New Beginnings

Several days passed in a blurr. They spent most of their days at the hospital, watching as Tora slowly showed signs of recovery, the doctors running every test imaginable. There was damage to his brain, nothing could fix that, but so far, he had experience no seizures, no debilitating migraines (though he did still have lesser migraines every day), even though he was not being given drugs to prevent them. Mana-sama promised, if his condition continued to improve, they would release him in two more days time.

In the meantime, Tora had been moved out of ICU, into a regular room, though still a private one, so the doctors could keep a close watch on him. Each friend was taking a turn watching him, though Tora insisted that he would be fine in the hospital alone, but they would not hear it. Though none of them wanted to admit it, especially infront of Tora, they were all still worried something would happen and they would loose him for good.

Tora's room was filled with flowers, of all kinds, and Bou was currently plucking the thorns off of a particularly beautiful bunch of red roses.

"I hate being in hospitals." Tora grumbled as Bou nodded and bent over to sniff the fragrant buds. "Would you mind bringing those over here?"

Bou grinned and bounded over with the large vase, tilting it slightly so the other man could smell them.

"Hhmm... beautiful." he said. "Do you know who brought those? I noticed them when I woke up this morning, but there wasn't a tag on it anywhere."

Bou shrugged. "I bought the daisies." he pointed to a small bunch of happy, colorful Gerbera Daisies by the window. "Toshiya and Hide brought the mums, Kirito brought the irises. I noticed them earlier, but didn't bother asking who brought them. Probably Tsukasa."

"No, he doesn't like roses much, so bought me the white lillies." He plucked a single rose out of the bunch before Bou set the vase on the counter by his bed, twirling the deep, blood red rose between his fingers. "Red roses are my favorites." He murmered absently. "I remember a guy that was in one of the hospitals with me, probably two years back. Asagi was... well, he was obsessed with red roses. It was the only flower he ever wanted in the room we shared, but no one ever came to visit him. So I would ask my parents to buy me red roses all the time, and then I would give them to him, to cheer him up...."

Bou sat in the chair beside him, crossing his legs. "What was he in there for?"

"He'd gotten into a motorcycle accident a couple of years before and had brain damage similar to mine. All of us in that wing had something wrong with our heads."

"Whatever happened to him?"

Tora laid back in his bed, holding the rose high above his head. "He died."

---

"I see... you mean he's serious??" Kirito paced back and forth between his bathroom and bedroom, one arm on his hip. "No, I mean.. well, yes I'm sure we would be... well, for one thing, we've really got alot on our minds right now, but... yes... " he sighed. "True. I'll call everyone up and see what they think before you give him an answer, ok? Ja." Kirito tossed his phone on the bed, looking down at it a minute, then smiled.

---

Bou's cell phone rang in his pocket, a poppy, happy beat, and with a smile he hopped up, dashing out into the hall before answering it.

"Moshi moshi!" he chirped.

"Bou, I just got off the phone with Yoshiki." Kirito sounded slightly breathless on the other end. "He told me Atsushi has an... interesting proposition for us, but I need to discuss it with the others first. Kisaki volenteered to sit with Tora while we all talk at our house, and he should be there any minute. When he gets there, can you run over as quick as you can?"

"Sure! But, uh, what's this interesting proposition?"

"Heh, you'll never believe it. Just hurry, ok?"

---

Tora looked up to see Bou returning and smiled.

"That was Kirito," the blonde said, flopping back down in his chair. "It looks like my visiting time will be cut short today."

"Oh, how so?"

"I'm not really sure why," Bou said, his brow furrowing, "but Yoshiki told Kirito something and it's got him all excited." Tora raised a disbelieveing eyebrow and Bou grinned. "Yeah, I know. Kirito doesn't get excited very often. That's what's got me so puzzled. He said that a bunch of us are gathering over at our house and he wants me there. Kisaki evidently volenteered to take my place here, so as soon as he arrives, I'm off."

"I really don't need a babysitter you know," Tora started, "I mean, I am in a hospital after all..."

"I know, but it makes the others feel better, especialy since you aren't out of the woods yet, so I'd play along, if you can." Bou smiled cheerfully. "Though, I know you don't know Kisaki very well, so if you'd prefer I stay or perhaps Toshiya or Rose stay with you, I'm sure I can-"

"No, no thats ok." Tora smiled slightly. "Kisaki's a nice guy. I was just..." Tora sighed. "Don't worry about it. Find out what's got your boy-toy all excited and then come tell me, ok?"

There was a knock on the door and Kisaki walked in, a small white bag in one hand. Bou turned to Tora and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before hopping to his feet.

"Will do!" With a wave to Kisaki, he trotted off, whistling as he went.

Kisaki shook his head and chuckled, walking towards Tora and looking down at him. "I swear, no matter the occassion, that man has more energy than I ever had." He sat down on the edge of Tora's bed. "So..."

"So..."

---

Kirito paced back and forth across his livingroom floor. Bou sat in the big mushroom chair, carefully balancing a bottle of nail polish on one knee and painting his left hand a bright, fuschia pink that matched Hide's hair. Hide, Toshiya and Rose were sitting on the couch, while Hakuei lounged across the armchair, Tsukasa sitting comfortable in his lap. They watched patiently, for they had quickly become used to their friend's erratic moods, as Kirito gathered words to express the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

"As you guys already know," he began, "Yoshiki's lover is none other than Sakurai Atsushi, the vocalist-"

"Wait!" Bou exclaimed, "I didn't know that!" he turned wide-eyed to the others. "Did you guys know that?"

Hide leaned over and swatted the blonde over the head with his newspaper. "Idiot, of course we did! How many Sakurai Atsushi's do you know?"

"Well, Sakurai's a common surname," Bou pouted, rubbing his head, "and Atsushi isn't a rare given name either. I just thought, I don't know, I didn't realize it was him."

Kirito rolled his eyes. "Anyway, evidently Atsushi-san has been very impressed with out last few gigs at the bar and has decided to contact one of the managers at his label to come down here and listen to us play."

The three men on the couch exchanged astonished looks. "You're kidding?!?" Rose squeeled.

"Heh, no, I'm not." Kirito' face broke out into a grin. "But, well, I told Yoshiki to tell Atsushi to hold off a bit until we get a few things striaght." The others nodded, but now an excited air seemed to be dancing around them. "First of all, we need to decide on a few things."

"Like what?" Tsukasa asked, running a hand lazily over the tattooed arm encircling his waist.

"Well, for one, are we ready to form an actual band? Is that what you guys really want?" Excited nodds answered him, so he continued. "Ok then, what about a name? And who's going to play what position? We've kind of got that all over the board here." He paused. "And who's going to be the leqader of th-"

"YOU!" they all said at once and Kirito chuckled, raising his arms out to protect him.

"Ok, ok, I get it. At least that's settled. So what about the rest?"

---

Kisaki fished in the bag he brought and produced several items. "I asked Tsukasa what kind of things you liked to read." He handed the comics to the other man. "He remembered what you used to read, but that was so long ago, I just ended up guessing."

Tora took them, wide-eyed, and held them to his chest. "Thank you, you really shouldn't have."

Kisaki blushed slightly. "Well, I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in here with nothing to do..." his eyes trailed to the single rose laying across Tora's lap, then the vase of roses that had been moved to his bedside.

"Do you know who gave those to me?" Tora asked softly. "I want to thank him. They are very beautiful, and must have cost a great deal." He held the rose up to his nose. "Red roses are my favorite."

Kisaki looked uncomfortable for a moment and stood, moving towards the small window. "Tsukasa told me once that they were your favorite." he murmered and pushed aside the drapes. Tora looked up, gazing at the red haired man framed against the window in the warm sunlight. "When I saw them in the shop, I thought of you, and how nice it is to get a beautiful batch of flowers when things seem to be at their lowest, so..." he turned around, leaning against the window, hands behind his back. "I thought perhaps they might cheer you up."

Tora smiled. "They have."