The Warmth of a Suoh (Past/Ryuu)

"Snow..." Ryuunosuke noted, staring out of the exit of the Underworld, bundling himself tighter into his red fuzzy jacket, his teeth already chattering. It didn't help that his metal limbs were quickly cooling down in the frigid air. His hand braced against his cane, leaning on it for a little more support than his leg was giving him at that moment. He'd been so unsteady on his feet since his surgery, but that had been years ago. He still hadn't recovered fully, and even though that he was a genin now, the pain from the loss of his limbs really hadn't gone away yet. It didn't help that he worked his body to exhaustion quite often. After his training session the day before, his arm and leg were aching beyond belief. Yet, he had something important to do. He couldn't leave her waiting for too much longer, after all.

Stepping onto the streets of Iwagakure, Ryuunosuke hobbled along, using his cane for much needed support. He hadn't expected to hurt this much today. He wasn't going to let Yukiko down, though, powering through the pain on the way to the hospital. He gave a friendly greeting to the nurse at the front desk, waving with his free hand before he started carefully up the stairs. He felt tears sting his eyes at the pain, but he forced himself to keep going, only stopping for a short breather to let the pain subside before he started up the next flight. He almost cried with relief as he made it up to the fourth floor, breathing heavily at this point.

"Damnit," Ryuu muttered to himself, wiping the tears of pain from his eyes as he moved toward Yukiko's room.

Knocking on the door, he slid it open, stepping in with a wide smile on his face. He gripped the handle of the cane as he turned and slid the door shut again. "I'm sorry I'm so late. I didn't realize that it was snowing. You can't really walk fast when your entire body is trembling from the cold you know!" he said, completely avoiding the fact that it'd been his leg that had kept him from walking fast. He was bullshitting, of course, trying to make it seem as if everything was alright. He also wasn't going to admit that his gift for her had taken longer to make than he had thought it would. It was now tucked away safely in his pocket, as he wouldn't give it to her until the absolute perfect time. First he wanted to get a feeling for her mood.

"How are you today, Yukiko? Your mom says hi. She sent me with some fresh cookies for you, but she said she was feeling ill so she couldn't come today," he said softly as he slid a chair over to sit next to his bed. Ryuunosuke knew otherwise, though. He was sure Yukiko did, too. Her mother hardly came to visit anymore, leaving the duty to Ryuunosuke. When he had a mission, he was always rather crushed that he had to leave his friend behind because he knew that no one would come to see her while he was gone. At this moment in time, he was her lifeline. Settling down into the chair, he opened up his jacket a bit, pulling out the small box with still warm cookies inside, putting them onto the table next to her bed, waiting patiently for her to speak.

Leaning forward in his chair, Ryuunosuke observed Yukiko carefully. She'd been in this hospital for so long, and it was heart breaking to him to see his friend in such an awful condition. He remembered the days that he would train with her, both of them using their own fighting styles. Ryuunosuke hadn't exactly been in tip top shape for most of his life, either, so he understood how Yukiko felt, even if she didn't realize it. After the massacre of Ryuunosuke's family, the fact that the young boy had been mutilated to the point that he'd had to have his limbs amputated had been kept a total secret. When the surgery had been performed to give him a new arm and leg, even that had been kept a secret.

Unlike most Suoh's in the compound, Ryuunosuke was ashamed with how he looked. He kept his steel limbs a secret even now, wearing long sleeved shirts and pants, as well as gloves. He played it off as if he didn't like to show that much skin to those around him when in fact he was simply afraid of what would happen if someone saw the boy in his true form. Pale skin and glistening black steel in one body. The shamed burned worse than fire or the stifling heat of the forges.

"You know, if you hadn't been crying when I came in, I might have been able to believe that you were really fine, Yukiko," he said calmly, giving her an apologetic smile. "You know that I wouldn't miss coming to see you unless I had a mission or training. I couldn't leave you alone like that," Ryuu said with a small grin, reaching forward and touching his friends cheek with a gloved hand, wiping gently at the remnants of tears that still hung on her cheeks. "Then again, I know that you lie each and every time that I ask you that question," he said softer now, looking a little sad at the thought. "But, you know that I'm always going to be here for you, right? Even when you're at your worst. Whether you're stuck in bed or you're working next to me in the forges. Whether you're feeling weak or the strongest you've ever been in your life. I'll be here. You hear me? I'm not going to be like your parents and give up on you, and I surely won't let you give up on yourself," the genin said with a smile, his eyes bright and oh so affectionate.
Ryuunosuke's smile broke into a full on grin, almost lighting up the room with his happiness, "So smile for me, Yukiko. You're never going to be alone, and you should never feel like you are." With that, he pulled his hand away from her cheek, waving off the offer for a blanket. "No thank you, I'll be fine. I'm not that cold," he said softly. "Though you and I could probably use something to make up a little more toasty, right? Something to go with those cookies," nodding, he stood up, putting his weight on the cane instead of his leg, "Give me a few moments, I'll be right back."

With that, he was out the door and into the corridoor. He stopped one of the nurses, asking where the drink station was. After being pointed down the hall, he hobbled slowly down to the station, pulling an insulated pitcher with hot water. He grabbed a few packets of hot coco, and some of those tiny marshmallows, and a few cups, stuffing what he could into his jacket pockets and carrying the pitcher of hot water in his hand. He entered Yukiko's room again, all smiles and sunshine, and set the pitcher on the table next to her bed. He set out the cups, pouted the packets of coco into them and then mixed in the water, plopping a few marshmallows into the hot drink when he was done. He then partitioned the cookies up for the both of them, sliding her part of them toward her on the torn edge of the cookie box. "There. A perfect snack for a winter day, right?" he said with a grin.

"And before you even think about not eating them, I should clarify. Your mother taught me how to make these this morning so I could make them for you. If you don't want to eat them because of your mother, eat them because I put a lot of love into these snacks, too!" he laughed joyfully, just wanting to see a smile on his friends face. He had another gift for her, of course, but he was waiting for the perfect time to give it to her. Maybe after their snack, maybe before he left. He didn't really know yet. All he knew was that he was starting to feel a little nervous, golden eyes glancing toward the floor as a slight blush powdered his cheeks. He'd be lying if he didn't admit that he liked his friend a little more than friends normally did...

Ryuunosuke gave a very small smile, albeit a sad smile, when Yukiko started to cry even more. He tried not to flush too red when she leaned into his hand, having been reluctant when he'd had to finally pull away. He stared at his cup of coco at first, not touching it. There was too much on his mind. The necklace burning a hole in his pocket and the thoughts of how alone and hopeless she must have been feeling all this time. He knew that she hadn't been truly alright, but he hadn't even thought that it would be as bad as he was seeing. However, he understood the emotional trauma and stress that came with not being able to do anything useful, of even move from bed. It was an awful feeling, and it only got worse the longer you felt that way.

Pushing his cookies away, he gave Yukiko a small smile, slowly getting up. Once again, he put all of his weight onto the cane, moving to the door and slowly sliding it closed, locking it behind him. He stared at the floor for a long moment, clearly debating something that he wanted to say or do. He knew what he was going to do; explaining it was going to be the biggest problem for him. He had a hard time putting all of this into words, and only a few of the Suoh knew his situation. The Clan Leader, Ryuuzaki, two Suoh medics, and the greatest puppeteer that belonged to the clan. Four other people. Four people knew his secret, and he'd never told anyone else.

"Yukiko..." he started, trailing off, his brow furrowed in mental frustration. He couldn't think of how he could even begin to tell her. "I guess... don't freak out, alright? I want you to know something... I want you to see that I've felt just like you before..." with that, he slipped off his jacket slowly, laying it slowly over the chair that he'd been sitting in, slowly pulling his long sleeved shirt over his head and pulled his gloves off. Lifting the leg that was supported mostly by the cane, he set his foot on the end of her bed, slowly rolling up one of his pant legs. Two metal limbs glistened in the winder sunlight that filtered through the hospitals windows, made of dark steel and polished to perfection. "It's difficult to get through, the pain and the weakness... But once you do, it's like all these doors open for you, and you aren't lost anymore." he said softly, staring at the palm of his artificial arm, closing golden eyes slowly. He let out a very heavy breath, swallowing hard, hoping that she wouldn't be too upset by this realization.

Bowing his head slightly, he could almost feel the shame of his parents failure burning on his neck. He gazed at her from under long blonde bangs, his golden eyes pleading for her to understand. "I know how you feel every day, Yukiko. I'm still getting over the grief and the hardship that came with losing both my arm and leg. While I recovered, after the Lord Ryuuzaki ordered my operation, I felt even more hopeless. I had to learn how to walk again. I had to learn how to move my leg and my arm. I'm still not perfect at it," he said, a weak smile on his lips as he trailed his gaze back toward the floor once more. "I was late, Yukiko, because the cold weather makes it very painful for me to walk, not because I was cold."