ASYLUM
Massao-na-Mizu
Disclaimer: I don't own the primary characters
Massao's Notes: the setting in mind is somewhat in the near future. The idea is that Van works for the force and Hitomi is one of the force's most prized seers. This means she can see the future for them, the attacks, to pinpoint the enemy. I'm not yet very certain what will happen but as the story progresses, I'm sure I can think of something. Er, sorry if I sound disoriented. Lol. Have fun reading and please leave a review.
Van Fanel is depicted here as somewhat cold and brooding. That is how I saw him when I watched the anime, like he was quiet most of the time when it is not necessary to talk. He didn't small talk much but would quietly advice Hitomi. I did my best to write him that way but altered him a bit to fit my story's needs.
Nobody knows just why we're here
Could it be fate or random cicumstance?
At the right place
At the right place
Two roads intertwined
And if the universe conspires
To meld our hearts
And make us fuel and fire
And know wherever you will be
For to shall I be
Close your eyes
Dry your tears
'cause when nothing seems clear
You'll be safe here
From the sheer weight
Of your doubts and fears
Weary heart
You'll be safe here
Remember how we laughed until we cried?
At the most stupid things like we were so high
But love was all that we were on
We belong
And though the world will never understand
This unlikely union
And why it still stands
Someday we'll be set free
Pray and believe
When the light disappears
And when this world's insincere
You'll be safe here
When nobody hears you scream
I'll scream with you
You'll be safe here
Save your eyes from your tears
When everything's unclear
You'll be safe here
From the sheer weight of your doubts and fears
Wounded heart
When the light disappears
And when this world's insincere
You'll be Safe Here
And when nobody hears you scream
I'll scream with you
You'll be safe here
In my arms
Through the long cold night
Sleep tight
You'll be safe here
When no one understands,
I'll believe
You'll Be Safe Here
Put you heart in my hands...
You'll Be Safe Here
-RiverMaya
CHAPTER 1-You'll Be Safe Here
His feet made splashing sounds as they repeatedly stepped onto the muddy ground. The rain was pouring hard and Van Fanel was into much of a hurry that he had forgotten to use an umbrella.
But he doubted he would have brought one even if he was not in a hurry. He was not one to really care about appearances. If the work is done, then, there is nothing to complain about. The only times he had brought an umbrella with him was when he had to escort someone important or a woman. He was of course, as gentlemanly as he could afford to be.
As he reached the white metal door, he pushed in his pin code on the small calculator-like detector. "Indicate," a womanly robotic voice said and he said his name. "Enter." The doors opened with minimum noise and already his ears were attacked by the noises inside the busy office. Phones were ringing everywhere and people were talking in low, almost hushed whispers, urgent and harsh.
People carried papers, tools for their work and they crowded the hallway. He sighed, uncaring as he walked in a straight line, using his long, muscular tanned arms to push them out of his way. They mumbled apologies and went on their ways, seemingly used to his rude behavior.
They should be, he had been with the Force for quite a long time now and every body knew Van Fanel. He was like the Prince of the Force - the one in the position to take over if ever Folken decided to fool around and leave his ancestors' 'business' behind.
The force was would be ideally called the protection against aggressors from every country in the globe. They settled wars of nations and solved mishaps. It had started long ago, about 200 years; maybe, Van could care less for it had been a long time ago when his ancestors decided that they should venture the save-the-world business.
"Mr. Fanel! Mr. Fanel!" Ah, one of those annoying ones. He didn't even stop to look at the person hurrying to catch up to him. They were all alike anyway. It won't matter to decipher who this one was. Just as long as he has the information he needs, then off with him.
"Where is she?" he demanded softly from the man who was visibly panting for breath, continuing to walk as he questioned him. He really didn't know where his feet would lead him, but he was hoping to shake off the pent-up anger by quickly walking inside the bustling office.
"D-down the hall take a left and then the second room you'll see," the man informed Van shakily. He stopped in his tracks to turn to the man, all six foot four of him intimidating the small-looking man from his point of view. The man gulped.
His eyes narrowed. "Why is she there?" it was the test room. It was used by the force to test their experiments and gadgets. Sometimes they would invent something for the seers to strengthen their power, and 5 years ago, some experiment had nasty results, resulting to the death of valuable seers. Thank goodness Hitomi hadn't been involved.
"Allen Schezar requested for her—" before the man could finish, Van had stepped closer and clutched the man by the front of his shirt.
"So Allen's involved, huh?" he whispered menacingly. His anger was not directed to the poor man but to Allen himself. If Van was the slightly demented but capable prince, then Allen was the annoyingly valiant knight—the knight that always seemed to be able to aggravate Van, which resulted in many disturbances in the Force.
The man could only nod, sweat forming in his brow and he looked like he wanted to reach inside his pocket to pull out his handkerchief. "He needed her opinion, he said." Van snorted.
More like needed her powers to see if the experiment would succeed. Such a waste to use Hitomi's valuable powers in something he could easily test himself. What an idiot.
Van released the man, dusting his blue denim jacket and straightening his red shirt underneath. "Go do your job," he growled softly to the man and walked briskly towards the end of the hall and straight into the said room.
"I still don't think Van would approve," Hitomi said hesitantly, biting her lips and subconsciously pulling at her long-sleeved shirt. She didn't like doing things without Van's permission. When she did these kinds of things, it usually resulted in long fights or a scolding from him to her.
Gaddes's mouth quirked - or more like twitched. Why does she always have to consult that stuck-up bastard? If Allen had given his word that it was safe, she should have just complied! He was loyal to his boss. After all, the tall blonde man had saved his life more than once.
"Why do you have to consult that man before you do anything anyway?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Because she is under my care," someone said softly, but there was a lace of vehemence in his voice. Allen turned and so did Gaddes. Hitomi lowered her eyes, unable to look Van in the eye. She felt guilty being here.
"Well hello there, Fanel," Gaddes greeted him nonchalantly as he approached Allen who was sitting still on the chair opposite Hitomi.
"Cut the crap or I'll beat it out of you, Gaddes," he hissed menacingly as he glared at Allen. Gaddes merely shrugged his shoulders and scratched his head. He didn't want to get into a fight with the Fanelian Force Prince. No one would fancy getting beaten up into a bloody pulp.
"Pardon me for asking Hitomi a favor without your consent, Van," Allen said formally, rising to his feet.
"What is this thing you're working on?" Van said, his eyes now coldly looking at Allen, not acknowledging Hitomi's presence. She sank lower in her seat. He wanted to know about this stupid project before he reprimanded the blonde man. Honestly, even though he and Allen did not get along that well, he expected more from the Force Knight.
"A new kind detector device. So that we don't have to rely much on our seers when pinpointing the bases of our aggressors," he replied smoothly, showing him the said experiment. The screen showed something Van paid no heed to. "Based from the materials used by our assailants, the materials of their weaponry, means of transportation, we will be able to pinpoint them. I was merely testing it and asking Hitomi if it is pointing us to the correct way."
Van didn't even glance at Hitomi's direction for confirmation. "Ask Millerna to assist you. There a lot of other seers in the force there is no excuse for using Kanzaki." His voice was cold and firm. He was right. Allen nodded his head and forced a smile.
"You're right. It will not happen again." Allen said as an apology. He would never admit it, but Van's hard, cold glare was unnerving him in its intensity.
"Of course it won't," it was hard to tell the emotion in his voice. It was also hard to interpret what he just said. Was it a warning or a threat or none of the two? Van exited from the room and Hitomi darted a glance at Allen. He in turn gestured with his hand that she was free to go. Gaddes shook his head and sighed, taking Hitomi's seat.
"Man that Fanel's a pain," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Allen didn't reply.
"Van! Van! Wait!" Hitomi called out to him. He did not slow his pace nor turned to face her. Anger seemed to radiate from his person and Hitomi, feeling it, feared it. She had committed a mistake by going here without his permission. They did not live in the same place for nothing.
Van wanted to always keep her safe. He always had. Even when they were mere fifteen year olds, Van always protected her. Sometimes… sometimes though she gets tired of it. Sure, he didn't mind that much, but when it concerns the Force he prefers it when she asks for his permission, so that he could monitor how she was treated inside.
Sometimes, the Force was a bit... er… forceful. There were times that people were not as enthusiastic as they should be in testing their own mechanisms and so they use the seers to just look into the future to see if it would work. Some experiments really did need the guidance of seers. But most of the time when seers are called upon for their counsel, it was just that the people are too lazy to test it themselves; or were afraid. Experiments are always dangerous, extreme precautions are needed.
"Van," she whispered softly, clinging to his arm, almost jogging to catch up with his strides. "Van, I'm sorry," she apologized earnestly. He sighed, but did not turn towards her. Hitomi bit her lip, brushing aside her honey-colored hair from her bright green eyes with her fingers.
"You can stay if you want to. I'm going home." He said. If he would only turn, he would've seen the flash of hurt in Hitomi's gaze. He was being harsh; it was not Hitomi's decision and truth be told, she has yet to decide if she would do it without his permission before he came barging in. She was about to explain these things when his phone rang and with a wince, he clicked his 7610 and started talking in Japanese. She blinked. It must be one of the force's associates from Japan.
After a couple more seconds, Van dialed someone's number and said, "Merle."
Said girl replied, "Yah?" she had been cleaning the table when her phone rang and she heard Van's voice.
"Tell Eries I'm not coming today. I'm doing something tonight," he lied. He was so used to lying that he didn't even flinch nor hesitate. Merle did not even bother asking why and simply said, "Okay." She was also used to his lying.
Van hanged up and turned to Hitomi who was patiently waiting for him to be finished. "Bye then," he said off-handedly and started walking again. She was a bit flabbergasted and her jaw almost dropped as she hurried to catch up with him. He was really considering leaving her there - without any means of transportation? Was he really that angry?
"Wait!" Hitomi said hurriedly, grabbing one of the umbrellas hanging on the umbrella bin and catching up to him.
"I'm coming with you," she said, eyes pleading. He simply nodded and trudged towards the rain. Fine, be that way, she almost told him sulkily. He didn't have to be so cold and unfeeling! It wasn't as if it was entirely her fault or anything!
She was getting a bit frustrated about how temperamental Van was. Honestly, he was acting like a girl! She rolled her eyes as she opened the damn umbrella and caught up with him, shielding him from the rain as well as herself.
"You don't have to, I'm already wet," he said dryly. Hitomi almost growled at him.
"Can. You. Just. Stop. Being. Such. A. Pissy. And. Hear me out?" she bit out through gritted teeth. Van finally turned to look at her, one of his dark thick eyebrow rising. He had stopped so swiftly that Hitomi bumped into him and he I hadn't gripped her wrist, she would've fallen. Bumping into Van Fanel was like bumping into a brick wall.
"What the hell is a Pissy?" he demanded in an amused tone. So he thought she was amusing now. She cocked he head to the side, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Pissy – a person who is pissed off. It can also be used as an adjective to describe a person. For example, 'Van is pissy.' Incredibly so," she added for good measure. His mouth quirked and he turned, letting go off her wrist and started to walk again. Really, he should stop that habit of his.
"Since when did you become an English teacher? Or better yet, creating ridiculous words such as 'pissy' anyway?" he asked her, not really bothering to care if she would answer his question. It was kind of rhetoric but Hitomi felt the need to answer. She raised her chin up haughtily at him, even though he would be unable to see it due to the fact his back was turned on her.
"I made it myself because it suits you perfectly well. You're always so pissy it's getting me pissy." He let out a brief chuckle as he clicked the remote and the door of his car opened. He grabbed the umbrella from her as he led her to the passenger seat and closing the door. He then opening he driver's door and went inside, starting the car.
"You know it sounds more like piss, as in, taking a piss." He grinned as she blushed, remembering her statement just now abut getting pissy. "If I'm getting pissy you're also getting pissy. Is that what? A contagious disease where everyone ends up pissing?" she slapped his arm hard. She knew he would barely feel it. He had become slightly numb to physical pain. What with all the training and the action he has to face in his line of work.
"That is just sick, Van Fanel," she said with disdain. He let out one of his manly chuckles again as he drove. It made her heart flutter and she blushed involuntarily.
"Don't put the blame on me, Hitomi Kanzaki. You're the one who created the word." This made her blush even more and she fought the urge to pout at him. She opted to be obstinate.
"I am not," she said stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest. Van glanced at her and smirked, reaching out a hand to caress her cheek.
For a moment, she closed her eyes to savor it. The feeling of the back of his fingers caressing her soft face. It was not often that Van touched her. But when he did, he was gentle and she relished those times. For her, it was like eating your favorite food that you rarely get to eat. And so, whenever you get the privilege of eating it, you savor it so that you can never forget the taste—that delicious taste.
"Stubborn girl," he murmured, his eyes not straying from the open road, a smile playing on his lips. She stared at him openly. His raven black hair was as always, unruly and kept on getting in the way of his reddish brown eyes that gleamed with something akin to amusement. Sometimes, Hitomi felt like a clown. She and Van always had petty argument and Van was constantly amused by her, as if she was juggling and balancing herself in a monocycle.
"I am not," she repeated, sticking her tongue out at him. He raised a brow.
"Then what are you doing?" he inquired and smirked as he said a follow-up, "stubborn girl?" Hitomi all but pounced on him, aware that if she would, there would be a danger and had a foresight of the possible danger if she pounced. Shaken by the image, she sat still, stiffly on the passenger seat, staring ahead.
Oh, these visions were more of a curse than a gift! Although it did keep her safe sometimes, memories of the terrible things she saw haunted her. It gave her nightmares and there was always the creepy feeling of being watched. Paranoia. She was paranoid.
Van saw her shudder in fear when he looked at her from the corner of her eyes. "What did you see?" he asked, concerned for her welfare. She shook her head. It didn't matter, she did not do what would have caused the damage and so, she did not want to be reprimanded for something she didn't do. "If it involves wrecking my new car, Hitomi, I swear—" she cut him off.
"It's not about your damn precious car," she bit out, not even having the energy to be annoyed. She just… sat there, emotionless. It felt good somehow to be apathetic. It's like you have no concerns, nothing to worry about.
"What is it about then?" he demanded softly. He shifted the gear as they turned into a street towards the Fanel Mansion where Folken and Van lived. Just about a week ago, Hitomi moved with them when someone blew up her shared apartment with Yukari. Van had been furious and insisted that Hitomi must stay in his care while Yukari stayed in one of the Force's housing units.
Hitomi merely smiled surreptitiously and shook her head. "I'd rather not say." Van usually got irritated when she didn't share what she saw. He didn't want her to suffer from anything. It pained him to know that she was in pain and he didn't know the reason. But instead of voicing his annoyance, he let it pass.
'Fine,' he thought to himself. He wouldn't ask further if she was not ready to tell. He glanced her way again and saw that there was an expression of relief in her face. This typically meant that whatever bad she saw, someone had intervened so that it would not happen, or she had done something to make it stop. He sighed, eyes softening. At least she was not very much put into sorrow by her latest vision.
Van stopped the car in front of the Fanel Manor and climbed out, the open umbrella in his hand as he walked towards Hitomi's door and opened it to lead her inside without getting wet. A driver or helper went out to put the car inside the "garage" (If you could call a place that looks more like a mall's parking lot with a ceiling.)
"So, where's Merle?" Hitomi asked, looking around the grand living room. Van walked ahead of her.
"Somewhere," he muttered as a reply but the mansion was so quiet that Hitomi heard it clearly. It was already around ten pm and she was woken up by Allen to go to the Force and help him out when all this happened.
"Are you going to sleep or something?" Hitomi called out to dashingly handsome Force Prince as he trudged up the stairs. He merely shrugged and continued going up. Knowing him, he wouldn't be able to go back sleeping quickly. In fact, he might not be able to sleep at all again. Once he is disturbed from his sleep, he becomes agitated. It was hard to put him back to sleep. Sometimes, he even has to use sleeping pills to aid him. He was like that. Normally he was only awoken because of emergencies. And he trained himself so much to serve the Force, to the point he doesn't get much rest at all, at all times alert and mostly untrusting of his surroundings.
With a sigh, Hitomi trudged up the same stairs towards the kitchen. It seemed odd to have the kitchen in the second floor, but Hitomi didn't even bother voicing her thoughts for it won't make a difference anyway. If you comment on something to Van Fanel, he would merely raise a dark brow at you and continue what he was doing. It would only irk you to no end that the striking somewhat-brooding man is ignoring you.
And she found him there; obviously looking for something to eat or to snack on. She reached for a scooper and scooped Avocado-flavored ice cream in a sugar cone. Van looked at her ice cream, raising his eyebrow again. Her mouth slightly twitched to the side.
"I like Avocado," she shrugged, closing the lid of the ice cream tin and putting it inside the freezer. "Does that make me weird?" he looked up at her and raised that infuriating eyebrow of his.
"You're not the only one in the world who eats Avocado ice cream. If you were, they'd stop manufacturing that flavor now, won't they?" he seemed amused, you could tell by the glint in his maroon-colored eyes but his voice was monotonous. She shrugged again.
"Whatever you say, Prince," she said nonchalantly, bending down next to him, peeking for what he was looking for. "What are you looking for anyway?"
He didn't answer. Not even a grunt or a grumble. This might mean he wasn't sure or that he won't be bothered to explain himself. She rolled her eyes, reached for an egg and cracking it into a bowl.
She opened Van's palm and handed him her ice cream saying, "Hold that for me, will you?" with that, she bustled into wok. Opening a can of tuna and pulling a pan out, she heated the pan then put some vegetable oil. When the oil was bubbling, she put the egg, scrambling it in the pan then added the tuna flakes. Stirring it a little, she put it into a plate and then sprinkled it with soy sauce then presented it to Van with a smile. "Bon Appetite."
He blinked, handing her the slightly dripping cone which she licked quickly to avoid it from dripping into her hands and making her fingers sticky. He tentatively sniffed the food, grabbed a fork and tasted it. He chewed slowly as Hitomi awaited his verdict, licking the ice cream slowly, almost sensually in of course, an unconscious way; if only Van would raise his head from the food she had prepared to see it. When he finally swallowed it down, he raised his eyes, gleaming in an indefinable way.
"Hm... edible." Was all he said, but that was enough. Hitomi beamed at him and smiled, patting his shoulder.
"Well happy eating then! I'll go watch some TV so goodnight! Clean the plate afterwards or leave it in the sink and I'll wash it tomorrow. Don't choke!" she added teasingly. She waved over her shoulder, leaving the boy—er, man—in the kitchen to finish up his food (when he was consuming down the food like that, he resembled an unfed little boy). Van merely blinked, looking unwaveringly at her retreating back.
Hitomi was really sweet. She was always taking care of him even when they were in high school, despite being two years younger than him. He found her in an alley way, well, she found him, but it really doesn't matter who found whom. He was fighting with a school punk, namely, Dilandau when she came butting in and telling them to stop.
Of course, Dilandau's gang merely laughed and Van got annoyed. Really, he could handle himself, but then it would be degrading the albino-ish boy if he didn't let him punch. Hitomi backed up and they started to walk towards her when Van shielded her with himself and started fighting with Dilandau. It was 7 against one, with Hitomi frozen to the spot, shaking with fear that Van might die or faint or be badly beaten. Instead, he emerged the victor, frustrating Dilandau's gang to the relief of Hitomi.
"Are you alright?" Hitomi asked hesitantly, laced with worry, taking small steps towards him. He spit blood and wiped his mouth with a bloody fist. Blood from somebody else's face. He stood up and dusted himself then picked up his school bag, opening it to get some wet wipes then started to clean himself. He winced when he roughly swiped at his cheek that was already forming a nasty welt. Someone was wearing a ring when they punched him.
"Uhm," Hitomi fidgeted, asking again, "Are you alright?" Van looked up at her, startling her with the intensity of his maroon-colored glare. It scared her somewhat because of its blood-like tint.
"Yeah, just peachy," he said sardonically. She looked at him, taking in his lean but muscular built, his chiseled features and his eyes that slightly reminded her of red wine at that time because its normally lighter color had darkened in his irritation. She blushed, thinking to herself that he was kind of cute but then the blush turned into a flush of anger as she walked the small distance they had and slapped him.
"Well sorry for worrying! For a moment there… I thought… I thought…" her teeth were shaking as she tried to suppress a sob from escaping, tears spilling down her cheeks and she hastily wiped them away. He looked up at her, his cold expression turning into a stunned one, strong jaw slightly open in disbelief. His eyes softened somewhat.
He couldn't bring himself to stop her from crying. It was her choice to cry and maybe it would ease the burden or whatever she was carrying if she let it out… like a fountain. He hesitantly patted her shoulder and said, "I'm alright."
She sniffed; taking a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping her face she looked him in the eye and said firmly, "I'll take you to the clinic." He cringed. He didn't want to go there. They would ask him questions he isn't willing to answer and it might just result to him talking back rudely.
Hitomi saw his discomfort and opted to change her tactics. She was not going to feel guilty about this! "To my house then. I'll treat you there," she said. It wasn't much of an offer, more of a command. Van raised a brow at her. The very first time he did. She blushed. "My brother's there and I'm sure my parents would be arriving shortly, I mean we won't be alone—" she babbled but he nodded in affirmative and she stopped. If it was ever possible, his brow raised up a bit more.
"Okay." He said quietly and started walking. She walked beside him and they went to her house.
After that, they became good friends. Van would sometimes find Hitomi shaking in a corner, rocking herself and sobbing. It was those times when he found out about her visions, her visions that would give her nightmares and make her cry. He didn't want that. He didn't want to see his precious angel crying.
And so, with some persuasion to Folken, he led Hitomi to the safety of the Force. They would give her medicines, to help her sleep and sort out her visions. Aries, an older seer (but not that old) would help her interpret her visions and used some psychology to strengthen her resolve in this. Pretty soon, she didn't think of herself as cursed but blessed. Although sometimes she couldn't help but feel cursed.
He put the plate and fork in the sink as Hitomi had instructed and opened the fridge again to take out some water and gulped it down. He wondered if she was already asleep. He checked her room and surely enough, she was there, with the television turned on and with her sleeping, clutching on a teddy bear. He smirked softly. Honestly, she was quite childish, still.
He pulled up the cover and brushed away her silky sand-colored short hair away from her face, caressing her cheek softly. His gentle angel. She had finally closed those emerald eyes of hers. Honestly, they were so bright that sometimes he had to narrow his eyes to avoid getting blind. He smiled slightly and kissed her nose affectionately.
"Goodnight, Angel," he murmured before standing up, turning off the TV and closing the door behind him.
Tomorrow - tomorrow is another day. Let's just hope nothing goes wrong.