Title: Asylum Nirvana

Author: KuroiCho

Rating: PG

Genre: OC, drama

A/N: I thought it was time to write a Vandread fic. I love the anime to tiny bits, really. I was surprised to see there were only a few OC fics with a girl being the OC (because, personally, I don't think the Nirvana crew could stand much more men bumping into their ship) so something needed to be done! And yes, I got another inspiration for an OC character and wanted to write her into some series. So, enjoy, and please review!

(Note; this fic will be updated irregularly. Consider it as a side project when I'm not feeling up to continuing Visio Obscura. Pai check!)

My childhood was really... happy. A normal, happy childhood. Loving parents, good school, friends. I had nothing to worry about. But one always has to leave those years behind at some point. And so did I.

When I moved to another school, I was immediately picked up by the bad girls of our school. So from day to day I had to tolerate their taunts and jeers. I thought the fault was in me (as my bullies told me) so I never mentioned anything to my parents. Years passed, and the bullying continued. I never shoved a hint of emotion on the surface, seemed to reflect the mean words away from me. But that was the outside. Inside I was torn apart, crying bloody tears. I was bound to break down at some point. So at the age of 14, I did. And that's when it all got even worse.

Shiya woke up from her doze, wrapped up in a cold street corner. She shivered violently and coughed. The winter was coming up and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to survive the next one. The police was getting more persistent all the time and all her old hiding places were already found out. The city was getting too small for her.

She stretched cautiously and inspected her surroundings. Nothing threatening that she could see. She stood up and ventured to find something to eat. A few corners away there was a small market where she had been picking up thrown away food. She headed there, but it wasn't long after she had left her current resting place when she heard a shout behind her.

"There she is! That's her!" Heavily running footsteps followed those words.

"Shit", Shiya cursed shortly and started running as fast as she could. She should've been more careful. She dived into the complex of narrow alleys that went across the city and tried to turn as many corner as possible.

She almost though she had pried the police off her track when she saw a flash of blue uniform and someone ordered her to stop. She turned around and ran in another direction, sweat dripping down her face. She had to find a place to hide, she was going to pass out soon because of the lack of food. Shiya lowered her head more.. and ran.

Meia wandered around the city, looking for nothing in particular. Nirvana was desperately in the need of full repair after a particularly disastrous battle, and so they had landed on this planet. Meia had just a moment ago left Jura, Barnette, Dita and a very reluctant Hibiki to explore the jewelry shops and decided to take advantage of the small amount of free-time they were allowed. Who knew, maybe she would find some new weapons to be added to her collection.

And almost right on cue, Meia then heard gunshots emerging from a nearby maze of alleys. She stopped still and listened. There was definitely something going on. She heard footsteps, somebody was running. Pretty fast, too. The footsteps came closer, slowed down a bit and then turned to another direction. Meia tried to edge away from the alarming situation and turned to leave the place. But just as she crossed another alleyway, somebody came crashing into her from the shadows.

Shiya felt bumping into something.. someone, actually, and they both started falling towards the ground. The woman, it was definitely a woman, judging by the softness of the body and the surprised yelp she gave, fell beneath Shiya, preventing her from getting bad injuries. Shiya cursed and tried to get up.

"What are you.. Are you okay?", the woman asked. Shiya managed to mumble something incomprehensible before she found another thing to worry about. The frantic footsteps followed and stopped at the street behind them. Shiya heard a gun being loaded.

"You!", came a shout, "Don't you even try to run away anymore, I swear to God I'll--"

"What are you doing?", the woman cried out. Shiya cursed and tried to push her away, to stop her from blocking her way..

The sound of a gunshot ripped through the air and Shiya let out a gasp of pain as the bullet hit her thigh. She lost her newly gained footing and stumbled forwards. The woman she had bumped into caught her loosely, holding up her thin frame.

All Shiya could realize before the warm darkness swallowed her up, was the woman raising her hand and a ring-like ornament on her finger glowing with bright light.

Meia aimed the beam of her ring at the man with the gun (she has refused to leave her only armament in the ship). He took cover but started loading his gun immediately. Meia took the opportunity to ask questions.

"Who are you? Why are you shooting her?"

She got no answer but instead the man fired another shot at her. Meia aimed for his hand and fired. The man gave a short cry of agony and dropped the gun, then ran away.

Meia lowered her hand and took a few deep breaths before looking more carefully at the girl she had caught. The wound on her leg was now bleeding pretty severely. Must've hit an artery, she though gloomily. She took a few glances around, then threw the girl's another arm around her shoulder and started dragging her to the ship. It's not like I can leave her here to die.

Duero checked the girl's pulse and then stood up straight. He glanced next to himself and met two pair of eyes. BC's pale grey and Meia's green eyes observed them carefully and Duero answered their unasked question.

"She'll be fine", he said, "I cleaned and bandaged the wound. But I still need to put an intravenous drip on her arm because of the loss of blood." He fetched a bag of saline solution and a sterile needle. After inserting the needle into a vein in the girl's arm he turned to look at the commanders.

"So if I'm not mistaken there was no any biographical data with her?" he asked. They both shook her heads. "Nope, a complete Jane Doe", BC answered. Duero scratched his head. Then he shrugged.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't have changed anything. I just...", he glanced at the still-unconscious girl, "It's just a small thing but I think I should mention it. Let's go over to the hallway." He led the pair away from the treatment room and then spoke in a slightly hushed voice.

"There were numerous scars on her hands. From the halfway of her arms to her wrists. Long, thin scars, like.. like cut with a knife. Does this..", he looked from BC to Meia, ".. arouse any theories in you?"

Meia shrugged slightly. "There was a man chasing her with a gun when she ran into me. It might as well be done by some of them."

"I see", Duero nodded in contemplation, "There's also something else. Another scar near her shoulder. It looks like a serial number of some kind." He handed them a piece of paper with figures scribbled on it. BC frowned slightly.

"D-110536. What could that--?"

Their discussion was interrupted by a strangled scream from the treatment room. BC crumpled the paper to her palm as they ran quickly back inside.

Shiya slowly came to herself again. She could feel the dull throbbing on the back of her thigh and a strange feeling on her arm. She cautiously opened her eyes a little. A flash of whiteness hit her eyes and she winced. She tried again after a while and now she was able to register her surroundings. White walls, bright light shining down at her. Shiya could feel her head starting to pound and raised her hand to shield her eyes. Or she tried to. Her hands were fastened to the bed she was lying on and there was a drip in her left arm. She felt her heartbeat increasing. No. No, no, no, no. I can't be back here, please no. I don't want to, I don't..

She tugged at the bonds desperately but they held her tightly. She started kicking with her legs and struggled violently on the bed. Her breathing felt shallow and a scream of terror and agony escaped from her throat, even though she knew. She knew they'd just give her another injection and tie her down tighter or..

The door on the right side of the room slided open and three persons ran in. Shiya shot a frantic look at them. She was slightly surprised, none of them looked like a doctor or a nurse. The man came next to the bed and seemed to try to calm her down.

"It's all right", he said soothingly, placing a palm on her shoulder. Shiya lessened her struggling and took a closer look of the three persons. There were two women with the man, and she recognized the other one. Isn't she..? Shiya laid up on the bed, now calm.

"Could you..", she said, her voice coarse, ".. untie these?" She tugged at the bonds on her wrists. "Of course", the man said, "I'm sorry if it scared you, but it was for your own safety." Shiya saw the two women exchanging looks but neither of them said anything. The leather bindings fell loose and Shiya rubbed her wrists gently.

"Thanks", she said, "Ano.. I could ask.."

"My name's Duero", said the man, "I'm the doctor here. She..", he beckoned at the grey-haired woman, "is Buzam A. Calessa, or BC for short, and she..", a motioning at the blue-haired, younger woman, "is Meia. They're both from the crew of this ship."

"Well, that's not really what I'd meant to.. Anyway, that leads to another question. Yes, where am I? What is this place?"

"You're on a female, or almost female, pirate spaceship Nirvana", replied the blue-haired woman, Meia. Shiya's mouth nearly dropped open.

"Space.. ship?", she asked amazed. For a moment she tried to get out from the bed but the tug on her arm reminded her about the drip and she winced, falling back. The three of them gave her a strange look.

"Yes, a space ship", BC affirmed, "Haven't you been on one before?"

Shiya snorted, "Are you kidding? Sure, there are some special factories and mechanics for space ships on my home planet, but that's not for regular people. The space is only available for the rich and famous." She held a short, quiet moment. "Though I seem to have become an exception on that now."

She heard a bleep on her left side and noticed Duero tapping away on a keyboard of a huge computer. He opened a blank form-like document and glanced at Shiya.

"I'll need to write down some personal data of yours", he said, "There was no ID of any kind with you." For a moment he seemed like saying something more, but decided otherwise. He straightened his carriage and turned to face the computer screen.

"Your name?"

"Shiya", Shiya said, "Muriko."

"Age?"

"18 years."

Duero typed down her answers. "And why were you wandering on the street? And who were those people chasing you?" At this, Shiya faltered for a moment.

"I, um.. I had escaped.. from home. Some time ago. There were some, uhm, discords with my family..", she turned her head away, ".. and such."

Duero wrote this down as well, hiding his unconvinced look. "And those men?"

Shiya shrugged. "Don't know. Sent by my family, I'd guess." Duero saved the file, though it was still left uncompleted.

"That's enough for this time, I guess. I think it's better for you to lie down for some time still. We'll leave you to rest." Shiya nodded, closing her eyes and exhaling a deep breath.

Once they were in the hallway, the three of them stopped to talk for a while.

"Not one for talking, is she?" BC stated. Duero shrugged, sliding a card with Shiya's data on it into his pocket.

"She might just be a little shocked. It'll take some time to gain her trust. Then I might be able to get more out of her, but for the time being..", he tapped his pocket, ".. this will do." He turned around and left. "Be seeing you."

Meia and BC turned to the another direction.

"Now when I remember", said BC, "The boss would like a word with you."

"Me?", Meia asked, "Oh. Okay." A short pause. "Is it bad news?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know", said BC with a certain amount of humor in her voice.