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"Where the fuck is that damn brat?" Uesugi "Yuki" Eiri said to no one as he cautiously drove through yet another darkened stoplight. "Damn brat knows the only thing open this time of night is in a bad neighborhood! What in the hell caused him to think I would even think of letting him walk?"
Putting his second to last cigarette in his mouth, he replaced the pack in his shirt pocket. As he patted himself in search of his lighter, he drove past "Home Run," a sports bar well known for the many fights that occur in its adjacent parking lot. He noticed three rather large men surrounding someone lying on the ground.

'Hmph, fucking jocks have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than to pick...' He hit the brakes of the Mercedes hard as the thugs parted to reveal a shock of bright pink hair. Quickly pulling the car into the lot and throwing it into park, Eiri jumped out, forgetting to close the door.

Running hard towards the fight, Eiri launched into a flying kick as grew close, hitting one of the thugs in the back with his feet and knocking him to the ground. Regaining his balance, Eiri turned and punched another one hard in the face, his ring cutting the man's cheek and mouth. The remaining thug, after realizing what was happening, managed to punch Eiri in the mouth, causing his teeth to cut his lower lip. Spitting out blood, Eiri managed to duck under another punch thrown by the first assailant, and landed a blow to the man's temple, causing him to stagger backwards . Taking a punch to the side of his chest from the second opponent, he exhaled suddenly but managed to turn and land a left-handed blow to the man's abdomen. He heard a choking wheeze behind him, but was too occupied with his two aggressors to look back to see what had caused the noise.
As he returned to his full height, he was hit hard in the right eye and knocked backwards to the ground. Dazed, he realized he heard shouting approach the area where the fight was taking place and the sound of rapidly fading footsteps as his assailants turned to run. More footsteps and shouting seemed to join the fading footsteps.

"YUKI! You're bleeding!" he heard a familiar voice say. "I'll go get something to put on your face...I'll be right back, don't move!" Once again he heard the sound of footsteps fading as he tried to regain his wits. Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to will his head from hurting.

Sitting on the ground and leaning against a nearby car, Eiri took a mental assessment of his injuries. He spit out the blood welling in his mouth, grateful that he didn't lose any teeth. The blood hit the dirt and splattered, leaving a bright red splotch on the asphalt.

As he leaned his head back against the coolness of the car's door, reaction set in, and a full-body shiver briefly took over. Recovering, he put his right knee up and rested his left arm on it. His thoughts were in turmoil as he finally had a chance to think about what had just happened.

'I thought you were dead Shuichi, when I realized that was you lying on the ground. I thought that they had killed you, taken you forever away from me. I couldn't see straight, I was so angry...and frightened. I thought "once again, I'm alone, with no one to love me for who I am, as I am." I thought that that they had forever taken away my happiness, my reason to smile, my reason to live. If they had done that, I would have followed you after I had done to them what damage I could...I don't know how, but I would have tried. Instinctively I used some of the techniques I learned after I came back from New York, from the days when I was a real delinquent, fighting anyone and everyone that pissed me off. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing, Shuichi, I had to do something.'

Reaching up to his forehead, he wiped away the the blood now dripping into his now swollen right eye with the back of his left hand. He heard the sound of footsteps running towards him. He groaned, knowing that he was about to be assaulted in a different way. The footsteps approached, then slowed as they grew near.

"H..here you go." the owner of the footsteps timidly offered.
Reaching for the proffered item, he took it and wiped his face with the wet rag. Disgusted by the amount of blood on it, he threw it onto the ground.
"Are...are you okay?" Shuichi asked in a halting voice.
"I'll be fine," he replied. "I just need a moment...."
"Okay, Yuki...if you are sure. I still think that I should call for an ambulance...."
"No, I'll be fine brat, didn't you hear me?" he snapped. Instantly, he regretted his outburst, but it was too late to retract it. Shrugging, the blond spit out another glob of blood, and stood up. The sudden change in altitude caused him to wobble a bit.

The shorter man lunged, posting himself underneath the nearest arm to support him. With the arm around his neck, he helped Eiri to the door of their car, opened it, and sat him inside the passenger side. Looking for the first time at the injuries underneath the car interior's stronger light, Shuichi clucked his tongue.

"Wow Yuki, I should go get you some ice for that lip, but I think your eye is going to need some stitches." Shuichi commented, nervously shifting from foot to foot. "I'll call Emergency and get paramedics to take you to the ER to get it looked at before it leaves a scar."

"I don't need a fucking ambulance," Eiri growled. "But...you're probably right...my eye is killing me." Eiri gingerly touched his right cheek, winching at the pain. "Besides, you should you should go as well. Get in brat, we're leaving."

Eiri stood up and began to walk around to the other side of the Mercedes, ignoring his lover as he once again tried to help.

Realizing that Eiri was planning on driving instead of calling for an ambulance, the singer balked.
"YUKI! You can't possibly drive with that eye, you can't even see out of it!" he yelled over the roof of the car to his lover.

"I'll be fine...it's late, and there's hardly anyone on the road. Now just shut up, sit down and make sure you put on your seat-belt." Eiri ducked down inside the already open driver's side door, folded his tall frame into the comfortable seat and put on his seat-belt.

"Aw Yuki, you care! I love you too!" Shuichi squealed while flopping down in his seat and gently hugging his injured partner.

"I just don't want you getting hurt any further. If they had to stick you with needles, I know you'd whine, and drive me fucking crazy." came his retort.

"YU~KI! Do you have to be so mean? Besides, I only have a few bruises. You showed up before they did any real damage" Shuichi whined.

Eiri, sore and tired of waiting, reached across the pink-haired man and grabbed the passenger side seat-belt, pulled it across and snapping it in place. Starting up the car, Eiri drove, passing by four muscular men walking back towards the bar as they exited the parking lot .

Eiri drove to the nearest hospital, mindful of his effectively useless right eye. By the time he arrived at the ER, he had a massive headache. Blood from his eye had also run down his face and onto his shirt. It had dried, leaving a scab on his face and a crustiness to his shirt. Pulling into a parking space at the hospital's lot, Shuichi unbuckled his seat-belt. He went over to the driver's side door, where he helped Eiri in through the ER's doors.

By then, Eiri was dizzy, and his massive headache was making him nauseous. Shuichi refused to leave Eiri's side, so the doctor agreed to examine them both in the same room.

They both received a thorough physical checkup. The ER doctor asked multiple questions, poked and prodded them both, then sent them for x-rays. The doctor determined that Eiri had a concussion(1), a laceration(2) to the right eyebrow and on the inside of his lower lip, a rather impressive black eye and multiple scrapes and bruises. Shuichi, on the other hand, only had a few nasty bruises and scrapes. They were both given going home instructions, and Eiri was given one prescription-strength ibuprofen in the ER. He was also given a script for a stronger medicine that needed to be filled. They had it filled at a 24 hour drug store near their shared apartment. Eiri carefully drove through the night towards their home, and as the black night turned into the slightest hint of a deep blue, they pulled into their parking space.

Eiri reluctantly followed the doctor's advise to take the pain medicine the pharmacy gave him, after a short bit of nagging by Shuichi, of course. Retreating to the bedroom, he took off the ruined clothes and threw them in a pile on the floor to be disposed of later. During his lengthy shower, he realized that he was lucky they hadn't broken any ribs, but he was sore in many places that were going to bruise up rather nicely later. After showering, he put on his dark blue silk pajama bottoms and gingerly laid on his right side for a nap.

Hearing Shuichi in the shower, he closed his one good eye and began to doze lightly. He was awakened by Shuichi's padded feet as he quietly walked towards the door to the bedroom after his shower. Eiri sighed, and closed his good eye, feigning sleep.

Shuichi entered the bedroom and quietly put on his sleep clothes. He left, and a few minutes later returned. Eiri felt Shuichi looking at him as he stood by the bed.

"Yuki? Yuki. I know you're not asleep. If you were, you'd be snoring." Shuichi chided.

"I do not snore." Eiri replied, opening his left eye. Now wearing red sleep shorts and an orange tank top, Shuichi stood by the bed looking worried and carrying a washcloth filled with ice. He seemed relieved that he responded so quickly.

Eiri glared at first, then remembering that the doctor had sent home instructions about concussions. They included that while sleeping with a concussion is fine, if he wasn't able to be easily awoken he was to immediately be taken to the nearest ER. He sighed again. Shuichi had studied the going-home instructions for a concussion as if they were an owner's manual for a new car. He looked at the bruises evident on the singer's body and cringed. Sitting on the bed next to his boyfriend, Shuichi placed the makeshift ice-bag on the nightstand and made himself comfortable as he continued. Eiri leaned on his right elbow, and was about to sit up, but was gently pushed back down by Shuichi.

"I want you to go easy on yourself for a while, Yuki. The doctor said for you to take it easy, and I mean to have you do so, okay? That means no writing, no cooking, no anything but relaxing."

Shuichi went to place the makeshift ice-bag onto Eiri's eye, but Eiri snatched it from his grip. He placed it on the nightstand.

"I don't need babying brat, I need to get up and finish cooking our snack. I'm hungry."

Eiri went to sit up again, but was again pushed back down by Shuichi. Eiri glared at him, but with only one working eye, its effectiveness was cut in half.

"I'll make our snack,Yuki. Or I could call in an order. It's morning now, some places should be serving breakfast by now. I just think..."

"That's your problem, you moron, you DIDN'T think!" Eiri yelled, finally succeeding in sitting up against the back of the headboard. "If you hadn't gone anywhere in the first place, I wouldn't have had to come rescue your butt from those three assholes!

"I'm...I'm sorry Yuki," Shuichi whined. "I just thought..."

Eiri exploded. "Don't try to think! It just gets you into trouble! What in the fuck caused you to cut through the parking lot of that particular bar in the first place? You should have known that some drunk would harass you! That bright pink hair makes you stand out like a sore thumb! You should have realized that the jocks that frequent it would love to pick on a pretty boy like you! Lucky for you I was driving around looking for your sorry ass! If you think more often, you wouldn't get in trouble, and my life would be easier! From now on, I'll tell you what to think! Thinking just gets you in trouble!"

Shuichi had shrank away as the shouting had started, but after the last comment, he bristled.

"I left to go get you some cigarettes! he defiantly yelled back. "I noticed that your pack was low, so I figured that I'd do YOU a favor! Is it my fault that the only thing open this time of night is in a bad neighborhood?"

Eiri's head felt like it was going to burst, the pain causing it to feel like it was beating in time with his heart. Exhaling, he shut his eye, trying to will away the throbbing. The singer deflated, seeing Eiri's obvious pain. Gently touching his shoulder, he inquired, "Are you okay?"

Eiri opened his good eye, and seeing the look on Shuichi's face, reached out his arms and drew him close, only remembering about Shuichi's bruises after hearing him gasp. Shuichi carefully placed his head on his shoulder as Eiri loosely held him.

"I'll be fine, brat," Eiri explained after a few moments. "I just need to relax. Keep talking, it helps." .

Shuichi snuggled closer and explained, "I just wanted to surprise you, and I thought that I could be back before you finished cooking our midnight snack. I know that you didn't want me in the kitchen, so I figured the best way to stay out of your hair was to leave for a bit." Shuichi shifted slightly. "And it was a shortcut that would have taken 10 minutes off the walk home, and I forgot that it was Saturday night, and I didn't even see those guys at first and....I'm really sorry Yuki. "

Hearing Shuichi cease in his explanation, Eiri looked down and realized that his lover had tears coursing down his face. Patting him on the back, Eiri hugged him a bit closer as he cried.

Finally, as the sobs lessened, Shuichi sniffled and asked, "Yuki, where'd you learn to fight like that? We were outnumbered three to two, and I couldn't even do anything but gasp after that one guy knocked the wind out of me! You looked so cool, flying through the air with that drop kick..."

Not hearing an response right away, Shuichi peered up, only to catch a brief glance of something dark and...dangerous.

Eiri hugged Shuichi closer, rumbled for a bit, and then haltingly, began to speak.

"When I...drove by the lot and saw you on the ground...with those guys over you...I thought....I thought....so I pulled the car into the lot and went to help."

Sitting up in Eiri's lap, Shuichi launched into an animated description of what happened from his point of view.

" 'Went to help?' You flew towards those bullies like a bat out of hell! I didn't think that you could move that fast! I didn't even see the first guy get hit! I'm glad I was able to punch one of them in the balls after I got my wind back, and you did get in a few great shots before the one blindsided you....I'm just glad that those bouncers showed up when they did! You could have been killed! What if those guys had've killed you instead of being chased off by those bouncers? I couldn't deal with life after that, not to mention having that kind of karma on my soul!"

Realizing the blond hadn't made any kind of snappy comeback to him the way he normally would,
Shuichi glanced at Eiri's face, and fell silent. Tears were descending down Eiri's cheeks, and he was staring off into the distance as if he was watching his most horrific fears come to life.

Startled, Shuichi reached out and carefully embraced Eiri's bruised chest. Eiri didn't acknowledge the move at first, but after a few moments, he put his cheek onto the top of his head, breathing deep the scent of Shuichi's freshly washed hair.

Shuichi didn't think that Eiri would speak of what was going on in his head, so he was starting to doze, but then Eiri cleared his throat and began to speak. Shuichi perked up his ears and listened, hearing the pain and hurt evident in Eiri's voice.

"Shuichi...when I drove by that parking lot, and I saw you lying on the ground...I...thought the worst. I had to defend you.

Shuichi pulled back and scrutinized Eiri's face. Eiri gazed right back at Shuichi, for once doing nothing to hide his feelings. Raw emotions were evident, the anger, the torment, the distress, but most of all, he saw the love held for him and him alone in Eiri's golden eyes.

Eiri slowly leaned forward after a few more moments and tenderly kissed his lover on the lips. Shuichi accepted the kiss as if his very life depended on it. Eiri poured all of his love for the smaller man into the gesture, trying to let him know how deeply he felt. Finally, he pulled back, and regarded Shuichi. Shuichi looked up and smiled sweetly at his lover.

"Yuki, I knew, I somehow knew that you would find me and rescue me from those thugs," he whispered.

Eiri pulled him close, and Shuichi put his ear on Eiri's chest to listen to his heartbeat, a heart that beat passionately only for him.

They sat that way for a while, each lost in their own thoughts about the other. Finally, from the face buried in his chest, Eiri heard snores.

'Heh, the brat fell asleep on me again.' he thought.

He gently laid Shuichi down on the bed, and after first putting the ice-bag in the sink, washing his face and using the bathroom, climbed into bed and settled down behind him. Putting his long arms around his boyfriend, he pulled him close.

Shuichi snuggled into the warm body enveloping him and sighed, content. And as the sun began to make its way into their bedroom, once again together and in their sanctuary, they fell asleep.

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(1)Concussion: http://www.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/tp23365.asp
(2)Laceration: http://www.webmd.com/hw/skin_wounds/hw86503.asp

Medical Disclaimer: Remember, if you have been in a fight, to go to the nearest hospital and be seen by the ER personel there! It takes trained medical personel to determine whether or not you might have a concussion. If you don't and you die, don't come running to me!