A/N: So, this jumps around between POV's a bit, but it's needed I think. Oh, and I'm not sure if this is as good as I think it is at the moment, I'm exhausted XD

Eri

It took a few hours for me to convince Emi to leave the room. Even then, all I could do was convince her that she'd prefer to eat something from outside the hospital, seeing as fatty foods were her favorites and I doubted she was going to get anything like that in a hospital. Seeming to reluctantly agree, and insist that she would be back in under thirty minutes, she took off. 

That left me alone with Hiroshi. Kitaru had headed back to the house, well aware that having him around would only be stressful for me, no matter the situation. 

"... tell me what the doctor said. Don't sugar-coat it."

Hiroshi's lips twisted up as he shifted about in the chair he'd taken up position in towards the furthest corner of the room. He didn't bother to raise his cheek from where he'd settled it in his hand- elbow against the arm of the chair- but did at least open his eyes. 

"You really want to know?"

His tone lacked his usual playful tone he usually adopted when Emi wasn't around. Instead, it was almost... empty. None of the humor from his expression had invaded his voice. It was just flat. 

I nodded. 

"... it's not good." 

I couldn't help it, I snorted. When he rose a brow in response, I shrugged. 

"What cancer patient, aware that she's come out of remission for the second time, expects good news?" I explained. 

"You're right," he agreed. "That's why you sent Emi away, right?" 

I simply nodded again, drawing a sigh from his lips. His eyes flickered shut again for a moment, as if he was debating whether or not to tell me the truth, before he opened his eyes once again. 

"Alright."

_____________________________

Emi

You know, when you're being shoved out of the room, something that's happened to you several times in your life, it's hard not to notice. Perhaps it might have been for someone else, but... it was obvious to me. Our parents had, had some bit of understanding when we were younger, although thinking back perhaps they'd been putting on a show for the doctors. Either way, whenever something bad was going to be discussed, I was ushered out of the room. 

The funny thing was, even if I knew what she was doing, I couldn't help but let myself be ushered. 

It was easier to be in denial if you didn't know all the details. 

The moment I'd made it into the lobby, my mind set on going to the first ice-cream shop I saw, I froze. Talking to an almost identical, older male, was Kyoya. Perhaps if Eri hadn't been consuming all of my thoughts he wouldn't have stood out as much to me from the crowd. As it was, Eri and Kyoya had been getting along rather well. I'd hoped that maybe it'd turn out to be something- she could use some good things- but now... 

Eri would hate it if everyone knew. Pity was the worst thing that could happen to her, in her opinion. 

Ducking my head, a rather uncharacteristic move for me, I made my way towards the door. As I moved, I kept my eye on him to the best extent I could. A soft curse escaped my lips as he finished what seemed to be an unsavory conversation with the man and turned towards the entrance. Despite the fact I picked up my pace, when he spotted me he'd crossed the floor within moments. 

"Emi-chan?"

Switching my expression from annoyed to a false grin, I turned to face him. 

"You're really good at telling us apart, huh?" 

Kyoya, his expression his usual, even one, simply adjusted his glasses. 

"Eri is smaller and paler," he answered simply. "Plus, you walk differently." 

Distracted for a moment, I furrowed my brow. 

"We walk different?" I demanded. 

I could have sworn I saw his lips twitch in amusement.. 

"You saunter," he explained. 

"... saunter?"

"Saunter," Kyoya confirmed. "Eri walks completely closed up. Her arms usually crossed her tucked to her sides, her stride rather small and her back straight. You haunch, your arms are loose, and you take large steps. You walk different." 

I blinked a few times, taking in this information. 

"I feel like there was an insult in there somewhere," I muttered. 

His lips twitched again, this time I was certain. In response, a scowl flashed across my lips. 

"Ass." 

He almost looked as if he might laugh, but the expression disappeared, his face once again impossible to read. It wasn't until the moment that he glanced the direction I'd obviously been coming from, then in the direction that I'd been going, that I put together a matter that had been floating about in the back of my mind. He was here talking to a man who looked a lot like him and had also- I only now realized- been wearing a white coat. The Ootori's were in the health-care business. 

Eri would have been proud of how I managed to deduct the matter. 

"Is this one of your hospitals?" 

He simply nodded, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. 

"Where's Eri?"

My scowl dropped away, expression faltering for a moment. A second later I recovered, putting on a fake, mischievous expression that someone would expect of me. 

"No honorific?" 

He stiffened, adjusted his glasses, then seemed to dismiss the comment without a word. 

"Is she checked in here?" he continued. "Is she sick again?" 

I started to answer him, but he almost instantly put up a hand to stop me. 

"She was already sick," he continued thoughtfully. "It got worse, then? Her room number?" 

"Hey," I demanded. "Who says she wants visitors?" 

His lips twitched once again. 

"So she is here." 

"... you really are an ass." 

"Her room number?" he questioned again. 

Shifting uncomfortably where I stood, I slowly shook my head. 

"Nope. I say she doesn't want them." 

He narrowed his eyes slightly before spinning a heel and starting back across the lobby. 

"No problem," he replied, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard. "I'll look it up myself." 

Alarmed, I darted forward to grab the back of his shirt. 

"You can't access her files...that's... it's...  that's illegal!" I sputtered, then paused as he rose a brow once again. "Isn't it?"

"I wonder." 

"Kyoya!"

Moving so that I had to release his shirt, Kyoya shoved his hands in his pockets and faced me once again. 

"Senpai," he corrected, in what I could have sworn was an almost teasing tone. 

"Ass," I retorted. "Like hell I'm going to use that." 

"Her room number?" 

I hesitated a moment longer. When he didn't change the expectant expression on his face, I simply sighed and slumped my shoulders, rattling off the number. When he started to walk, then paused, a frown on his face, I dropped my head. 

"That room would be in the... " he began, trailing off. "That's impossible." 

As he suddenly started again, his pace much faster than before, I darted after him. I could guess what he'd figured out. If he knew the hospital as well as he knew everything else, it wouldn't be that hard for him to figure out that the usual rule held true, here, and the first number was the floor number. 

The cancer floor. 

When we made it up the room and he pulled the door open, Eri's eyes seemed to meet his instantly. Neither one of them said anything for a moment, her lips twisting into a wry smile. She then looked to me and made a shooing motion. 

"Go. I'll talk to him," she informed me, her eyes flickering to where Hiroshi had already stood. "You, too." 

He nodded, stepping past the two of us and giving her a wave before leaving. I hesitated. 

"But..." 

"Go," she insisted. "Bring me something back. I'm sure they'll be fine with it." 

At the expression she gave me in that moment I gave in. Eri would be able to take care of it, I guessed. After all, she was the strong one.

_________________________________

Eri

The moment Emi let the door fall shut behind her, Kyoya dropped his gaze and crossed the room. I frowned for a moment, attempting to place what he was so interested in, but simply smiled as he seized my chart from the end of the bed. Without saying a word, he flipped it open, his eyes skimming over everything. Deciding to give him time to take it in, I simply settled more comfortably into my bed, shifting my pillow so that it cushioned my head a bit more. 

"I didn't know." 

I almost laughed. The annoyed tone to his words was rather comical, or perhaps it was just the stress of the situation that caused it. 

"My parents are good at burying things. They use it for publicity when needed, but it's not really something that they make well known. They don't like attention on Emi and I." 

He frowned. 

"I knew that part. The rumors that circulated around the time he ran for election were rather prominent when I first looked you two up upon your transfer. It's true, then?"

I nodded, seeing no reason to hide it.

"Right. We're the fling children."

He seemed to take that fact in, his eyes flickering to the chart again before looking to me. In that moment, I realized something. He wasn't making a big deal out of the discovery. He wasn't looking at me with pity. He wasn't even saying the hated "I'm sorry."

Why people apologize for a disease they had nothing to do with putting in my body, I'll never know. I think it's about up there with the pity on the list of things I hate. 

He simply seemed... there was no word for it, really. He was Kyoya. 

"What have they told you?" he questioned evenly. 

"... enough that... if you'd let me borrow your phone I would really appreciate it." 

He considered this for a moment before placing my chart down and studying me. 

"Why?"

"I want to call them," I replied. "My parents, I mean." 

He studied me for a few moments longer before pulling his phone out. 

"Why not ask Emi-chan?"

"You can probably guess." 

"I don't think that's-"

"Please, your phone?"

We shared at each other for a moment, then slowly handed over the phone. I had to dial it a few times and jump through hoops, but eventually, they answered.

"Hey... Okaasan? It's Eri... I want to ask for something..."