The Never Ending Tragedy
A/N: This one-shot is not funny nor a parody. This is an attempt to write a serious, sad piece.
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Beep.
"My fellow Americans, today our delicate peace has been shattered by a cowardly act of violence. As a result, many innocent lives have perished, many more are seriously wounded. My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones..."
Beep.
"The suspect was apprehended today by the Police. At age 54, the suspect admitted to being a white supremacist, particularly against Asians."
Beep.
"...It had been discovered that the guns were purchased in a backroom deal in Wyoming. The Governor of Wyoming had no comment other than simple condolences. Protests in Asian communities across the US have gone widespread. They have one simple demand: Stricter Guns Nation Wide.
Beep.
"Reports have surfaced that among the victims were famous Asians, from Pop Idols to Celebrity Chefs. Leaders from their respective nations have been invited to the White House."
Beep. Beep. Beep. Those were the most common noises heard in the hospital room containing the heiress to the Nakiri Empire, Erina Nakiri. For about a week, the girl was in critical condition and out in a coma. Survival Rate unknown.
"Doctor...her father and grandfather will be stopping by today..." a nurse said.
"...So they want an update on her condition?" the doctor sighed.
"Yes...they want to know if she has a chance of living and moving once more...neither of them wish to seeremain in comatose state" the nurse solemnly replied. The doctor took a deep breath, trying to think of the best answer he could give.
"I...don't know. She could make it, she could not" the doctor admitted. The nurse shook her head at the man's response.
"That's not helpful...these men need to make a decision on whether to pull the plug or not" the nurse reminded the doctor.
"I know, Jessica" the doctor answered. For the doctor, the private hospital was stuffed and always on alert. It seemed like there was a blue alert every hour since the attack.
Shuffle...Shuffle. The body of Erina Nakiri moved and her eyes opened up.
"Uhhh" Erina muffled. Too light headed to speak at the moment.
"She's awake" the nurse commented. The doctor walked up to the patient and sat down next to her.
"Good morning, Miss Nakiri. At the moment, you won't be able to speak much since you just woke up from a coma. Please nod if you understand" the doctor requested in Japanese. Erina weakly did so.
"Good. I've been informed and permitted to tell you that your father and grandfather will be here shortly. Your Aunt Leonora stopped by yesterday and said she will return in a hour" the doctor informed.
"Father, Grandfather, and Leonora are coming by?" Erina thought, "Wait, what about Trina or Alice?" At the current state, her last memories were still a blur to her.
"We've already finished taking care of business and so we will be leaving to check on the other patients. Shall I turn on the TV for you?" the doctor asked. Erina nodded. The moment the tv turned on, it was on an national news station. Currently, they were interviewing a tearful lady about the attacks. The woman's name was Natsume Tadokoro.
Tadokoro.
"Tch, not a good time to watch this" the doctor grimaced. He didn't want his awaken patient to follow the tragedy at the moment...the tragedy that sent her to the hospital.
"MMM" Erina mumbled. The doctor turned to her, a sorrow frown displaying on his face.
"Are you sure you want to watch this?" the doctor asked. Erina gave a light nodded, which caused the doctor to sigh and put down the remote before leaving the room. As Erina watched the news for an hour, the horror in her eyes grew.
"I'm here...because I was among the many in a terrorist attack..." Erina started to realize. But that wasn't most frightening part, it was the fact that 17 other Alumni from the 92nd generation where in the same location as her the night the attack.
"An attack...at a special multinational lunar festival banquet.." Erina solemnly thought. All the names flooded her head, causing her to wonder if they survived or were dead.
"My daughter...I see you're awake" Azami calmly stated. He wore his normal suit, but something was different about him.
"He looks genuinely upset" Erina thought. Not once had she seen father on the verge of tears, it wasn't him. Hell, he was the reason she never cried once.
"Hi...dad" Erina hoarsely replied.
"Granddaughter..." the voice of Senzaemon called out with a solemn face.
"Hi...grandpa" Erina said. The two men took a seat next to her.
"The doctor said that you have a chance at recovery, but it's likely you will never be able walk again" Azami bluntly said. Erina looked down for a moment before returning her attention to the two men in front of her.
"What...about...the..others?" Erina slowly asked. Before men stared at each other, unsure how to answer that question.
"Let's talk about that...when Aunt Leonora arrives" Senzaemon suggested.
"O...k" Erina simply replied. Her heart sunk on the way he said that, like if she wasn't going to handle the news. The trio spent the next 30 minutes conversing with each other, talking about more uplifting things that happened the past week.
"Erina! Oh, you're awake. Me happy" Leonora blurted out as she stepped into the room.
"Auntie Leonora..." Erina whispered.
"Your Father and I are going to take a walk, we have some matters to discuss in private. Leonora will be here to answer your questions and comfort you when needed" Senzaemon said before standing up. The two men walked out of the room, leaving Leonora and Erina alone.
"Auntie...what happened to my fellow colleagues? Are they alright? Please be frank with me" Erina pleaded. Leonora took a deep breath before opening her lips.
"Out of 17, only 4 unscathed" Leonora sadly answered.
"Who..Who were the 4 lucky ones?" Erina muttered.
"Ryou, Subaru, Yuuki, and Daigo" Leonora answered while holding back a tear. Erina gasped, realizing which people were hurt. She decided to run down through a list of names.
"Satou?"
"Minor injury"
"Urara?"
"Same as Satou"
"Madoka?"
"Broken arm and leg"
"Nao?"
"Bullet wounds hands, broken collarbone"
"Takumi Aldini?" Erina asked. Leonora sighed and stared into her niece.
"Lost kidney and waist down paralyzed" Leonora said. Erina bit her lip, the damage severity got worse as she moved through the names.
"Megumi?"
"She's in critical condition and coma... parents considering mercy kill" Leonora sadly answered. Erina trembled in her bed.
"No...not Megumi." Erina thought. She considered stopping now, but needed to know the situations with a few more people.
"How is Trina?" Erina stammered.
"Despite being fit, Trina in critical condition but conscious. Low Survival rate" Leonora choked up. Erina's eyes slowly watered at the condition of her German cousin.
"Hi—Hisako" Erina mumbled. Leonora slowly started to cry.
"Hisako Arato...dead two days ago" Leonora stammered. Erina mouth curled... a tear rolled down her eye.
"A-A-A-Al..." Erina struggled to say her danish cousin's name. Now her auntie was bawling hard.
"My baby...My baby Alice...died last night...Why...Why!" Leonora bawled. She wasn't alone, as Erina couldn't hold tears back now at the death of her cousin. She should stop...but there was one more name she needed to know.
"Soma...Yukihira" Erina asked under muted sniffs.
"Dead on Arrival. They cremated body two days ago" Leonora replied. That did it, Erina's heart shattered into a million pieces. She couldn't care about the rest of the names, the one man she cared about the most was dead and the body was gone.
"Why...Why did I have to wake up? Why couldn't I die and join him? Join Alice and Hisako" Erina rapidly thought. Fate was cruel to take the closest people away from her and leave her alive. To make matters worse, it seemed that fate would have an encore and whisk away the lives of Megumi and Trina.
"I...I think I need time alone" Erina mumbled. Leonora hesitated, but nodded before leaving the room. For the next several hours, Erina went between naps and watching tv. She found she could move her arms and hands, which was convenient for reaching the remote. She couldn't feel her feet or legs, which caused her to sigh. It seemed she would be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Just before she clocked herself out, she heard loud noises and running coming down the hall.
"Code Blue, Code Blue Room 206 and 203!" a few voices shouted. A few minute pause, then another loud sound.
"Ma'am, we can't let you in now, this is an emergency!" a doctor shouted. Erina sighed, accepting that was just a normal night at the hospital.
"Like hell! My baby is dying and I haven't visited her in a few days. You will let me through or else!" the woman yelled. The voice sent a shiver down Erina's back; it belonged to her Auntie Ragyo. A minute of chaos was heard until it was broken up.
"Nooo! Noooo, my baby. My baby girl is dead. She was only 28! First my husband now my only child is gone" Ragyo cried. Erina heart sank further, she was the only living cousin left.
"Trina Furman-Nakiri, cause of death was heart failure at 8:08pm" a doctor muttered.
"Doctor... we lost Megumi Tadokoro as well" a nurse spoke up.
"At least she was spared the pain of watching her love one die" Erina sadly thought. She couldn't believe it, former elite eleven seats 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 were all dead. In fact, the only certain seats to remain alive where 2, 5, and 7.
"Maybe if I close my eyes and concentrate really hard I can force my body to sleep" Erina thought. At this point, she didn't care how long she slept; 10 hours or until she dies was fine with her. Unfortunately, the memories of her friends prevented her from doing that. Silence in the room, until Erina heard a familiar voice.
"So you're awake, eh?" a ghostly woman appeared.
"Trina!?" Erina gasped.
"Calm down will you, everything is going to be fine" Trina chuckled.
"Calm down?! How can I when I know a handful of my friends and family are dead?" Erina argued.
"We understand" a new voice appeared, "However, that's something you don't have to worry about,"
"Alice?" Erina blinked, "What's going on?"
"Do you wish for a gentle answer or a blunt one?" Alice asked.
"Straight answer please" Erina answered.
"At this moment, you're dying" a third voice answered.
"Megumi..." Erina whispered, "Wait, I'm dying? I'm wide awake as we speak."
"Actually, you fell back to sleep five minutes ago" came the voice of Hisako.
"Hisako..." Erina mumbled, "Are you guys...waiting for me to let go?"
"I wish we weren't" a male voice said, "But we're not passing on without you."
"Soma..." Erina said as a tear rolled down her eye. Suddenly, she felt a stinging pain coming from her chest.
"The doctor are trying to revive you, but your heart isn't responding" a deep voice said.
"Who...who are you?" Erina whimpered.
"The Angel of Death" the voice solemnly said, "It's time to go now." He held out his hand, which Erina took with grace. When she was on her feet, she was embraced by her friends.
"I heard there is a feast waiting for us" Trina smiled.
"Feast?" Erina blinked.
"Death is beginning of festivities in the afterlife, thus a feast is there to great you all" the angel answered.
"I didn't think food would follow us into the afterlife" Soma joked.
"We were chefs, why wouldn't it?" Alice laughed.
And thus, the late Tootsuki Alumni talked and laughed as they were ushered into paradise.
A/N: This was originally a one-shot in a collection of one shots that I've written awhile ago. I've recently deleted the collection, but I felt this story needs to be put back up.