All That Bloodshed

Chapter 9: maybe it was her

Usagi, the angel that she is, managed to make sure that the last two to be dropped off were Chishiya and Ryouhei. She knew him better than he knew himself, so of course she could tell that he badly wanted a moment alone with Chishiya now that he finally was in the same room (well hallway) as him. She smiled gratefully as they walked her to her room, Chishiya's eyes sweeping the hallway as if looking for danger. Ryouhei gave her a tight hug that said more than he could before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning to Chishiya.

The shorter man was watching him and Usagi with his normal unreadable look back on his face. Ryouhei felt the tension ease from his frame. They began a slow walk back in the direction of Ryouhei's room.

"Chishiya," Ryouhei said quietly, turning to look at the shorter man.

Chishiya didn't look at him, instead, keeping his gaze forward as they both walked at a sedate pace. "Arisu," he acknowledged. "You're doing better?"

Ryouhei bit his lip, looking away from Chishiya again to focus on their path. "Yes," he said. "Talking more."

Chishiya hummed. "I see your brother found you a phone to use."

Ryouhei snorted softly. "Yeah," he admitted. "Took him a while. I think... he was hoping I'd talk more."

"Didn't work then?"

"No."

Chishiya nodded. "So your main method of communication has been writing then."

"Yes. But you already knew this."

He came to a stop. They were in an almost deserted hallway right next to an alcove with a single vending machine and some plants. It was quiet; just them. Chishiya stopped a few feet away from Ryouhei, turning back to look at him. Chishiya met his gaze, clearly seeing something in his eyes because he decided to be surprisingly forthcoming.

"Yes, I already knew that," Chishiya admitted. "Does that bother you?"

Ryouhei shook his head. "No," he said. "Why haven't you visited me?" He wanted to add the qualifier 'while I was awake', but he still wasn't wholly convinced that that bizarre conversation between Chishiya and his dad had actually happened. It seemed too much like a weird dream to possibly be true. Chishiya would never let himself be so vulnerable in front of a stranger.

"I wasn't aware you would want me to," Chishiya answered easily, staring at Ryouhei impassively. Ryouhei bit his lip, struggling to figure out how he wanted to phrase things. He didn't want to spook Chishiya. It wasn't that the man seemed fragile, but he wouldn't be able to handle another long period of the man avoiding him.

Too many nights he'd woken up in a sweat, believing that Chishiya surviving had all been a dream. That he'd bled out in the streets of Shibuya while Ryouhei had been falling for the Queen of Heart's ploys.

"Don't be stupid," Ryouhei said softly. "You saw how I was when I saw you."

Chishiya hummed again, his piercing gaze fixed on Ryouhei. Surprisingly, it didn't make him feel uncomfortable to have Chishiya's undivided attention. He could admit that back at The Beach, it had been overwhelming. It'd also set off his instincts that something was wrong . He'd gone along with Chishiya's plan even if he knew that it wouldn't work. He'd dealt with the consequences and in the wake of the 10 of Hearts, they hadn't seemed to matter.

Chishiya and Kuina had stuck by him and Usagi in the nebulous time between their discovery of the subway game room and the next stage. That was enough for him.

Chishiya shrugged. "I'm sure you would have reacted the same had you seen any of us."

Ryouhei bit his lip. He wasn't so sure of that fact himself. He'd been pouring over it for days and he couldn't find an answer for himself, let alone Chishiya. "But it was you." It was all that he could offer Chishiya. At the end of the day, it wasn't any of the others that he'd seen. It was Chishiya.