Does Not Heal

Ken opened his eyes and went to roll out of bed, but stopped when pain lanced through his side. He froze, muscles tense, fire burning up along his side and back, and scanned his memory. He was in the flower shop, and he was alive.

Aya had stabbed him through the kidney.

Ken rolled gingerly onto his back and then did his best to scootch toward the edge of the bed. It took some creative maneuvering and using muscles he hadn’t used in a long time to make it to a sitting position. He made it to his feet with relative ease, then realized he couldn’t bend down, so he used his toes Omi-style (did Mamoru even do that sort of thing these days?) to scoop up his towel, and he shuffled for the bathroom. As he turned on the hot water and let the steam fill his lungs, he was glad Yohji had insisted on a western shower.

Then he felt another pang - deeper, more than physical - and remembered that Yohji was not his friend anymore, that he was an amnesiac stranger who would never smile at him again.

Ken managed to shower without re-opening the wound (he’d scratched off the bandages as soon as he was out of the doctor’s sight) and then dressed in a comfortable yukata. Western clothes weren’t always great when he was wounded, and Momoe-san had given him the next week off.

Ken wasn’t sure he’d be able to sit still for that long, but that he knew it was in his best interest to try.

“How are you feeling?”

Aya’s voice from the doorway nearly gave him a heart attack. Ken spun around, and the motion pulled at his wound. He winced and clutched at the sink for balance.

Aya shook his head. “Baka. It’ll never heal if you don’t hold still.”

“You startled me,” Ken protested. “You sneaked up on me like --”

“Like an assassin?” Aya arched one eyebrow.

Ken nodded, cracking a smile at Aya’s solemn-faced joke, and then he noticed the suitcase in Aya’s hand. Even this early, Aya was fully dressed. Ken’s smile faded.

“Ano...what’s with the luggage?”

“I’ve resigned from Kritiker and found employment in America,” Aya said.

That hurt more than Ken expected. “Aa. You want me to drive you to the airport?”

Confused furrowed Aya’s brow, and he would always be a little socially dense, wouldn’t he? “I just came by to ensure you were healing well.”

He couldn’t even say goodbye.

Ken shook his head and smiled. “Let me drive you. It’s no bother.”

Aya nodded. “Thank you.”


Momoe-san was waiting for him when he returned.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

Ken shrugged. “It still hurts.”

“Give it time - and remember to rest!” Momoe-san said, and shuffled to help a customer.

Ken closed his eyes and pictured Aya’s departing figure. “A wound inflicted by a friend does not heal.”

(492 words)