tenipuri_xp | RP log - Golden Pair

Dated: October 16, two days after Eiji gets his powers back while Oishi is out of the Ryuhana dorms.
Rating: PG
Summary: Oishi comes back home feeling VERY down, so now it's time for Eiji to help him.

Carefully, Oishi opened the door of the dorm room he shared with Eiji, and was glad to see that the other youth was already in bed. Much as he loved his boyfriend, he wasn't exactly in the most receptive, stable emotional state - he still needed some minutes off before returning to his usual routine of being a doctor-in-training, a highschool student *and* the roommate of Kikumaru Eiji.

His bi-weekly visit to his grandparents and sister, this time, featured a family reunion (where he met Oishi Rumiko, his newborn cousin born to his uncle and aunt from Nara) and a long, melancholic visit to the family tombstone, where his parents and his uncle Akitaka were buried. And while Oishi could keep his calm demeanor during those days... as he took the train and returned to Ryuhana, the memories of his dead loved ones came back in a whirlwind of past moments, feelings and emotions. And they hit him hard. Mom and Dad were gone since around seven years, and his uncle almost a year...

Oishi sighed and got a little closer to Eiji's bed, to check if he was okay. What he saw made his eyes go wide. His ears... those were fuzzy and more at top of his head... Was Oishi seeing things?

He was tempted to do a double-check, but it'd mean waking his boyfriend up. Besides, Oishi wanted to sleep... he needed to rest, both in mind and body. He'd make all the questions he wanted later, when he was less depressed and self-pitying. So, he quietly changed his clothes and slipped under the covers of his own bed.

"See you in the morning, Eiji. Good night, Oishi-fish, Eiji-fish," he murmured before closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep.

Stirring, Eiji's ears twitched a little. He'd heard movement, and noises, and ... Oishi? Cracking open an eye, Eiji looked around, and then checked Oishi's bed--and saw his roommate and boyfriend, curled up under the blankets.

"Oishi!" It wasn't a loud cheer, but it was a happy greeting nonetheless. Turning to face the other's bed, Eiji rubbed his eyes sleepily, forgetting that his feelings were being broadcast and that he was probably blasting Oishi with his joy right now. "Welcome back, Oishi," he said, smiling.

The other student felt guilty that, even with all the measures he took to let Eiji sleep peacefully, his boyfriend had still waken up. Maybe this just wasn't his time, eh?

Oishi got up from his bed and went towards Eiji's own, sitting on the outer border. He extended a hand to scratch behind Eiji's nape, but realizing that his mutation was back, he stopped midway and then scratched behind the kitty ears like he did when they met.

"Thank you," he murmured softly, and maybe somewhat less happily than he really meant. But to make up for everything, he lifted Eiji's head a little and placed it carefully on his lap, scratching again behind cat ears when done.

Oishi sounded tired and sleepy and ... not quite Oishi. Even the ear-scratching wasn't as fun as it used to be. Looking up, Eiji pouted and asked, "What's wrong, Oishi?"

Oishi didn't really reply at first, just scratched some more where Eiji liked it so much, and smiled a little more.

But Eiji had asked, and Oishi would give him a small reply and maybe leave the bigger one for tomorrow. "I... I'm tired, Eiji. And not physically... more like here," and he placed one of his hands on his chest, right over his heart.

Stretching a little, Eiji smiled, and then moved in his bed. "Oishi should come sleep here. I'll keep you safe and you can sleep well, nya," he said, sleepily, arms reaching up to Oishi. "Maybe it will help Oishi feel better, too."

Slightly amused that Eiji was trying to act as the adult one, as well as thankful to have him not directly trying to dwell into his mind or use his newly-returned emotion projection to forcefully cheer him up, Oishi smiled, and soon both boys were under the covers, with Oishi laying on the outer side to avoid having Eiji falling.

When settled, Oishi looked at the other boy and wrapped his arms around Eiji's waist, lifitng a hand to scratch some more after fuzzy kitty ears. "Thank you, Eiji," he murmured softly.

As if Eiji would fall ... but Eiji liked being between Oishi and the wall, so he never minded that Oishi was on the outside. He tugged sleepily at Oishi's arms, settling them around himself snugly, and nuzzled the other before closing his eyes. "Hoi ... you're welcome, Oishi. Sleep well, nya." With a soft murmur that might even be a purr, Eiji settled back into his comfortable sleep, dreaming of strong arms around him, a feeling of comfort settling over him and emanating around him.

This time, Oishi didn't mind the projection... the "comfort" feeling was getting to him, relaxing his body, mind and soul. His thoughts of what happened didn't fully go away, but the mental pain was washing away slowly, allowing the healer to temporarily let go of his worries and enjoy the presence of this cat youth who loved him with all of his newly-restored kitty-heart.

"Sleep well..." And he closed his eyes, sighing and tightening his hold on Eiji. He needed to rest... so much...

---

When Oishi opened his eyes, it was still dark... should be around 05:30 or 06:00. Eiji was still snuggling against him, soundly asleep and emanating a warm aura of complete trust, kitty ears twitching happily.

Oishi lightly kissed the top of Eiji's head and slowly tried to break the embrace to get up and start his day, underestimating how Eiji had gotten his enhanced cat senses back...

Feeling the movement, Eiji turned in his sleep, arm reaching out to curl around Oishi as he buried his face into Oishi's chest with a soft noise that might have been a protest at the movement to pull away. "Oi ... shi~..." he mumbled softly in his sleep, his tail snaking around him to wrap over Oishi too.

Oishi bravely tried to resist the temptation to stay in bed and with Eiji, otherwise he'd never get up from bed and he didn't want to face an annoyed Mariko-sensei. The head nurse of Ryuhana was in the anal-retentive side of things when it came to schedules, and getting her angry would get him either a stern talk or maybe some degree of punishment...

So, the older teen tried for the second time to get away and up and ready. But his movements were too brusque, Eiji's sleeping body was almost a dead weight on him, he tried to gain some balance by using the night table as a support but failed... and soon the two boys were on the floor, with blankets and pillow over them. Still, Eiji was luckier; since he was on the inside of the bed, he landed on top of Oishi, who hit the floor much harder.

As he tried to regain his senses, Oishi didn' t notice something very important. When he was getting ready to sleep last night, he had left his schedule book on the table, and it was knocked to the floor as well. Several papers fell from it... and one of them was a picture taken right after Oishi's junior high graduation. The one that had him with his little sister, his grandparents, and the man who would've turned 51 years old the last weekend.

He'd never landed on the floor on his back before, but landing on Oishi must have hurt Oishi, Eiji thought as he flailed and then hit the other with an 'unya!' and an 'oof'. Normally he wouldn't have fallen off the bed, either, but he'd been tangled up in Oishi's limbs, and Oishi must have fallen out for some reason. Was he trying to run away from Eiji? Did Eiji do something wrong?

"Gomen, Oishi, gomen gomen!" Eiji said, scrambling to his feet hurriedly, pulling his roommate up with a wince. What a mess--everything else on the table seemed to have been pulled off it ... well, no, just Oishi's schedule book, but pages had scattered all over the place. While Oishi tried to get his bearings back, Eiji nimbly chased after papers and tucked them all away, stopping as he picked up a photo to look at it. Oooh, a new face. "Ne, Oishi, who's this nya?"

After Eiji pulled him up, Oishi sat on the bed to regain focus, eyes half-closed and Eiji's voice coming from a li'l far... Mariko-sensei would be there in around two hours and he still had things to do, but still being in a hurry was no excuse for acting that clumsy. And even worse for making Ejji feel like he was the one to blame.

When Eiji asked about one of the papers, Oishi blinked a little and stared at it. The photo? But he was sure that he had it framed and at home...

Still taken aback, but determined to make up for the mess he caused, Oishi replied to Eiji's question. "My uncle and caretaker, Eiji. His name was Akitaka Oishi... and he died last year."

"Your uncle? Oishi, you never told me about your uncle, nya," Eiji said, but then registered the last words. His ears drooped a little in sympathy as he turned, looked at Oishi's face, and registered the sadness in the voice. Even for unperceptive Eiji, he could tell Oishi was sad. He hopped over to the bed and pulled his older boyfriend into a hug. "I'm sorry, Oishi."

"I'm sorry for not telling you before," Oishi murmured, returning the hug slowly and relishing on the touch he had missed so much during those days, "but I was hit real hard by his death. In fact, I went home because it was his birthday... the first one after his death. That's why I went out of touch with anything Ryuhana this time, Eiji, anddidn't even know about your mutantion's return until I returned home. Sorry for that."

Breathing deeply and breaking the hug very slowly, Oishi smiled to his catboy, taking the picture in his hands. He didn't have to exactly tell Eiji how Akitaka was a victim of envy and professional jealousy that ultimately casued his death, right? At least not now...

"I suppose you want to hear more..." He continued, voice slow and sad but perfectly clear. "Well, not only he was my father's younger brother and took care of me and my sister after our parents died, but he was a mutant... and a healer, just like I am. When my powers came in, he taught me how to use them and helped me to accept my mutation. I don't know what I would've done, had it not being for him."

"Nya," Eiji said, sitting on his bed again as he tried to digest this new information, "Oishi never told me, nya."

Oishi hesitated a little at this. Eiji surely didn't mean it, but the healer could feel the slight tone of accusation in the catboy's voice. He knew Eiji trusted him with all his kitty self, so he felt bad for not being able to trust the other boy with the same eagerness.

"I...," he murmured as he carefully placed the picture on the desk, fighting hard to hold back the tears that were just about to spill, "I'm still not open with such painful things, Eiji. I hate to burden others with problems that I cannot resolve, I don't like to make people sad with my own sadness. And since..." the healer struggled yet again with the words, "since my uncle's death was very painful to me, I still find it hard to talk about it with anyone. Only Mariko-sensei knows everything, and that's because she was friends with my uncle from before he died."

Pouting, Eiji snuck a look at Oishi ... and then regretted saying what he'd said just now. "Ne, Oishi, don't cry," he said, stricken, and slipped off the bed to hug the other. Arms around Oishi, Eiji curled his tail around Oishi's waist and rested his head on Oishi's shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting manner. He tried to pull up some comfort, but he felt bad for Oishi, so he did the only other thing he could do--yank the mental level on his powers all the way down so that Oishi wouldn't be affected by his empathy.

Oishi leaned on Eiji, his forehead against the other's hair, wrapping his arms slowly and carefully around the catboy's waist to show how important his presence and support were to him. He closed his eyes and the tears he had been repressing for so long trickled down his cheeks, his sobs quiet and brief.

"Thanks for blocking your projection," he murmured against Eiji's ear after some minutes, when he could talk again normally. "And... thanks for just being with me, too."

It felt like Oishi was actually relying on Eiji now, instead of Eiji clinging to Oishi. Finally it was Eiji's turn to be the one to protect Oishi. "It's okay, Oishi. Everything's fine, coz I'm here now, nya." Eiji squeezed his boyfriend and let Oishi cuddle him as long as he wanted to.

Eiji's efforts to be stronger in the moments when Oishi felt his own strength waver weren't in vain. Oishi finally managed to fully calm down, feeling how a big part of his emotional burden was progressively lifted off him by the person he had, until then, always being so protective of.

He knew that it'd still take him time to learn to be more open, and that not all the slate was washed away right now... but the healer felt that, with Eiji and his family by his side, it'd be easier.