Like a Demon

Kyo found Jayne hiding under a bridge shivering as her thin clothes clung to her trembling body from the rain. She was sitting in a darker corner, holding her knees to herself, and sobbing her heart out when he walked over to her and sat beside her in the puddle that decided to form around her. Without speaking a word he pulled her against him and held her as she cried, letting the warm skin of his arms burn against hers as she clung to him.

“We should go back. The rain is getting worse, and if we aren’t back soon enough they will come looking for us. Dex and Die will probably end up getting everyone lost.” He announced when she finally started to calm down.

“Kaoru knows his way around.” She argued quietly.

“Why don’t you want to go back to them?”

“I don’t want to see him sick,” she whimpered, “When I went to him with what Thomas did, my father kicked me out of the house and told me that I was no longer his daughter. I’ve had two father figures since, Mr. Tochikura, and Robert. The Tochikuras are more like a very close aunt and uncle, while Robert is like my father.” She explained quietly, shivering against him as the wind blew the warmth from her body. He knew that she was already getting sick, but since she was more stubborn than anyone he had ever met before, he also knew that there was no chance of making her go back to the house.

“He isn’t any different, though. There isn’t a single thing different now than what has been for the last few months, Jayne-chan.”

“He has cancer!”

“And has for the last few months, but he hasn’t been sick from it. Has he?”

“Do you think he is going to be okay?” she asked while looking up at him with bloodshot eyes.

Before he could answer, someone hit their car horn and started yelling Jayne’s name. When he didn’t answer, someone else got out of the car and started running at them with a second stranger behind him.

Jayne was terrified of the person charging them, since through the rain they couldn’t see who it was. While she shrunk down from their attacker, Kyo let go of her and stood up, ready for a fight until a sweater was thrown over his head and a blanket was thrown at Jayne.

“Are you trying to kill yourselves?!” Die demanded while Drew fussed over Jayne, forcing her to wrap up in the blanket, and put on his shoes.

Kyo didn’t answer as Mei ran from the car to join them. “Kaoru would like you to get back in the car.” She explained, “He is in a hurry to get home now.”

Kyo nodded before looking down at Jayne and smirking. She had wrapped herself up in the blanket so that the only parts of her that could be seen were her eyes, and her bare toes, and was looking up at him like a lost little girl. “Is there room for all of us in his car?” he questioned while turning his attention to Die, who shrugged and started walking away from them with Mei close by.

“Hurry up! He doesn’t look happy right now!” Mei shouted back.

“Come on, let’s get you up.” Drew laughed while trying to pull Jayne to her feet. She didn’t make it to a standing position until Kyo grabbed her other arm and helped him lift her. Once she was standing they pulled her to the car and put her in the front seat beside Kaoru with the heat on as high as it would go, and all possible vents aimed at her as she shivered violently.

Jayne quickly fell asleep as Kaoru drove, able to sit comfortably in the front while Die, Drew, Jayne, and Kyo were crammed into the back seat together. Everything was silent until they got home, and then it was hushed grunts while everyone in the back tried to QUIETLY exit the car, after being so heavily packed that there was no room to move and open the doors.

“I don’t really want to wake her up.” Mei laughed, pointing out how cute Jayne looked all snuggled into the blanket in Kaoru’s front seat. Everyone agreed with her, but there weren’t many options.

“Are you really going to carry her?” Drew questioned when Kyo carefully lifted her out of the car.

“She is going through a lot, and I know that she has been losing sleep the past couple of weeks. After what we just heard from Robert, we all know she is going to sleep even less.” He explained quietly while carrying her to the door, “I want to be sure that she at least gets this rest tonight before the tour starts again.”

Before anyone could reply to him, Shinya opened the door and let him into the house, not wanting him to have to hold her out in the rain any longer. The moment the door opened, he was on his way to her room. Drew was clueless to why Shinya seemed so down, but Mei had her suspicions as they all followed quietly.

“Do you mind if we go to your studio for a while? I haven’t touched a bass since our last show.” Mei asked quietly, receiving a nod from Kaoru as an answer before dragging Drew and Dex, who was carrying Ray on his back, after her. The last thing any of the rock stars could hear was Dex whining “But I don’t want to play!” and Mei ordering him to shut up before the door closed behind them.

“Shinya,” Kaoru sighed once he was sure that no one else could hear them.

“I’m not upset, Kaoru. I’m just tired, two weeks doesn’t seem like enough time to rest.” He sighed, only half lying.

“That’s true, but it doesn’t matter, does it? We can all see that you’re hurting, please talk to us.” Die frowned, but Shinya just shook his head and stood up.

“It’s exactly what I told the two of you before. If she would rather be with him, than with me, then I will be happy for her that she is happy.” He explained and headed for the door before Toshiya, who refused to let him pass, stopped him.

“If they are together, and she realizes that it is hurting you, then she will feel terrible for what she is doing. She will leave Kyo, and then the three of you will be carrying broken hearts. Stay here, and for her sake finish this tour with a smile.” He pleaded, “Don’t be angry with Kyo, I’m not sure that he realizes what is happening around him right now.”

While Shinya’s friends continued to convince him to open up to them, Mei was pacing the studio while her band sat around her, staring in disbelief.

“They aren’t, because she would kill him.” Drew scoffed.

“Both of you are dumb! Jayne and Kyo are very much alike in a lot of ways, and in a lot of ways completely opposite. There is something there, and has been for a long time. That night when she got drunk and cried on his shoulder, and then ended up sleeping in his arms for comfort, all of the times their friendship has kept the both of them sane, his constant convincing her and Ray that he will protect them from Thomas, and just now the way he ran off after her in the rain, and carried her back to her room. They are together, guys, and Robert is going to skin her ass when he finds out.” She explained.

“What about THEIR manager? He’s in just as much shit as she is then.” Dex yawned.

“It’s deeper than that. Did you see Shinya? How sad his eyes looked when they walked past him? And every time Kyo has held her, especially this morning… he likes her too. Very much.”

“Wait, so you think that Shinya is in love with her, but she is in love with Kyo, who is in love with her as well?” Drew demanded, now taking the situation a little more seriously.

“She likes Shinya, too. We had a long conversation about it. She likes them both, a lot. She doesn’t know what to do.” She frowned, collapsing on the floor and lying face down while their conversation continued.

“Well what are WE supposed to do?!” Dex demanded.

“Not act like we know, duh! We don’t act like we know what Shinya feels, or that Jay likes him as much as she likes Kyo. Not until some hot shit hits the fan.” Drew nodded.

“Well, let’s hope that doesn’t happen… what if it ends the tour? Or our band? Or THEIR band? This is some Jerry Springer shit going down!” Dex whined, but deep down he knew that his friend was right. Their only option was to ignore everything around them.