ME: hallo everyone! Miss me?
IKUTO: twinswords is VERY sorry for not updating for forever… writer's block hit…
ME: ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, writer's block, I hate writer's block… ANYWAY, I'm not gonna bother with a long AN this time, so… Tadagay, do the disclaimer!
TADAGAY: why me? Make ikuto do it.
ME: but he's already done it like, three times…
TADAGAY: fine…. TwinSwords does not own Shugo Chara! Or any of the related names, titles, or plot.
KISEKI: she does however own all original characters, so….
ME: steal and I shall be most displeased…. AND YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME DISPLEASED!
(KAZUMI, NARRATIVE POV)
Kazumi sighed. That darn little persistent creature. She wasn't at all sure how she was supposed to help this other guy when she probably wouldn't be able to trust him enough to stay in the same room. What was the little nut expecting? A miracle?
Matsumara Kazumi was not a miracle worker. If she was, Yui would be healthy, her mother would still be alive, and her father wouldn't be an abusive alcoholic. If she was a miracle worker, her life would be a heck of a lot better than it was. She'd probably still be at home, for one thing, and would probably have a decent relationship. At this point, thought, she couldn't trust guys or men, had been in far too many fights to count, and had nearly been killed at least twice. Her faith in humanity and all its goodness had died when her spirit had five years ago.
As Kazumi lay there, thinking, the door opened again; she slowly raised her head, hoping to see the little Chara-thing, to no avail. It was that doctor. Hiraga. Why couldn't they give her a female doctor? She'd be more willing to talk, or even be nice at all, around a woman. Men… Men made her clam up harder than an oyster protecting its pearls, and faster. Men made her want to curl up into a little ball and hide for the rest of eternity. Men did not mean safety.
What on earth was that little critter thinking? She was of no use to his friend. She was of no use to anyone, really, except her sister. Yui needed her, but no one else did. Suizen said he did, but… he could always find someone else to do her job if he did lose her. She knew that, had come to terms with it a long time ago. She was willing to do whatever it took to keep her baby sister safe and as healthy as she could manage. That was all she was good for.
"So," Hiraga said, "why didn't you tell me your real name?" Kazumi's eyes widened, and a small squeak slipped past previously clenched lips. How had he found out?
"How'd you know?" she asked sharply, Yume coming out full force. Kazumi's gang persona was totally different from her regular persona. Yume, the name given to her by Suizen, was a hard, egotistical girl who knew how the streets worked. Fight and kill or be killed or left for dead.
"The boy who came to visit told me." She hissed in anger at that. Suizen… He knew how much this would bother her. Was he trying to lose her trust, after the years he'd spent trying to gain it? Hiraga continued to talk, ignoring her icy glower. "Your real name is Matsumara Kazumi, is it not?"
"Depends on who's askin'." Kazumi cursed in her head. Alienating the doctor who was treating her, even if he was male, was not a good plan. Being cold was one thing; being downright rude, another. Yume needed to be shelved, quickly. She closed her eyes, fighting to shove her gang persona back where she belonged when Kazumi was in the day world.
"As your doctor, I have a right to know who you are, Kazumi."
"Don't use that name!" she snapped, fear taking over for Yume. "There's a reason I didn't tell you that name!"
"What is that reason?" he asked calmly, his eyes on hers. Should she tell him? Probably. Did she trust him enough to know? Not at all.
"Not telling." Her fear was still talking, making her voice cold, harsh. Hiraga sighed.
"It'd be easier if you just told me. I don't want to have to go to the courts to get them to tell me. You're underage; I can legally do that." His eyes stayed glued to hers. "I can get your family involved."
"NO!" He reeled back at her yell, surprised by the sudden strength of her voice.
"Why not?"
"Don't go to my father, please, don't go to my father," she whispered, ignoring or not hearing his question. Hiraga slowly moved forwards to sit in the chair at her bedside. Kazumi slid away from him a little, fearing his closeness. He noticed and pulled the chair back until she relaxed again.
"Why not?" he asked again, his voice gentle.
"S'not safe. Not for me, not for-" her voice shut off suddenly, her eyes widening fear. "Not for me."
"Why isn't it safe for us to contact him?"
"I've been avoiding him for five years. He… he almost killed me once." Kazumi cursed in her head again; this honesty was going to cause problems later. "Forget I said that."
Hiraga shook his head. "I can't, not if it's true."
"Please," she whispered, hating the weakness in her voice. "Just… Forget it. It's not important." She heard him sigh as she turned her back to him painfully.
"All right, for now." He shifted; she heard the rustle of clothes and hoped he was leaving. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she twitched; he hadn't left. He'd come closer. She twitched away from him hard enough to cause pain to through her body. The gunshot wounds in her back and leg spasmed, and her whole body tensed, a small cry slipping out before she could stop it. Hiraga's hand left her shoulder, but she couldn't relax. He'd broken her boundaries by touching her. She wouldn't, couldn't feel completely comfortable around him now. "Matsumara?" She didn't answer. "I'm sorry, but…" he paused; when he spoke again, his voice was strictly clinical. "The bullets in your back and leg have to come out. Surgery will be tomorrow morning, so try to get as much water and food today as possible, as you won't be able to eat much before the surgery at all. The wounds across your back and arm need stitches, so we'll do those at the same time."
She didn't respond. All this she'd already figured. She stayed still as he continued. "Everything else, we'll just keep clean to avoid infection. We'll also keep you on an IV antibiotic for a while after surgery to keep any infection from getting in the surgery areas." She heard him moving towards the door. "Take care of yourself, and I'll see you tomorrow." Kazumi stayed silent until she was sure he was gone before allowing herself to relax and think about tomorrow.
"Crap."
(IKUTO, NARRATIVE POV)
Ikuto was dreaming again, sleeping peacefully. Hiraga felt bad for waking him; no doubt he was dreaming of his girlfriend. Two days since the accident that had taken both her and the driver of the car that had hit them, and the boy still hadn't said a word to him. He sighed, but gently shook the boy's shoulder.
"Ikuto?"
"Mmm?" he murmured. "Five more minutes…" his voice trailed off as he fell back asleep.
"Wake up, I need to talk to you." He was more insistent now.
"Fine…" Slowly, the boy's indigo eyes opened, and he stared groggily up at his doctor. "What do you want?"
"Needed to check some stuff. Your name's Tsukiyomi Ikuto, right?"
"Yes." His eyes were distant, watching Yoru float back in from outside. He'd been wandering a lot lately, and Ikuto wanted to know why. "Why?"
"So we can let your family know you're all right."
"Oh." It wasn't like they'd care. His mother had practically sold his and his sister Utau to their stepfather's company, to work for him. As soon as he was out of here, he'd be back doing what he hated. Working for Easter. His stepfather wouldn't care. His mother wouldn't care. Utau would, but the life of a singer would keep her too busy to come visit him, no doubt. He sighed, ignoring the doctor's questioning look. "Is that all you wanted?"
"A couple more things. How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"Do you remember anything specific about the man driving the car that hit you?"
Ikuto shook his head. "All I remember is headlights, then nothing."
"All right. I'll have a nurse come in and check on you in a few hours. Take care of yourself." Hiraga smiled at him, but Ikuto couldn't make himself smile back. He just rolled over and faced the wall, waiting for the sound of the door closing before calling to his Chara.
"Yoru?"
"Yeah-nya?"
"Where've you been going?"
"Huh?"
"You've been exploring a lot. What've you found?"
"OH-nya!" Yoru bounced in the air happily. "A new friend-nya!"
"Oh? Who is this new friend?" Ikuto asked, not entirely happy with the idea of his Chara wandering around. Someone could hurt him, maybe even this "new friend" of his.
"The girl across the hall-nya. She's, um, she's…" Yoru trailed off; if he'd been human, he would have been blushing.
"She's what?"
"She's… cool-nya!" Yoru burst out. "She reminds me of you-nya!"
'Me?' Ikuto thought, watching Yoru dance around the room, lost in his own world.
"Oh, yeah!" Yoru flew to Ikuto's face and hovered in front of him. "She needs you-nya." Oddly enough, Ikuto's normally bouncy Chara was being entirely serious.
"Needs me?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Why?"
"I don't know-nya! She just does-nya!" Yoru whined.
"I don't…" Ikuto trailed off as he remembered his dream of Amu. The one where she told him of the girl that needed him. "Did you ask her to help me?"
"Um." Just that told Ikuto that Yoru had. He sighed.
"I don't need help, Yoru."
"Yes you do-nya!" Little cat paws waved around erratically as Yoru tried to prove his point. "You've been all sad for days-nya! She can make you happy-nya!"
"What if I don't want to be happy, Yoru?" Ikuto hated the sudden softness, the weakness in his tone.
"You want to be happy! Nya-nya!" Yoru flipped over and waved his tail at Ikuto. "She can help you and you can help her! Try, try-nya!"
"Fine, Yoru, fine. I'll help her. Or try, at least. But I need to know what I'm helping her with."
"Trust-nya." Ikuto blinked. Amu had said the girl he needed to help needed trust and faith, and love. And that he could give her all three.
"God, Amu…" He felt strong all of a sudden, as though saying her name had given him her strength. "Why did you give me such a hard job to do?" he whispered, fearing what the future would bring him.
ME: so, there y'all go! I apologize again for letting this story die for so long… I'm such a horrible authoress…..
IKUTO: yes, yes you are.
ME: MEANIE! *beats over head with dictionary*
IKUTO: owwww!
ME: you deserve it!
IKUTO: …
ME: anyway, so, hit he little green button at the bottom of the screen and make me happy so I'll stop beating Ikuto!
IKUTO: please!
