Run. Run… Run! that's all that ran through their head. That one, simple, almost meaningless, word. And they did. They ran as far and as fast as they could, bare feet slapping against stone, cutting into the skin and leaving a bloody trail in their wake. But why? Why were they running? What reason did they have to run as such? Did they even need a reason to feel the humid breeze licking at their skin, as they dashed, weaving in and out of crowds before vanishing through trees.
The pain of the branches whipping and slicing into their skin did not seem to even register for the most part, just as their knees failed; refusing to push them forward to continue the run. Despite their efforts, it only forced the means to an end. Their body could not continue, as it needed food and rest, something the person was clearly lacking… If one actually cared to notice. A strangled cry of shock slid up a pale throat, clawing itself free from pearl colored lips.
Crash and burn.
That's the only way to describe it as they fell down the tiny hill, leaving the safety the trees provided, slamming down onto smooth concrete. Silver-blond hair that once was flying like a kite behind them came crashing back down, spilling over thin shoulders, allowing the tips of their ears to show. A small yellow tag went through their left ear, looking like an average conch piercing of the ear. Engraved with black numbers on the tag was '135'.
Their sudden appearance disturbed those around their prone form, stilling all movement as they watched, waiting for any type of movement. None of which was given. An older woman, possibly in her mid-fifties, worriedly went over, checking the person's vitals. She found a pulse, but it was faint. Making up her mind, she pushed the – surprisingly soft – silver-blond strands from their face, seeing a pair of indigo eyes that were glazed over. A group of nine boys made their way over, with varying degrees of curiosity.
"Ryuzaki-sensei?" a boy with two little fringes over their forehead questioned silently, a bit worried himself. Everyone knew how kindhearted and loving the teen is, so it was not a surprise that he'd be worried over a simple stranger. Getting a closer look, he could make out a pale female, one that could be no older than himself, passed out on their school's tennis courts. The soles of her petite feet had been sliced open from her run, something that he grew worried over, as he ordered for a first-aid kit.
Without a single word, he went to work cleaning out the cuts, doing his best to bandage her feet. "She needs to get to a hospital, and soon. She's nothing but skin and bones!" the older woman, Ryuzaki-sensei, exclaimed. "Tezuka, cancel practice. I want you boys to come with me."
Blink. Blink… Blink.
Indigo orbs steadily opened, wincing slightly at the brightness of the room, as the owner sat up, staring at the person across from her. "Kto ty?" the woman at the end of the strange bed looked at her as if she grew two heads.
"Nani?"
Biting on the inside of her lower lip, she thought of something else. "Who are you?" she decided on a completely different language, the only other that she knew.
The older woman seemed to finally understand what the young girl was trying to say. "English, yes?" a jerky nod answered the woman's question, then said woman proceeded to leave the room.
The woman entered a waiting room, quickly spying the group of ten that had brought in the girl. "How is she?" the old woman asked, getting down to business.
"She is, surprisingly, fine. She just awoke, speaking some language I am not familiar with – probably European – before speaking English. We need to get a translator so we can find out how she got herself in such a condition."
Ryuzaki only grinned, patting the shortest boy on the head, making him cringe. "No need. One of my students speaks fluent English." The doctor nodded with an apologetic smile towards the child, before showing them all to the girl's room.
They were greeted to the sight of her sitting on her legs at the foot of the hospital bed, a metal clipboard in her dainty hands as she tried to make heads or tails over what it said. None of this seemed to bother the young girl in the least bit, as she looked up at them curiously. "Oh. Good day to all of you."
She spoke slowly, with a slight accent, as if thinking of the right words to say. The hazel-eyed preteen sighed, wondering how he got roped into translating. Grabbing one of the chairs in the room, he dragged it over to her, and promptly flopped down into the seat. She simply crawled back over to the head of the bed, sitting back on her legs again once she was in front of him. "They want to know your name." He jabbed a thumb back at the group.
"135. Or, at least, that is what my tag says…" as if to prove her point, she reached up to her left ear, only to meet smooth flesh instead of the tag that was always there. Frowning softly, she tugged on her ear, feeling a bit out of place without the marker. The boy turned his head to the side, quickly translating what she had said. "I should still have it… The man says I'm not ready for it to be removed."
"What do you mean?"
"The breeding program. They are trying to make… the perfect girl, but I have 5 to 6 years until I'm ready. And they don't want the mutts."
"Mutts?" he was curious, mainly once she started frowning while tugging on her ear, as if in thought.
"85 was a mutt, but she was nice. She was the one who taught me how to read, write, and speak English. 85 said I was a quick study."
"Where are you from?"
"Siberia, Russia. But I've been to America, the Ukraine, England, Ireland, China, Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam. The man normally takes us to America and China, though." She looked back up, grinning a bit. "We always traveled by boat. Also, the mutts are the girls that didn't fit the King's needs. The King controls the mean man who hurt 85. I think he found out that she told us to call her Mary when he wasn't around. I don't like him. He was terribly mean to Mary. He would always take her to a back room and make her cry and scream."
As much as it bothered the preteen to hear this, he translated it nonetheless. "Mary's gone, though. She said the man would make her disappear because he breaks the rules with the mutts. So to save himself from the King, he takes away the mutts. Mary told me that they didn't want anymore mutts, but the man made one with her. She said it would be a kind baby, even with a monster as its genetic donor… He took her to the back room and there was loud popping noises. I don't like those noises, they remind me of the naughty princesses."
"Princesses?"
She looked down, tugging on her earlobes as she bit her lip. "The King punished them. He said they were bad, because they never listened, unlike I do. I am good, so I never had to be punished by him. Unlike the other princesses, I'm the one that has the same colored hair as the King." She rocked back and forth, her accent becoming more pronounced as she kept talking, her silver-blond hair spilling over her tiny shoulders. "That was the last time I seen him. That was also the first time I heard the loud popping noise. It scared me badly, but it is against the rules to cry in front of him. The princesses were bleeding badly from the popping noise… I-I don't remember anything else… Sorry…"
With a slightly trembling hand, the preteen boy pat her knee as a means to calm her down. The young female stopped her rocking, dropping her right hand into her lap. "It's fine." She nodded once, turning to look at the others in the room as the boy spoke, not understanding a single word as she rubbed the scar that ran over the bridge of her nose, marring her milky skin. This slight imperfection seemed to not bother her at all.
This was not something that Ryuzaki expected, along with the doctor. "It sounds like human trafficking…" the doctor spoke lowly, a bit afraid of the whole situation.
A red haired teen frowned, looking at the girl as she went back to looking at the medical mumbo-jumbo that was on the metal clipboard. He gently tapped her on the shoulder, catching her attention. She tipped her head to the side, blinking her indigo eyes a few times, as he gave her a small smile, holding out the tiny gift he got down in the gift shop for her. Indigo orbs widened in awe as she pointed her herself, looking stunned as she said something he did not understand, but guessed what it was, and nodded in confirmation.
Reaching out with both hands, she took the stuffed toy from the stranger's larger ones. It was an evergreen colored bear, that when in her lap, only went up to her chest when sitting, with a sapphire blue silk ribbon/bow around its neck. "It's cute and soft!" she brought it close to her face, rubbing her cheek against the evergreen fur.
Ryuzaki smiled softly, noticing how taken her students already were with the girl. Thinking of a plan, she asked to speak with the doctor in private, to discuss matters of the girl's care. If things worked out in her favor, then the unknown child might get a life worth living.
Had this bouncing around in my head for awhile now... And I really wanted to do a fanfiction that was completely different from what I'm used to, which is what this is. Also, she has Asperger's Syndrome, so outside the norm for me. First OC that's mentally challenged, yeah! Just like myself... Though I'm not autistic.
I don't own Prince of Tennis/TeniPuri, and make no money off this piece of fiction. I only own 135. And the story idea... Probably will keep this a strict "T" rating... o.O Which will be a new one. So, read, let me know what you think, and tell me if I should continue or not. :) Happy holidays~
PS. other fanfics will be placed on hold until I get Word... I feel awkward writing in any other type of program... ; w ;