Origami Smile: Chapter 1: 1000 Cranes

Title: Origami Smile: Chapter 1: 1000 Cranes
Length: Not sure yet how long, but not one-shot.
Author: haha_to_sakura
Genre: Angst, Drama...Fluff, maybe?
Ratings: R, for the extremely-angsty nature. Especially in the beginning.
Pairings/Characters: Dieshin. That's about it.
Synopsis: Shinya is seriously hurt by Toshiya, his best friend, after Toshiya decides that he wants Shinya to be completely his. After being found by Kyo, he is hospitalized, and from there placed under the care of Kaoru and, mostly, Die, to recover. From there, I think we can figure out that romance ensues.
Comments: I'm not sure where the title came from. Well, actually, I do, and it does have some significance to the story. But I'm not spoiling it. So hah. Anyway, this story itself is based on some RPs I have with friends. Especially the ToshiyaShinya scenario and how Die would care for Shinya. So, uhm, much love goes to those involved in those! ...Not that they read this stuff. Oh well. Enjoy. :3 Ahah, sorry if it's kinda crappy, too. It was late when I finished it, after 1:00 AM. >< I will sleep after this.. I swear...Oh yeah, and someone said the first part was short? So...this is longer. :3 Enjoy.



Kyo paced the mostly-empty lobby of the hospital nervously, hands shoved into his pockets as if to try and stop them from shaking. He was jittery--the night was late and there was still no news about the youngest of the band, the little drummer.
Stopping, he turned his gaze to the closed Emergency Room doors, the swinging doors being the only things that kept him from running in there to demand to know how Shinya was, if he would live, or whatever he wanted to know.

Well, the swinging, heavy doors and a couple of strong orderlies that hung out there.

The vocalist resumed pacing, chewing on an unlit cigarette that hung from his mouth. They wouldn't let him actually light it--the hospital was non-smoking, of course--unless he went outside, and he wanted news about the drummer.

Would he live? How serious were his injuries? What did Toshiya do?

The questions continued to buzz through his mind as he paced, one foot in front of the other, back and forth endlessly. He didn't even find himself worrying over what would become of the band, really; he cared more about Shinya.

Shinya had been a friend, someone he could talk to who would listen to him and give him a few words. The gentlest of them all, by far, the drummer had never done anything that warranted him receiving such things that Kyo had seen when he'd found him.

So why, then...? Why had Toshiya done that? Because he was afraid that Shinya would run to Die? But...Shinya didn't like Die. Shinya had said so himself, and Die had said that Shinya had said 'no' whenever the guitarist would seriously ask him out. They were only friends, that was all.

Kyo's brows furrowed as he frowned deeply, chewing on his lower lip idly, and he stopped pacing to slump against the wall and slide down to the floor.

Kaoru and Die still had to show up. Probably caught in traffic, thanks to construction with building some new bridge or something over the highway to try and alleviate the nonexistent problem of traffic jams.

Really, it was more trouble than it was worth.

The glass doors of the hospital slid open and Kaoru dashed in at a run, skidding to a stop against the reception desk, much to the dismay of the disgruntled receptionist on duty.

Their conversation went something like this, as Kyo watched quietly:

"Where is he?"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Shin-chan--I mean, Shinya! Terachi Shinya!"

"..Who?"

"Gyah! Terachi, Shinya. Shin-yah."

"Oh, do you mean the young man that was just brought in a couple of hours ago? ...He's still in the ER, you'd better join his friend over there.." A vague hand gestured to Kyo, and as Kaoru looked over, the small man gave a half-hearted salute from his spot on the floor. Kaoru pushed away from the desk and meandered over to the younger man to stare down at him in what might have been a menacing manner.

But Kyo was never intimidated, really. Oh well.

"Kyo, explain." And the oldest took a seat next to Kyo. The vocalist shrugged.

"I really don't even know myself. I just went to see Totchi, because neither him nor Shinya'd been around, and you told me to go find out what was up. Had to force my way in with my spare key to Totchi's place, and when I got in, I found some blood on the floor, leading into the bedroom. And there was Shinya, unconscious, with Toshiya clinging to him and babbling about 'losing Shinya to Die'. So I called the hospital, and they got Shinya. Totchi's with the police now, too, I think, and I haven't heard anything about Shin-chan," he explained. Kaoru slumped down a bit with a soft groan.

"...Jesus Christ," he grumbled.

"You said it," Kyo agreed. "Did you get through to Die?"

"Yeah. He should be here soon."

As if on cue, the rythmn guitarist dashed through the sliding doors, stopping to stare around, seeming frantic.

"Shin...? Shinya?! Kyo, Kaoru, where is he?!" Die demanded upon locating his two band mates.

"He's still in the ER, Die. Calm down..." Kaoru answered, sliding to his feet to place a restraining hand on the man's arm to keep him from barging his way into the Emergency Room after the little drummer.

"I wanna see him, damnit!" Die hissed angrily, seriously freaking out over it, he was so worried about Shinya.

"Just calm down, damnit!" Kaoru ordered.

"...Are you friends of Terachi Shinya?" a calm, deep voice asked. The three band mates looked up simultaneously to see an older man in a white coat standing before them, clipboard in hand, peering at them from behind a pair of glasses. Kyo lifted himself to his feet with a nod.

"We are...How is he?" was his answer. The doctor shifted a bit, adjusting his glasses, and looked at each concerned face before him. Then he took a deep breath and heaved a sigh. Die leaned toward him expectantly, unknowingly grasping Kaoru's arm hard enough to make the band leader wince and pull away.

"The good news, is that he is alive," the doctor answered. Die let out a loud cheer, earning him many annoyed looks, at which he quickly clamped his hands over his mouth and shushed. "However...while he is stabilized, he is still in critical condition, as well as in a comatose state...Of which we are unsure of if he will even wake up. Also, while we tried to repair the damage done to his ankles--and we did, too--we don't know if he'll ever be able to walk like he used to..."

Kyo risked a glance at Die and Kaoru. Die's mouth had fallen open in absolute, unexaggerated shock, and Kaoru had one hand pressed to his forehead as if he was getting a headache, his eyes closed. None of them could believe that was happening.

Kaoru's eyes snapped open as his hand lowered, and he resumed control as the domineering Leader-san.

"Can we see him? Just for a few minutes...?" he questioned. The doctor looked skeptical before nodding just a bit.

"Only for a few minutes. He's been moved to the ICU. Follow me."


The three remaining members of Dir en grey stood at the side of the bed amidst beeping and humming machines that worked to keep their little friend alive.

And they were in shock.

The small, frail body that lay on the bed couldn't have been Shinya, the strong drummer that sat behind his drums to play the heartbeats to their songs. It was too thin, too pale, and too sickly-looking, hooked up to the various machines just to survive. His chest barely rose and fell with each breath he took--or was forced to take; apparently, he was unable to breathe on his own without the machine's help, the doctor explained.

A fountain of information filled their ears, detailing the injuries that the medical team had found.

Two slit ankles--the Achilles tendon had been cut nearly through. A bruise on the back of his head; obviously someone had smashed his head on a hard surface.

Yet the one bit of information that made them sicker was the information that whoever it was that had done it had raped the young man, and then had neglected to care for his injuries properly, resulting in infections.

If Kyo had waited longer to find him, he would have died.

Kyo's heart leaped into his throat at that thought, and he covered his mouth with one hand, once again sickened by what had happened.

If only he'd listened to the call from Shinya sooner...

Guilt tore at the little vocalist's heart and quickly he whirled around and ran from the room.

"Kyo-!" Kaoru called. A look from Die told the eldest to go after the vocalist, and he did, leaving Die and the doctor alone in the room.

"...God...I don't...Who did this?" Die whispered. "...It was Toshiya, wasn't it...That fucking bitch, I hope he burns in Hell for what he did..." Approaching the bed, the tall guitarist knelt down, reaching out to brush a bit of the auburn hair from the drummer's still face, feeling how warm and clammy the skin was from neglect and his fever.

"It isn't my place to judge or to say such things, but..I think I can agree with you. It always hurts me to have to care for cases like this," the doctor stated, watching the younger man. "He's so young, and he has so much life ahead of him. To think that his life could be ended here in such a violent way is just..." Losing his words, the old man could only shake his head. "In any case, I think it's best if you left now...Your few minutes are up." Die nodded dully and leaned forward to brush a small kiss to the little one's forehead before straightening up and leaving with the doctor.


Days wore on, and so did months. Shinya's body began to heal gradually, yet he remained in a coma, always sleeping. Die stayed by his side all day, stroking his hair and face, talking to him, trying to coax him into waking up with a soft voice and little jokes that once the young man had laughed at. Sometimes he would even stay the night, his head resting on the bed, himself kneeling on the floor, his fingers touching Shinya's cheek or arm. He only left to use the bathroom, or to get some food--though usually, a nurse would bring him something to eat, or a cup of coffee, just to be kind.

Kyo and Kaoru visited, as well, spending quiet moments talking to the doctor about what would happen if Shinya didn't wake up. The drummer's family couldn't be contacted--no one knew where they were, and Shinya had never said anyway. All they knew was that they lived in Osaka. Or they would silently watch Die; sometimes they had words for Shinya themselves, and would speak to him.

Once in a while, Kyo would go alone, and sit at the edge of the drummer's bed, singing quietly to him songs like Hotarubi and Zakuro, or he'd write some songs, then read them to the man, hoping that his voice might reach him.

Or maybe Kaoru would be alone, with some fan letters for the drummer from aKnot, reading them to him then leaving them at his bedside, just so he'd know that they cared, and that they missed him and wished him well. He'd also, with the help of aKnot, begun an origami crane project along the story that if they made one thousand cranes, they would get a wish to come true; soon, with the mail that Kaoru brought, little paper cranes of all sizes and colors, some folded perfectly while others were not so perfect, yet all were carefully constructed with love and care in mind began to arrive. With the help of nurses, the little creations were strung up around the room to hang from the ceiling, swaying lightly in whatever breeze there was in the room.

Yet Shinya showed no signs of awakening, no response, and each time the three became more and more discouraged. Kaoru began speaking to the doctor more and more about taking Shinya off of the life support, that there would be no hope of his recovery. He couldn't stay there forever; it was expensive, even for a band that was popular.


On his daily visit, Kaoru entered the room, a small box full of origami cranes in his hands. Die was asleep next to the bed; he'd been up all night after Kaoru and the doctor, with Kyo, had approached him about letting Shinya die.

Most likely trying to get him to wake up...

Kaoru's heart hurt to watch the guitarist try his hardest, only to fail and keep trying, never giving up the hope. He felt the same way that Die did, wanting to see Shinya open his eyes and give them his rare, shy smile. But it was becoming hopeless; it had been so many months, almost eight. They couldn't keep Shinya there much longer, and would Shinya even want to live like that? The man had always been so strong and independent.

In any case, the oldest guitarist set the box down and went about stringing the new cranes up with the rest, a light frown on his face. According to his count, they had a thousand cranes now, and the wish was ready. Then, if it didn't work, if Shinya didn't wake up by the next morning, that would be the end of it. Die and Kyo had agreed.

It was for the best.

Once the cranes were up, Kaoru stepped back toward the doorway to survey his work. The room looked colorful, not at all like a hospital room any longer. The cranes danced and swayed in the slightest breeze, no two alike; Shinya would have liked it, if he saw it. It was truly beautiful. Closing his eyes, Kaoru took a deep breath.

I wish Shinya would wake up and get better.

Then, as quickly as he'd come, the man left, leaving Die to continue sleeping undisturbed.


Die cringed a bit in his sleep, then let out a soft grunt. His back was hurting from being hunched over apparently, and for a moment he had no idea where he was. His eyes fluttered open, and his blurry vision was greeted by Shinya's body, the same as when he had finally fallen asleep. Sitting up--his back cracked, and he winced--a sleepy look around confirmed that he was in the hospital room still, and Shinya--

Die's heart fell. Shinya was still asleep, exactly as he had been for eight months. And it was the last night that Shinya would live, unless he woke up.

The guitarist turned his gaze to the alarm clock to see that it was six thirty in the morning. Soon, the others would arrive, and they would see that Shinya wasn't awake.

Then...they would decide to let him die.

A small whimper left the man's lips at the thought, and he became frantic. He couldn't let them do it, he had to make Shinya wake up somehow. Standing up, he took a seat on the edge of the bed and leaned over the drummer close to his face to breathe lightly on him.

"Shinya. It's time to wake up now. If...If you don't, you'll...you'll be late for practice, ne. Kaoru will get mad. You hate it when he gets mad, don't you? So...get up..." It was a pathetic attempt, but he had to try something. Nothing else worked. "Listen, Shin-chan...We...We need you. You gotta be our drummer, yeah? So that we can still be a band...So you gotta wake up."

Still no response. Die's eyes widened, then filled with tears. He felt so helpless, after everything he'd tried.

"Goddamnit, Shinya! Stop being selfish! Wake up, you little brat!" he yelled, shaking the smaller male beneath him before the entire eight months crashed down on him. The sleepless nights spent awake, uncomfortable sleeping positions, hours on end sitting next to his bed, listening to Kaoru and the doctor speak in whispers about letting his beloved Shin-chan die, all caught up to him and he began to sob, his head resting against that fragile chest. "Damnit, Shin-chan...Don't let them kill you...!"

A soft noise broke through to Die, the smallest murmur that was so close to his ear, and he felt a deep intake of breath beneath his head. Falling silent, he listened, daring not to hope.

There it was again. A soft whimpered groan, like a small child just being awakened from a peaceful sleep.

Cautiously the guitarist raised his head, peering into Shinya's face, his heart skipping multiple beats.

Shinya's eyes, did they move? His eyelids, they fluttered, didn't they? He wasn't just imagining things?

No; they moved. Shinya whimpered again. Die's heart filled with joy, and he beamed proudly before leaning closer to Shin, so that he was the first thing the little drummer saw, should he open his eyes.

Unconsciously, one of his hands sought Shinya's to hold it gently.

At last, the drummer's dark eyes flickered open, blinking several times to clear their vision, before peering curiously at Die, and his full lips formed a small frown.

Shinya had awakened, finally.