Chapter 3: Nip it in the bud
Morning soon came and Mamori bounced out of bed, still determined to make Sena open up.
"Today I'll work hard at it!"
She went over to the guest room and knocked on the door.
"Sena-chan are you in?"
No answer. Mamori tried again.
"Sena-chan? I'm coming in."
Click.
The door opened and Mamori entered the room, what she found was the room back to the way it was, there were no signs of Sena stay that night.
"Sena… chan?"
Where did she go? Why did she go? Mamori didn't move, all those thoughts spiralled in her mind. Thoughts of blaming herself, thoughts of sadness and thoughts of confusion.
"Dad she's gone."
Mamori managed to finally say this after ten minutes of silence. He didn't say anything back; he just grabbed his keys and told her to change.
"We're finding her."
The wheels of her suitcase squeaked each time they turned, her legs trembled with each step she took. Sena only slept for two hours and the effects took a toll on her. The image of her aunt's dying face appeared in her mind as she collapsed.
"I'm sorry auntie..."
Thud.
She dropped on the pavement alongside her suitcase when Akaba happened to pass by.
"Huh?"
His morning jog was always rewarding but it never gave him a collapsed girl by his side. His singing did that however.
"Hey are you alright?"
Akaba grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. The girl didn't stir.
Doing the gentlemanly thing, he slung her over one shoulder with her suitcase in his other hand and carried her to his house.
She was surprisingly light. He couldn't quite see her face clearly as her hood and part of her hair covered it. When he got to his house, he placed the suitcase at the side of the door to open it before taking it back in his hand.
"This is so stressful."
Akaba set the suitcase near the coat rack before setting the girl down on his dark leather sofa.
He could hear her breathing shallowly as she clutched her chest in pain. So he called the person he
trusted the most and did his best to try and soothe her ailment.
"She's even got a fever."
A knock on the door was soon heard and Akaba went over to answer it immediately.
"Akaba what the hell did you call me for?."
The two skipped formalities and the doctor went to his patient. He examined her carefully, looking for any obvious signs. He peeled her coat off of her sweat stained body and noticed the slightest blue tinge on her chest.
"This is bad; we must get her to a hospital now!"
The two of carried her to his car and he sped off, hurrying to the hospital he worked in. They made it in less than five minutes when the doctor cried out to one of the nurses in the car park:
"Nurse hurry and get a gurney, this patient has a serious case of pneumonia!"
They rushed her for an immediate thoracotomy; the standard surgery for pneumonia.
Sena's chest was cut open and the looked for the damaged lung tissue, it was on the right lung and it was a small piece but nonetheless, a damaging one.
"Please survive." Akaba prayed. He never knew the girl but he felt that it was his duty to see her through. Sasaki was Akaba's childhood friend and rival, the two never got along but they were always there for each other. Akaba knew he could trust him; he just had to wait for the result.
"It's done."
Sasaki wiped the beads of sweat from his brow; they managed to save her on time. If it were any later she may have died. They were able to take out the damaged lung tissue and they placed in some chest tubes. The girl just needed to stay for a few days to see if there were any complications.
"Oi Akaba, you better treat me to some good ramen you hear?"
"Yeah sure,"
Akaba didn't pay attention to this; he just carried on looking at the girl. It was the very same girl that he saw in the dingy motel.
'Was she following me?'
He decided to stay by her side, not in worry, he just wanted some answers.
Sena was in a world filled with brilliant light. There were many others among her, smiling and beckoning her to them.
"Sena-chan over here."
Her dad smiled as her mother took her hand. You'd think that she'd be happy meeting her dead parents but her eyes were glazed over. No hint of movement, no emotion was present. Even in her dream she was dead. The others in this wonderful world had no shadows; they were already souls
unlike Sena, whose shadow cast over a large area.
"Dear, she's not to be in this world yet."
Sena's mother said to him. He stopped and looked at his little girl.
"I know, but I miss her."
Her mother hugged him tight.
"Sena, please don't be sad, you will go on to do great things and we wish you the best."
She kissed her forehead and gave her a hug.
"Your mother is right, cheer up if not for yourself then do it for us."
Her dad joined in the hug.
"We want you to live your life to the fullest."
Suddenly, Sena started falling, past the bright, bright world and through the clouds as the words of her parents rang through her ears.
"We want you to live your life to the fullest."
She woke up on a hospital bed and saw the red haired man again, his crimson eyes burning through her soul.
"Fuu~ I see you're awake."
He got up and towered over her.
"Tell me, did you follow me after I left?"
She didn't answer. Akaba kissed his teeth and muttered under his breath.
"Look, I'm willing to pay you to leave me alone, you hear?"
She still didn't answer. Just when Akaba was about to talk again, the door opened and Dr. Sasaki came through.
"Akaba, don't make her strain herself."
He walked over to Sena and smiled.
"Just rest for a couple of days, the surgery we performed was just recent and you need to stay still for the time being."
He looked at Akaba.
"And you, don't threaten my patients or I will be forced to kick you out."
The door slammed as the doctor left and Akaba was a little calmer.
"I'm sorry; I kind of overreacted especially when you're so sick."
When Akaba went for the door Sena spoke up.
"It's… alright,"
He smiled again and opened the door. That was weird, his heart's tempo started to go allegro again.
"What's wrong with me?"
Why was he so enchanted by two different girls he hardly knew?
"That girl with the haunting voice and that stalker… how could I love two completely different people?"
Was he a perv or was he just selfish? He just never knew.
Sena finally did it. She talked to a person without a reason.
"I'll try my best mom and dad."
She promised yet she herself knew that she would still be afraid. Sena was afraid of having someone so close to her. Too worried to sleep, she just stared outside the window until her eyelids began to flutter.
The next day Akaba came by with a bouquet of flowers and a card.
"I'm still sorry about what happened and I want to make it up with you,"
He set the bouquet and card down on the bedside table.
"Anything at all, you name it."
He was expecting her to say something like an autograph or a private concert but strangely enough, she asked for something simple.
"I just want a friend, someone I can tell all my worries to, all my joys and fears."
To say he was stunned was an understatement. Here he was expecting something superficial.
He misjudged her.
"Sure, can you just tell me why… that happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, when you and I… slept together?"
"Pfft."
Sena laughed, it was a hearty laugh, the very first laugh she'd ever have in years.
"Hey what's so funny?"
She stopped laughing and looked at him, he was serious.
"I actually helped you when you passed out in the rain."
'The rain…'
He'd remembered. When his mother had called him and he felt enraged, how the hell could she call her after what she done to him and her? No he had enough. It was then that he became ill and as he wandered the roads, wanting to forget those painful memories.
He shook his head. This girl helped him when he lost his mind and it was his turn to help her.
"By the way, I'm Sena and you are?"
She reached her hand out. So she didn't know him, it makes sense; after all if she was a stalker, she would be all over him.
So for once they decided to trust again.
A trust that can never be broken.