leads to Shuichi’s room. As he approached the room, he passed Mika’s room right next to Shu’s. Seeing the door open, Yuki tried to quickly pass by. But unfortunately, he heard Mika call his name. He sighed in annoyance and turned to step into the doorway to her hospital room, not going any further. “What?” He growled.

Mika frowned then softened her expression. “Look, I’m sorry about before, okay? Even thought I meant it I’m still sorry.”

“Is that all?” Yuki frowned.

Annoyed that he didn’t except her apology, Mika said in an annoyed tone of voice, “And tell that friend of yours next door to keep it down.”

Yuki raised an eyebrow at that but grunted in reply and turned around. Yuki stepped into the next room and looked around. “Shuichi?” No response. Yuki looked into the closet and in the bathroom. Shuichi was nowhere in sight. Yuki ran to the window and looked out, not exactly sure why he was looking there. “Shuichi?” He asked loudly. Again receiving no response, Yuki ran out into the hall. ‘He couldn’t have gone down the hall that I came from, so…” Yuki went down the hall in the opposite direction. As he turned the corner, Yuki saw the door to the stairwell close. He ran down the short distance and slammed the door open. Yuki looked down into the gap between the stairs, not seeing anything. He then looked up and saw Shuichi being dragged up the stairs by someone. ‘That could only be Akuma.’ He thought in a growl. Aloud he yelled up, “Shuichi!”

~*~*~

Shuichi was struggling against Akuma with success. After all, the guy was stronger than him and bigger, not to mention the casts on Shuichi’s leg and arm. “Please Akuma. Let me go!” Shuichi pleaded as Akuma lead him out of his room and down the hall, around the corner.

Akuma laughed in reply and said in a way that made it sound as if he’d gone insane. “Oh don’t worry I’ll let you go. We just need to go for a little walk first. Have you ever tried jumping off a cliff before?”

Shuichi answered in a small voice full of fear. “No and I have no intention to, so please, can you let me go?”

“Oh now would I want to do that? Don’t worry, don’t worry, you’ll have fun. I promise! We can go on a trip together, right off the building. I bet you just can’t wait can you?” Akuma stated. (Yep, the guy has gone insane!)

Akuma dragged Shuichi into the stairwell and up the stairs. Shuichi was crying hysterically and trying to break free of Akuma’s grip on his upper arm. “Akuma please, you’re not well.” Then Shuichi heard the stairwell door open and followed by a couple seconds of silence and then he heard, “Shuichi!” being yelled from down below.

‘That’s Yuki!’ Shu thought. Out loud he yelled, “Yuki, help me!” Shuichi heard him running up the stairs as he yelled again, “Shuichi!” Shuichi saw Akuma open the door to the roof and was pushed through, falling to the ground. Akuma stepped through behind him. Shuichi heard Yuki yell his name once more but the sound of it was cut short from his ears by the roof door falling shut. Shuichi panicked and crawled along the roof top away from Akuma but was stopped short by Akuma’s foot on his back.

“Now where do you think you’re going? Don’t forget, we have to go the paradise together.” Akuma said bending down and grabbing a hold of Shuichi’s upper arm and taking his foot from his back. He picked Shuichi up and started to pull him toward the ledge of the roof.

“Akuma, please, you don’t have to do this. Please just let me go. I’m begging you!” Shuichi yelled.

Akuma laughed hysterically. He turned to face Shuichi and, with his other arm, held onto Shu’s chin, bringing it up towards his own. “Don’t you see? This is what we’re meant to do! Don’t you want to? Come on it’ll be fun! We can finally be together forever without some nosey asshole butting in to our business!” Akuma released Shuichi’s chin and cupped his cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth. “You don’t have to worry, Shu. It’ll be quick, I promise. Just a simple drop off the ledge.”

Shuichi let a couple tears roll down his face as more began to build in his eyes. “You’re crazy!” Shu whispered harshly, than hissed. “I have no desire to die with you. Just leave me alone.”

Akuma slapped Shuichi across the face and while Shuichi stood stunned, dragged him the rest of the way over to the ledge. He shoved Shuichi forward, holding him halfway over the side of the building just as Yuki finally came running through the door, slamming it against the wall.

“Let him go Akuma!” Yuki yelled, slowly making his way over to them.

Akuma looked over his shoulder at Yuki, still holding Shuichi. “Well, if it isn’t Eiri Yuki. I heard my friend Atari didn’t manage to get rid of you. Well that’s okay, if you’ll excuse us, Shuichi and I have an appointment for paradise.” Akuma looked back at Shuichi. “Don’t we my love?”

Shuichi was wide eyed and scared. He had no idea what to do. He stood there, halfway over the edge, just staring into Akuma’s eyes, seeing that the man had, in fact, gone insane. He then heard Yuki call out to him, “Shuichi you have to try to get away from him.” Shu thought sarcastically, ‘Oh yeah, sure. Let me just unlock his vice like grip on my arm and I’ll be right there.’

Akuma saw the look that Shuichi was giving Yuki. Totally misinterpreting it, he turned toward Yuki. His grip managed to loosen on Shuichi’s arm in the process. “What did you do to him?” Akuma took a step forward getting closer to Yuki and yelled, “How dare you touch him! He’s mine you hear? Mine! I won’t let him go, EVER! He belongs to me! He’s my property!”

Shuichi slowly walked away from Akuma. He was planning on ramming into him so that Akuma falls off the edge, but unfortunately Yuki got to it first. Shuichi watched as Yuki got extremely infuriated over that statement and, clenching his fists, took a couple of steps toward Akuma and punched him in the face. Akuma swung to the side and Yuki then grabbed his arm and twisted it so tight and fast that it snaped in two. Akuma screamed out in pain, clutching his arm.

Yuki kicked Akuma in the stomach with his foot and watched as Akuma doubled over with wide eyes. Yuki took this opportunity to bring his hands together and hit Akuma on the back of the head. Akuma fell to the ground moaning. “Get up asshole!” Yuki yelled while Akuma just lay there on the ground.

Akma looked up with rage and slowly got to his feet. When he was up on his feet, Akuma said with pure malice in a quiet voice, “How dare you interfere.” He spit out blood from his mouth and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. Then suddenly he charged at Yuki.

He grabbed Yuki around the waist and pushed him to the ground. Shuichi watched with wide eyes and his hands covering his mouth. Tears in the corners of his eyes. Yuki kicked Akuma off and Akuma stumbled backwards. Yuki then got up and an towards him. He grabbed Akuma around the waist and pushed themselves right off the ledge. “No!” Shuichi screamed, his heart stopping as he ran to the ledge. He slowly and carefully looked over, fearing the worst, and to his surprise, saw Yuki hanging on to a thin piece of metal that jutted out from the building. Shuichi put a hand to his chest and sighed heavily. He folded his arms and put them on the edge of the roof, laying his head down on top letting his tears of reilef fall.

“Shuichi, a little help?” Yuki asked.

Shuichi jerked his head up saying, “Oh, I’m sorry Yuki.” Shuichi reached down and somehow managed to help Yuki back up onto the roof top. When Yuki was safely back up, Shuichi quickly put his arms around Yuki’s neck and held him in a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you’re alright!” Shuichi pulled back smiling, seeing Yuki’s warm smile. Then he frowned and lightly punched Yuki in the arm. “Don’t do that again, you scared the living day lights out of me.” Shuichi crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, “Besides, I wanted to.”

Yuki raised an eyebrow and stated, “I had to, he was pissing me off. Besides, did you actually think you could have done anything in that cast?”

Shuichi looked defiant for a moment then smiled and jumped into Yuki’s arms, wrapping his legs around his waist the best he could and holding him tight. Off in the distance, Shuichi could hear police sirens coming closer toward the hospital.

When the sirens stopped down in front, Yuki pulled back just enough to give Shuichi a deep searching kiss. As he pulled back, Yuki asked, “You ready to go home?”

Shuichi asked nervously, “Is he gone?” When Yuki smiled and nodded, Shuichi smiled back and placed his head on Yuki’s shoulder and sighed. “Then yeah, I am.”

* THE END*

~Tear~ OMG I can’t believe it’s done! YAHOO! So, what did you think? I hope it meat all of your hopes. Oh and thank you to everyone who read this fic and especially to those who reviewed to let me know how I was doing. Like I said, my next will be come out soon and I hope I can make it better than this one was; it’s called ‘Train Wreck’. Hope you all read and enjoy! :)