The Forgotten Memories [Chp3]

Chp 1 | Chp 2 | Chp 3 | Chp 4

Genre: Romance – Angst – Hurt – Comfort – Drama

Rating: R15

Pairing: (mainly) Izumi no Kami Kanesada x Horikawa Kunihiro

Side pairing: Yamato no Kami Yasusada x Kashuu Kiyomitsu

Summary:"Kunihiro? That guy has always insisted that he is my partner… but somehow… I can't remember since when… Hell, I'm not even close to him… He is too persistent sometimes."

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction made for personal satisfaction. Touken Ranbu belongs to DMM and Nitroplus. No connection is implied or should be in inferred.

Chapter 3: Because of You

"Kane-san… I'm… I'm Horikawa Kunihiro! Finally… I met you… I'm in charge of assisting you!" The boy stood proudly, his big eyes aimed at him.

Kanesada sweat dropped at the guy before him; he was at loss for words. The person named Kunihiro bowed deeply before him; an act to hide his bright red face.

"Okay…"

Kanesada's short reply was enough to make Horikawa raise his head. The boy rubbed his nose nervously with his forefinger, chuckling.

"I will be your partner from now on. Let's work together to raise our level and become powerful!"

Kanesada's lips stretched into a smile and patted the top of Horikawa's head affectionately, as if he was a small child.

"Alright, whatever…"

Kunihiro's eyes snapped open. A few apprehensive faces were checking him over.

"What?" he sat up with his elbow supporting his weight in momentary confusion.

"You passed out during battle. We had to get back to refine you." Kashuu said, sitting back in relief.

"I see…" Horikawa rubbed his temple. "I'm sorry you guys had to get back because of me."

Kashuu shook his head, smiling. "You have to rest as much as you can."

"Stay strong, don't break and stay sharp." Ichigo said before rising to his feet. Both Kashuu and Yasusada followed Ichigo. Horikawa smiled in appreciation and waved at them before they closed the door.

"Thank you…"

"Kanesada have to know about this," Ichigo clenched his fists in anger once the door was properly closed.

"Don't pick a fight." Yasusada warned before Ichigo stormed away, leaving him and Kashuu alone in the hallway. Before Kashuu could walk away too, Yasusada grabbed a hold of his trembling hand.

"Kiyo…?" he called the nickname that only the two of them knew.

"I'm afraid… what if the same thing happened to us too…? What if I forgot about you? Or what if you were the one who forgot about-" Kashuu's words were stopped abruptly by Yasusada's fingers pressed on his lips.

"Don't jinx it. We are meant to be inseparable." Yasusada whispered. They stared at each other for a moment before Yasusada pulled Kashuu closer to him, claiming his lips.

Kashuu purred against the kiss and wrapped his arms around his shoulder. He embraced Yasusada tighter, deepening the kiss. He gasped breathlessly when Yasusada finally broke the kiss and carried him into his arms. Kashuu groaned in dissatisfaction, not wanting to be separated.

"Make me remember then, don't just let me forget about you… Yasu," he trailed kisses from Yasusada's lips down to his jaw and before sucking on his jugular.

"Hey now… don't make me have an erection in the middle of the hallway…" Yasusada giggled playfully while nuzzling against Kashuu's hair.

Kanesada looked out the window of his room. The master ordered Horikawa to clean the yard with Kashuu. They were chatting lightly as they work. Kashuu's twin was nowhere to be seen. Something about them tugged his heart; it was unusual to see them chatting casually. Kanesada sighed and rubbed his head. Something was not right with him.

"Like what you see?"

The long haired man turned to see Ichigo leaning against the doorframe.

"Huh? You mean Kunihiro? That guy has always insisted that he is my partner… but somehow… I can't remember since when… Hell, I'm not even close to him… He is too persistent sometimes. What a bother."

Ichigo made a face, visibly unimpressed by the way Kanesada talked about his longtime partner.

"Can't you at least try to remember something? Anything at all?!" Ichigo raised his voice.

Kanesada glared at him. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to remember, give me a break. Why is everybody acting as if I'm the one who's at fault here?" he crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed irritatingly.

Ichigo clicked his tongue impatiently.

"He is your partner ever since you guys were still level 1. Don't you get it? He is breaking on the inside. It's all... because of you!"

A voice from downstairs hollered just when Kanesada was about to retort back.

"What's with the yelling? I can hear your voice all the way downstairs!" Kousetsu Samonji yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

He was in the middle of mixing dough in a bowl when the argument broke out. It was pretty rare to hear Ichigo raising his voice to another Toudan. As much as he was ready to interfere in a sword fight breaking out in the middle of the house, he had his hands full with another task at the moment.

"If you wanna fight, please do it in a proper room!" he barked at the two. Whoever Ichigo was fighting with, he only hoped that the room would still stay intact by the time it was over.

"Kousetsu… the eggs exploded." Sayo Samonji appeared from the kitchen.

Kousetsu yelped in surprise seeing his brother's face and torso smeared all over by flour and egg yolk.

"What happened?" He quickly ran back to the kitchen.

Sayo only hummed in reply with his poker face.

"Sayo! My Sayo!" Souza Samonji's voice echoed throughout the hallway.

Kanesada and Ichigo were glaring at each other silently; as if trying to kill each other with their death glare.

"Try to remember something." Ichigo broke off the eye contact after a few minutes and left the room.

Kanesada looked out of the window again where Horikawa was. He had already finished sweeping the yard.

"Because of me, huh?" he muttered to himself.

It was time for a snack right after Horikawa finished putting away the cleaning tools. Kanesada came out from the house with a tray of tea and dango. Horikawa spotted him and jogged over to help.

"Kane-san, please let me do it." Horikawa offered with a warm smile. Kanesada shook his head.

"Go take a bath, you are sweaty," he pushed Horikawa's sword that was on the tea table aside with the tray in order to set it down. The phoenix amulet around the hilt of the sword caught his eyes.

The shorter of the two nodded obediently at the order and picked his sword up from the table. Just when he was about to saunter away, Kanesada stopped him.

"That amulet…"

Horikawa looked down at his sword.

"Huh? Ah, what's wrong with the amulet?" The boy shifted from one leg to another nervously.

"I was just curious. It was tied on my sword hilt before…"

"Ah… well… It was such a waste for you to throw it away, so I saved it."

Kanesada stared at him for a moment.

"Why do you keep doing these kind of things? Always insisting that you are my partner… Helping me with everything… Annoying me by fussing over my health… And saving the amulet-" Kanesada trailed off when he saw Horikawa's eyes glistened with tears.

"Because I care about you! Is that wrong? Can't I do things that I thought would help you remember things? I–" He quickly clasped his hand over his mouth when the words slipped through his lips.

"Help me to remember…? So I guess it's true that… I've indeed lost some of my memories, huh? People kept pestering me about my conditions lately. Did I miss something? What happened?"

A cool breeze was blowing, but it did little to cool Kanesada down. He grew impatient as Horikawa's silence stretched on.

"Kunihiro, tell me what exactly happened!" he demanded angrily.

Horikawa shook his head.

"I can't tell until you remember it by yourself."

"What kind of excuse is that? Why can't you explain to me the reason behind your tears?" Kanesada hissed. The raven haired boy winced at his words.

"I'm sorry... It's just that I don't think you'll be happy to hear it in your current state. So… let's just stay the way we are now, until you remember..." Horikawa smiled painfully while averting Kanesada's demanding gaze.

'I can't possibly tell you that you are my lover in this condition, can I?'

Kanesada raised his hand. The boy in front of him flinched at his action. However, the contact that his hand made with the top of his head was a gentle one instead. The boy's cheeks turned scarlet at the touch. He glanced back at the other man, as if silently asking for the reason behind his action with his eyes. Kanesada's eyes widened at the scarlet hue adorning Horikawa's cheeks.

"There's a leaf on your hair," the taller of the two muttered, before pulling his hand away.

"….." Horikawa took a few steps back and ran back inside the house.

"Wait, Kunihiro!" Kanesada clicked his tongue, sighing heavily.

The wind blew soothingly, everything went quiet all of the sudden.

"No wonder why everyone is acting strange... Why did I not remember a thing?" he looked at the tea that was cooling on the table before walking over and slumping down on the seat.

"Darn it… What did I lose?" He murmured to himself while sipping on his tea. The taste was slightly different than usual. The long haired guy blinked at his own words.

The usual? Who was the one that had always prepared his tea?

Kanesada winced at the splitting headache that attacked him. He clutched his head painfully; his sudden movement caused the tea to spill all over the tray.

Kuni… hiro?

"Kunihiro? Why would he prepare tea for me?"

Kanesada stared at the dango. He had prepared 4 dango sticks out of habit because he would usually ate them together with someone. But… who?

"I don't get it!" he banged his fist on the table frustratingly.

On the other side of the closed door, Horikawa slid down onto the tatami while biting his bottom lip and sighed exasperatedly.

'Please don't do things that you would usually do to me. It's painful when I know you don't even remember the gestures.'

He absent-mindedly touched the top of his head while blushing furiously.

TBC