Midnight Calls
Getting a call in the middle of the night rarely ever led to good things. That was something that Taiki knew, but had never truly experienced himself. He was usually front and center for all of the bad things that tended to happen to those he cared about.
He awoke to the soft buzzing of his phone, blinking with confusion and picking it to stare at the number. He sat up and glanced beside him through the darkness. He could faintly make out Akari's peacefully sleeping form, not the least bit surprised that she didn't even stir at his movements. She worked late that day, and practically fell asleep while eating a late supper. Taiki didn't want to wake her up, so he quickly slipped out of the bed, walking out to the living room.
His phone wasn't ringing by that point of time, but Taiki quickly called back, and his grandmother immediately picked up. The old woman spoke quickly to him, her voice nervous and scared. By the end of her explanation about why she was calling him at 2:30 in the morning, he was completely awake and alert.
“I'll be there in a few minutes.” Then he hung up.
Changing from his pyjama pants to jeans, and a t-shirt, Taiki glanced at Akari. He bit his lip, not sure if he should wake her up a lot. She'd probably want him to condiering the circumstances, but even in the dark she still looked so tired that he couldn't bring himtself to do it.
Instead, he quietly left the room, moving towards the other one and peering in. Dorulumon and Cutemon were both sleeping there. “Hey, keep an eye on Akari. I need to go somewhere. I'll be back in a little bit.” He didn't wait for a reply, making sure he had his Xros Loader as he grabbed his coat, shoes, wallet and keys, arming the alarm on the door before leaving.
A foreboding familiar hospital loomed in the distance. This was the place where he had his surgery to remove a benign tumour from his brain. This was the place he took Akari to when she needed surgery a few weeks after she was attacked. Now it was the place where his grandparents were waiting.
He met his grandmother before he could even reach the room she specified to him. The woman had tears in her grey eyes, the same colour as his own. “He's comfortable right now.”
“What happened?”
“They think it was a stroke, but they'll know more in the morning.” He followed her into the room, stopping as he stared at the old, sleeping man. He looked a lot more fragile and in general old than he normally did. “He wanted to talk to you though.”
His grandfather woke up at his grandmother's soft whispers. He smile a bit and looked around tiredly. “Akari's not with you?” Even his voice sounded weak.
“You ran her ragged. I didn't want to wake her up.”
“Good, good,” he nodded his head. “There are something...I was hoping that there'd be more time.”
“You're fine.”
“For right now, but it's still not enough time. I was hoping you could move up on your own in the company, to get more experience there. You know how you found that contract strange?”
“The one for what I'm making? Yeah.” Taiki remembered that, finding it more than just strange that his grandfather basically was just letting him use the place to make his thing.
“I knew that they would try to take it from you like they will everything else. Step away from the company if you have to for now, but don't let them have that. It's too dangerous for what they'd want it for.” The man coughed. “Oh, and do me a favour, ask that girl to marry you.” The old man looked up at him. “I'm sorry I didn't get you away from your father.”
“It's okay.”
Taiki wasn't good at saying goodbye. He never had to, either leaving himself or people leaving him suddenly. Instead, he just nodded his head and mentioned bringing Akari the next morning.
With an oddly heavy heart, Taiki returned home, feeling even more exhausted than before. He came to a stop at the door, blinking with confusion when he saw a piece of paper taped to it. He pulled it off and turned it around to see if there was anything written on it. 'Loss is a terrible thing, isn't it?'.
Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the racing thoughts in his head, but instead, he just crumpled it up and threw it. Walking inside, he dealt with the alarm, and changed back into his pyjamas and getting back into the bed like nothing had ever happened.
Akari stirred a bit, moving so that she was closer to him. Taiki wrapped his arm around her and held her close, burying his face in her messy hair. Sleep didn't come easily, but with her there to take comfort in, he managed to drift off into restless dreams.
