All characters are property of Otomo, Geneon, Dark Horse blah blah, in short they ain't mine.

Sorry about all the manga exposition but I put it there so people who haven't read the manga can read this fic too. Yeah so its manga verse but its not that really matters at this point seeing as the only really different is Tetsuo hasn't met Kaori yet.

Reverse Rebirth

Chapter 1

The Divide in the Road

Beep, beep, beep.

He was really getting fucking sick of that beeping. What the hell was it anyway? He knew he wasn't at his apartment, it smelt way too clean. He opened his eyes and was nearly blinded by the bright white walls of the room. It was then he realized that he was in a hospital and that incessant beeping was coming from the heart monitor beside his bed. Well shit, how the hell had he ended up here?

He raised himself into a sitting position and winced at the pain that shot through his head. Why was he in this hospital? He couldn't remember…. Well he could remember that his name was Tetsuo Shima so that meant he didn't have anemia or what ever in the crap it was called.

"Come on think," Tetsuo ran a hand through his short brown hair. His hand touched a soft cloth which he recognized as bandages. I was probably biking, he concluded to himself as that was usually what he was doing before waking up in a hospital with a bandage on his head. He lay back down and stared up at the ceiling trying to remember. It didn't really help much seeing as it was, quite possibly, the most boring ceiling ever. Flat and white, just like everything else in the room.

He closed his eyes and listened to the hum of the hospital machines and as he listened the soft hum turned into the roar of a motorcycle.

They all stood before a large crater.

"Well, guys that's it. We've reached the end of the line"

Suddenly it all came back in a rush. Kaneda had been leading the Capsule gang through Neo Tokyo in one of the best rides they'd had in awhile but then… They'd come to the Olympic construction site, near where the bomb that destroyed Tokyo had gone off 38 years before. They weren't able to go any further so they had turned around.

He'd challenged Kaneda to a race and had been so sure it would be the day he beat the boy he called his best friend. That's when it happened, The freaky kid in the middle of the road. Tetsuo had been so sure he was going to flatten that kid into a street pizza, but then his bike exploded… Fuckin' exploded!

Tetsuo's eyes snapped open as he awakened from his dreamlike state. He was here because of some snot nosed brat, wasn't that just wonderful. Kaneda was never going to let him live this down! He groaned and rolled over in the small hospital bed while trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. Might as well get some rest well get some rest, he thought. Before Kaneda's laughter keeps me awake for the rest of my life.

As he lay there, waiting for sleep to come he became aware of how quiet this hospital was. Very much unlike the usual free clinics he ended up when, which were always full of screaming children, doctors yelling, and patients with bleeding from various wounds. Well maybe he got lucky and was chucked in some fancy people's hospital, but considering his luck he doubted it.

"Here we are, room 400." A female voice echoed in the hallway. Tetsuo rolled over and faced the wall opposite the door. He didn't want to be bothered by some annoying nurse bitch right now. He hated doctors, and everyone knows that nurses are just doctors who failed med-school (Though admittedly the one who worked at his school was damn hot.)

Tetsuo kept his eyes firmly shut as the sound of high-healed shoes clacked across the tile floor.

"…and then he asked me out for drinks!"

"Shut up!"

"No! It's totally the truth!"

"You are so lucky, Himeko! …is this the kid?"

"Yeah they picked him up off the street near old Tokyo. He was injured in an encounter with Number 26 a couple of days ago."

"So does he have it?"

"They're not sure yet, they ran some tests on him and he got up to a pretty high level."

"Wow, that'll be the first in a while, so should we drug him?"

"No. Dr. Takuza said that if he hasn't woken up yet we shouldn't administer any sort of drugs. Good thing too, means I can get off work earlier if I don't have to be giving him anything."

"So what are you going to wear on your…"

The voices faded as they left they walked back down the hallway. Tetsuo swallowed to try and return his heart back his chest as it had lept up into his throat during the conversation. Was Number 26 that kid? And have "it"? What did he have? God damn this place…this place wasn't normal!

He sat up and got shakily out of the bed, and was relived to find that his legs still worked. Tetsuo walked over to the machine that was monitoring his heart. He wasn't a technical genius by any definition but did know that if he took off the things watching his heart beat that machine would alert every nurse in the damn building. He reached out and in one swift movement unplugged the machine from the outlet. Tetsuo stood there waiting with baited breath, expected some sort of alarm to sound but when none did he tugged off the monitors stuck to his chest.

Now that he was able to move more freely he looked around the room again. He noticed his jacket lying on the table near his bedside; he hesitated for second and then put it on. He wasn't going to take this shit lying down!

"I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed but I know these creeps are up to something," Tetsuo's words echoed in the empty room, encouraging him. He moved to the door with more confidence then before and slowly opened it. The halls were void of any life; he slid through the door and stood outside of his room. He wasn't one for quick decisions but he knew it was now or never. He chose the left side of the hallway and ran down it, his hospital shoes muffling his footsteps.

The further he ran down the hall it became less like a hospital and more like an office building. When he reached the end of the hall he found a staircase with a large '40' over the door. No hospital he'd ever been to had 40 floors. He had to get out of here fast. Tetsuo flung open the door and raced down the stairs so fast he practically flew, his head pounding at every step. Fueled by pure adrenaline he didn't even notice the distance he had to go and when he finally hit the final landing did he catch his breath.

Tetsuo stared at the door ahead of him. Now the big question was where that door would lead him. Well he just had to take the chance and leave it up to fate. He inhaled and opened the door. Tetsuo breathed a sigh of relief the door opened into the back alleyway. He walked out and inhaled the air which smelt of car exhaust and factory smog, home sweet home. He stared up at the building he had exited; it stood many floors higher above all that surrounded it. There was no Red Cross or name on it at all. Yeah, totally NOT a hospital, more like a fed building. And since he had just escaped from it, that meant he had just outsmarted the government. Now that was something Kaneda had never done! A rare feeling of accomplishment rose up inside him.

"Someone's gonna have a little surprise in the morning. Have fun with your date, Himeko!" Tetsuo sneered. And giving the building the finger he turned and ran off into the streets of Neo Tokyo.

Sorry I'm a really shitty writer but like they say practice makes perfect so hopefully I'll get better. Please read and review.

In the next chapter: Tetsuo returns to meet up with Kaneda to find his friend's had some adventures of his own.