AN: This took a while. It's actually hard to write in this style. I got inspired by reading some LOTR fics. Well, hopefully I can keep it up. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Cardfight Vanguard.
Burnt Memory
Chapter One: Who...?
The blissful, eternal darkness continued to return, but left small opportunities for its opposite. Each time, it would come, then quickly leave, letting the darkness take over for a longer time. There was no recollection of what happened in that painful place, and nothing was done to remember. At the moment, the horrid world had yet again returned.
It no longer spun in an endless circle, merely danced in hazy waves. But the pain was more alive and hungrier. The drums were blaring, and the hollow inside was thumping.
And then, a strange sound came. It lacked any beauty, falling on deaf ears. But again, it sang and sang, until it finally breached through.
Green hues blinked wearily, unsure of what had been spoken. They squinted to focus on a figure that stood closest to him.
It questioned again, slowly but still not loud enough for the blaring ears to hear.
Realization came after a minute as the numbness started to ware off. He was laying down on something soft from what little he could feel. There seemed to be a slight weight on his numb body. White straps wrapped around his form, sprouting everywhere. Something was over his mouth, pushing air in and compensating for the sullied air that was perched deep in his throat.
Blinking hazily, he tried to make out the figure in front of him but failed in doing so. Out of impulse in his delirious state, he tried to speak.
"Y...I-I..." A voice that he did not know was his own sounded hoarse and dead. The occupant on the bed was unaware of the soft voices around him. The dark world wanted to take its shift, but he willed it to wait. This world may just have something, despite the twisted pain it brought.
He tried to move, but his body would not budge in the slightest, finding the softness of the bed to be its nesting place. He vaguely sensed a presence near, but all his senses were overrun when many other figures appeared, blurring in a dance of waves. The many lyrics slurred, not reaching attentive ears.
He heard something faintly from his side and immediately the lyrics died away. Green spheres strained to make out their composers.
It was a boy, he guessed faintly. There was a big yellow blur that he could not quite figure out with yellow hair and...grey eyes? It was hard to make anything out when the dance of waves continued in their pleasure. But he managed to see the teen's mouth move. The boy forced his ears to hear.
"...Kai, how...you...?"
He blinked blankly, not even registering that he was called a name he did not know. He couldn't quite understand what had been said. The stiffness and numbness hung over him stubbornly.
"...Kai?" the boy pressed, his face concerned beyond the boy's understanding. He could barely see two grey circles that seemed to be wet.
The boy blinked again. It barely came to him that he did not know this person.
"...Wh-who...?" the boy croaked, not knowing his voice sounded awful. He felt drowsy and allowed his mouth to work on its own, though he could hardly register his own words.
The figure took a step closer, wet circles seeming to be soaked. "...Kai, stop...–"
"Kai..." the boy murmured unwillingly, unable to hear anything else. He stared at the blurred figure. "Who...?"
He somehow felt the figure was in pain. Other blurs came up, and he squinted to see them leave the room. Someone came up to him, and he heard a voice but failed to understand the words. The brunet just stared up at him, not sensing the problem.
Another blurred object came into view. The boy blinked as everything suddenly spun. Colors started to fade, and his body went limp as he entered the other world.
"...Just relax. Everything's alright."
Green hues blinked wearily, unsure of what had been spoken. They squinted hard, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Kid, can you hear me?"
The doctor sighed, shaking his head. He had tried for weeks with no success. It was a wonder the kid survived it all. But every time he woke up, he could never react to anything. The kid would just blink with hazy eyes at the ceiling until he would black out. This was the first time his eyes looked somewhat aware.
"Can you hear me?" the man tried again. He worried maybe his patient was aware, but simply lost his hearing and sight. But it did not look that way. He seemed to be absorbing everything around him, trying to understand. He supposed there was a lot for him to digest.
The boy was laying on a bed, a blanket placed over him. Machines were hooked all over his body, giving him the nutrition he was sorely lacking. An oxygen mask was around his mouth, helping his tarnished throat gain air. He was bandaged all over, his face the only thing that wasn't, save for the one on his forehead.
"Y...I-I..." he tried to speak, maybe out of fear of not knowing what was happening.
"Good," the doctor sighed in relief, though he was speaking to the doctor beside him. "I was worried he lost his hearing."
"But, he's still in critical condition. He was lucky to have survived. I wonder what will happen when he–"
"Not here. He's still awake."
He was unaware of the tense words spoken about him as he tried to move his stiff body. He attempted to move when words were spoken again.
"Better not move around," the man stated quickly, not touching him, but placing a hand on the bed instead. "Your friends will be let in now."
The words never had the opportunity to be processed as the teens came in looking relieved and immediately started to speak.
"No at all at once," the man stated, raising his hand to the kids. "You'll shock him."
The kids immediately stopped speaking. The doctor smiled wearily at this.
"...Kai, how are you feeling?" It was a boy with yellow hair and grey eyes.
The man guessed they were close friends as the teen always asked how his friend was. He grimaced as he looked to injured boy. He didn't look like he knew what was happening. But the man was happy to see he tried to hear. Still, the expression he had did not look promising.
"...Kai?" the boy pressed, his face concerned beyond the boy's understanding.
The boy blinked again.
The doctor frowned. It did not look like he recognized this person. But this person knew him. He now dreaded what the problem was.
"...Wh-who...?" And he was proved to be correct.
The color drained from everyone in the room, to which the boy blinked innocently.
The blond boy took a deep breath. "...Kai, stop joking. It isn't–"
"Kai..." the boy murmured, staring at the blond with what seemed pure innocence. But that innocence did not belong there, and so, everyone started to worry. "Who...?"
The blond boy broke down and started crying, and some of his friends did as well, but the confused boy couldn't make them all out. They had disappeared outside the room, one man following them.
"Kid, do you know who you are?" the man questioned him again after the silence.
The brunet just stared up at him with dulled eyes, looking on the verge of passing out.
The two doctors whispered to each other as the boy fell asleep. "I knew he would have some problems. His friends told me he was very aloof and somewhat cold-acting."
"That's not how he looks now," the doctor finished sadly. "I don't think memory loss is the only side effect."
"His attitude is strange for his age," the other man agreed. "I wonder just how many years he forgot. We're going to need to test that."
It proved to be harder than they had expected. The boy was absolutely silent. The only thing he would do was blink, unmoving for an entire week. They finally had a breakthrough and realized he could speak and understand if he tried. Unfortunately, they realized he never did. He would not accept anything nor resist anything. It was like there was never a heart at all.
At times, he would look like a lifeless doll, staring off at some inanimate object for hours until sleep took over.
They soon realized that even though his body narrowly survived, everything else had died.
He slowly opened his eyes. The world was black all over, no sound other than his quiet breathing. He pushed his body onto his feet and blinked slowly. His body begged for rest, and this comfy land was so attracting.
The boy stared upwards where the sky looked like it went on forever. He watched it for a time he was not aware of. Deciding to move on, he walked forward or was it backward? Everything was pure black, dwindling any sense of direction. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the boy sought no destination and simply walked without care.
He did not keep track of time and allowed himself to wander for hours. In the cool silence of this empty realm, he heard a voice. Two voices. Something strange wormed its way to his heart as he quickened his pace. These voices...he knew them. Why?
His body unconsciously froze, and his skin blanched upon seeing two other people. His heart sped up faster, pounding in his chest. Followed by instinct, he reached his hand out towards them. It was too dark to make out their faces, but he knew they were smiling.
Smiling. Didn't they look like–?
The boy immediately recoiled, his lack of breath finally reaching his senses to the point where he started gasping. The figures' smiles only grew wider as they held out their hand. Something felt cold in his body as he stumbled back. The feeling ate away at his insides, lurking about.
The figures' hands stopped, and their mouth began to move. Strong words rose up to the boy's contracted throat, threatening to burst.
His mouth opened as the other figures were about to speak. Just as words were about to breach through, the world changed.
Someone screamed in panic, soon blocked out by an angry shout. Then he felt pain on his head as he was shocked awake.
He blinked slowly, his breath gathering back into his system as the perspiration decreased. He was on a floor, his head, arm, and rib somewhat protected by the carpet, but pain still lingered. No memory of anything before it came. He vaguely recalled lying in some bright place with many people, but his memory was cut short. He was grabbed by the back of his blue sweater that seemed two sizes bigger and thrown against something that could be called a couch.
"Stupid brat. Why couldn't you die along with them?!"
The boy was forced to look upward in his dizzy state. He could barely make out a man who looked angry and distasteful before being pulled up by the collar of his shirt.
"I couldn't care less about your state since I'm stuck watching you, so you better listen," he sneered. "Now hurry up!"
The disoriented teen swayed in his grip and merely blinked at him.
The man's grip tightened. "What if I made you remember everything?" he whispered darkly.
At first there was no reaction, but cold feeling entered the boy's body as his eyes widened, and he tried to back away. He hardly understood what the man even meant, but terror entered his body at those words.
The man was pleased with this and grabbed the boy by his hair, twisting it painfully. "Listen to everything I say, and that won't happen."
A shaky nod was all that came before he was thrown out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. He lay on the floor, gasping for reasons he did not even know. Soon, he calmed down and returned to what would be called normal. Standing up, he realized he was in a bathroom. A pair of clothes laid waiting for him. In memory of what he was told, he took off his clothes and stepped in the shower.
While the water soaked his body, the back of his mind questioned how he knew that if you turn the knob one way, it will be cold, and another way, it will be hot. But the thought of that man simply made him do whatever he did. He was not aware of the stinging the water brought to his wounds or his sore body.
He turned off the shower and dried his body before changing into the clothes. They felt too big, but he did not know. They would be considered weird for casual attire, but the boy did not know this and left. He fiddled with the dark blue tie around his neck (that he miraculously knew how to wear) as he walked around. He made a noise of surprise when a bag was thrown into his hands and before he could stare at it for hours, he was grabbed by the arm and shoved outside.
Stumbling forward, he did not even get to realize that man had pushed him outside of a house before he was pushed into a car. The boy blinked, his banging head apparently not given any concern as the man drove down the street, muttering a few words that the teen was lucky not to have heard.
Now that he had some time, he looked at the bag in his hands before his attention was swept away by the road. He stared out the window, watching the moving objects fly by, leaving only their colors in a blur. A nauseous feeling soon entered his system as everything spun. Almost instantly, the car stopped.
"Out."
And he stumbled out obediently, his bag coincidentally in hand. He watched the car drive out of sight before turning around upon hearing a new voice.
"Oh man! I'm going to be late!"
He stared, his mouth slightly open to show his puzzlement, bag lightly held in his tender hand. There were people around his age running inside the building, calling out to each other to hurry.
A strange, melodic sound rang out in the silent area, bringing some form of hot feeling in him. He turned his attention to the building. It seemed pretty big. The teen looked up at it with dazed eyes and murmured the words he saw on the building,
"Hitsue...High..."
AN: For some reason, I still don't feel like putting "Kai did this or that". Using his name somehow seems out of place even though it's obvious. Anyways...
Preview Coming Soon:
Chapter Two: School...Home? Kai experiences a strange day at a new school, getting something called 'detention' on the first day. Managing to find the place where he had woken up, he's left at the mercy of a hateful man.
Review if you want.