Wolf: Well I only did get two reviews for the last chapter but I don't really care much…actually it was a tiny bit disappointing but I'm still determined to write this little fic. XD If only for my own pleasure to get the idea of it out of my head! Sooo…if anyone's reading this enjoy the fic! And thanks to Dster and Mystic for reviewing!

Consuming

Chapter 2
Fogged


The glass was perpetual, withstanding and unbreakable in its thin boundary. She placed her hand on the reflecting solid, gazing abysmally into the other room. Her viridian eyes, ardent and full of sorrow, glittered with the grief of someone who'd lost something most precious to them and would never regain it. Her breathing was almost inaudible in the eerie white halls, but it still managed to echo along its walls. There was just so much pain, never-ending in its foul play as her heart was withered more and more at the sight behind the glass. Nothing ever changed, nothing ever stepped out of place in the mundane routine.

In the morning, she'd rise from her bed, eyes glazed over in something akin to a trance. Getting dressed and ready, eating breakfast and walking out of her apartment were nothing but habit to her. The slow steps her feet ensued as they padded down the stairs of her apartment, the steady beat of her heart; it was always the same slow pace. The world passed by her on the streets, completely unaware of her presence. Everything was a haze; everything burned a numb hole in the pit of her stomach. The tears she'd shed each night had stopped long ago, months ago. There was nothing but the pain, the sheer agony.

Why? Why did she finally see after so long? Why now? Why now when she'd finally slowed her rushing pace against time did she have to see? It was cruel, far too cruel and she was left in the torrential current, lost in its furious tides.

There was nothing left of her.

The glass in front of her, the sight of scarlet eyes and the wisps of oaken hair; everything was a harsh reminder. She remembered days before, months before when all she did was rush through life and in the end she was the one slowing everything down. Slowing everything down and having nothing left to hold onto, to wrap her arms and heart around. Her only one, her most precious person, had slipped from her so long ago and she didn't know how to get her back.

- - -

Natsuki's steps were hollow, slow and soundless as she glided down the flight of stairs from her apartment. Her hand ghosted over the railing attached to the wall, mind abuzz with fearful questions. The night before, in her dreams, was odd and sent her mind into a tempest of confusion. Throughout the weeks that had followed the Carnival, she'd never had a dream of this sort. Her dreams had always involved Shizuru stepping carefully by her side, presence so potent and tangible that Natsuki could almost believe that her dream would shatter if she reached out her hand to touch her.

Yet last night, things had been different. There had been no solid presence by her side and the jolt of its realization had sent silent tears cascading down her face. She'd woken and had cried, but hadn't sobbed. Her hands had clutched her pillow tightly, searching for a beacon of something solid and standing, something that wouldn't slip past her fingertips like Shizuru had in her dreams. Her nerves had been rattled and it was all she could do to grasp that pillow and cry softly, lost and confused.

The light of the dawning morning had lured her from her bed and she'd began to get ready to face the day. She'd dressed quietly, slowly as the light of the morning steadily illuminated the walls of her room. Her eyes had stared forward, sightless though and seeing nothing. Her mind was blank and foggy as she'd crawled from her apartment and now here she was, nearing the foot of the stairs. The winding staircase left a faintly dizzying feeling in her skull and her ivory hand tightened on the railing. Her feet touched the bottom of it and she sluggishly made her way to the double doors. White hands pushed them open and she was engulfed in the morning light.

Natsuki shut her eyes against the brightness and ducked her head from the sun, picking up her pace and quickly scuttling along the pavement to her bike. As she neared her vehicle, the dawn's lethargy finally faded from her blank mind and she could feel restlessness begin to wheedle at her. She had to check on Shizuru, something was beginning to scream at her that she should. She needed, wanted to check on Shizuru. The eeriness of the dream echoed her jittery thoughts as she swooped over her motorcycle and revved the engine. The roaring of her bike heightened the battering of her heart inside her ribcage, pounding and nervous.

The sites across the streets were blurred, buildings looming beside her and yet the images weren't sticking. She only faced ahead, verdigris eyes somewhere between being focused and clouded. Glazed and sharp; her thoughts circled her mind like a confusing maelstrom. The more her thoughts teetered on the edge, the more her fingers gripped the handles of her bars and the more her bike sped up.

Shizuru…

Her teeth grated together, jaw tightening with the motion as anxiety began a gradual rising from the pit of her belly toward the core of her being. Her heart's staccato beat increased, thumping with uncertainty against bone and flesh. Her bike continued boosting its speed.

Dream…

A low shrieking sound whistled from her tires and her thoughts were slowly cut off, gaze traversing down as she stared at the road. The sound kept on accumulating and as Natsuki fought to break through the fog enveloping her mind, her ears detected the faint noise of approaching tires and a honking wail. She looked up away from her tires just as the vehicle rammed into the side of her bike.

Crash.

The screaming of tires.

The feel of burning metal and rubber.

The grinding of pavement against a supple body.

And the yelling, the yelling erupting around her as her form went soaring through the air and scraping against the pavement. Agony was far from her senses as she laid there, viridian irises wide beneath her shattered visor. There was only undiluted shock in those pools of evergreen and her chest rose and fell with haggard breaths. Numbness, shock, and wonder filled her and her lips moved in a silent whisper as the sounds of several footsteps rushed to her.

What happened?

- - -

"You're hurting her! You're hurting her!"

Her cries were audible all throughout the hallways, strong and thundering in the course of their unbridled sorrow and anguish. Faceless bodies stopped and stared, gazing with apathy at the spectacle before them. Coats, white lab coats adorned their figures. It was nothing new to them; it never was anything new to them. Someone always overreacted, someone always cried during their visits. Faceless forms turned away, shunning the agonized screams.

The source of those screams came from one lithe body, chest jumping in sobs. Arms clasped around that slender body and tugged; her vision was filled completely with white. White lab coats, white walls, everything was white in this place. It sickened her.

Her viridian eyes gazed soulfully at the glass as she writhed in the grasps of her captors, trying in vain to return to the window. Her dark cobalt hair whipped with each flailing movement as her hands clawed at thin air. Once more she tried screaming, "Let me go! They're hurting her!"

"Miss please calm down! They're just doing their job!"

Empty words.

She snarled and turned on the man, hand slashing down his face. He yelped and leaped from her, bonds broken free. While the man attended to his stricken face, the blue-haired girl pivoted on her heels and rushed back to the window. She pressed herself as best she could against the glass, staring woefully at the scene unfolding in front of her.

When she could, she tried to make her visits contradict with these times, but it'd been by chance and she'd not been prepared. She'd quietly strolled through the barren halls to that room, her room. The moment she'd peered through the glass though, a wail had torn her throat.

Hands clutched at a frail form, gripping harshly on the sickly skin. Sharp, pointed, thin, long, all different synonyms to describe that needle as the doctors surrounded her. She was blockaded from seeing her, not just by glass but by doctors and something else that she could never break through. A barrier, something intangible. That needle, those hands, all pulled harshly on her thin form and her tortured cries rang cruelly in Natsuki's ears.

Nausea swirled in her stomach and bile rose in her throat. She gagged and sobbed, slumping down against the glass. Her hands curled, nails digging into her palms. Her porcelain arms trembled and her shoulders shook with the force of her sobs. She lifted her fists and pounded them against the glass, sobbing and crying out into the other room, "You're hurting her! You're hurting her!"

They didn't stop, completely disregarded her as the doctors surrounded their patient, their captive, victim. Faceless bodies circled her most precious, some clinging to her form and holding her still while the others injected the needles. Medication, they said. Sedatives, they told her. Drugs, Natsuki decided.

Then she found she wasn't the only one screaming through the glass.

She was screaming too.

While Natsuki cried in grief though, Shizuru wailed in torment.

Her fists hectically rammed on the glass and her legs pushed her off the cold floor. Her eyes glinted wildly, livid green. Her breathing was erratic, just like the tempo of her heart that pulsed in her eardrums. Her screams continued, magnified by her most precious's.

"You're hurting her! Stop!"

"Stop it!"

"STOP HURTING HER!"

"STOP IT!"

She was given no reply, except for the repercussion of Shizuru's agonized howls.


Wolf: Well this certainly took a long ass time to put into words, but at least it's finally up. Uhh don't have a long author's note or anything. To clear up in case anyone's wonder, the events in this fic are occurring in two separate timelines, one past and one present. Genre was changed in case anyone noticed, and in case anyone's reading this. O-o;

Review if you do read! Though I'd still continue this fic even if I only got one review, I would like some comments and feedback! And once again if anyone wants to know, my other fics will eventually be updated, hopefully at least another one this week. Patience is rewarded little readers!

:3