A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to post... I've tried to write and rewrite this portion of the story over and over again, trying to get the right kind of flow that I'm looking for, but, well, I've edited it almost 15 times, and it still seems to want to work against me... oh well...

for those of you that have followed this story since the beginning, thank you so much for your time and patience and understanding so far. It's just the fact that the start of this story was rocky, and I couldn't find a good way to make it flow, so I had to chop at it and hope that it sounded good. Fortunately, the next portion of the story is starting to flow much easier, so hopefully the updates will be coming at a much faster pace. I'm thinking something along the lines of every Friday night, so long as I can help it. And, hopefully the chapters themselves will be at least 7-8000 words long at the very least. These short chapters are proof that I'm having a tough time getting this story to take off.

I don't own anything except my own characters, plot vices and manipulation of the story.

Enjoy.

The next day...

"…meet me in outer space… we could spend the night, watch the earth come up… I've grow tired of that place, won't you come with me? We could start again… HOW DO YO-" Hideki hit the snooze button, thus muting the music from his improvised alarm clock, which read 0605. Slightly opening his eyes, he lowered his arm back down to his side, blinking as he attempted to clear the sleep from his consciousness. Blinking again, he looked to his left, where his school uniform laid upon a hangar, crisp, clean and freshly ironed to near-perfection. Note to self; remember to thank mom for ironing the uniform… he thought, a slight smile taking form upon his features.
Yawning and stretching with his arms over his head, he proceeded to work out all the knots that had formed in his back muscles from the previous night's sleep. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he reached up and brushed his azure locks out of his line of sight as his gaze rested upon the nightstand next to his dresser. Upon it lay the typical teenage mess consisting of his jeans that he'd worn the day prior, along with those socks he'd gotten a few weeks back from the store, still held within their clear plastic container, waiting to be unsheathed and worn. Joining those articles of clothing was a sport watch, a lamp, a set of nondescript headphones, and a picture frame. Within it laid a picture, one which held a great memory of his childhood. It showed Hideki aboard his first motorcycle, a Kawasaki KX65, with a big grin on his face, along with his parents in the background, cresting one of the many jumps on one of his favorite tracks. Ahh, he thought; those definitely were the days…
A small wave of nostalgia swept through Hideki as his mind poured through the memories of his days racing motocross, as he revisited all those races, the hardships, the victories, and the frustration running through all those seasons. He'd been a rather tough competitor, earning the nickname 'Rhino', which became his butt patch, which is what most of the competition saw as he always seemed to be in the front of the pack regardless of how horrible his starts were. Battling through the pack to get up to the front was oftentimes how his races ended up, where he'd be contest for one of the top three spots in the last moments of the race. He'd ended up doing this so often that other racers had come up with a supplementary nickname for Hideki, The Stalker, reminiscent of one Mike LaRocco, who was currently racing over west with the best in the world in the AMA Supercross championship. Hideki remembered how he'd always used the idea that he could someday be good enough to run with the big boys over in America and show his worth with the best in the business.
However, his dreams had been cut relatively short two years prior when his father had lost his position as the Chief design Engineer at Kawasaki Motor Corp., and since then had settled down into a much less prestigious job working as a design test engineer in the suspension department of Toyota's compact car division. While not making nearly as much as he had before, his father was still capable of affording the average lifestyle his family enjoyed living out in the country home he'd bought nearly 20 years prior. Hideki was still able to enjoy riding, but he was no longer able to race professional as he had been, considering that they couldn't afford the replacement parts for the bike that they'd need throughout the season. So, Hideki had resigned himself to simply knowing that if circumstances had been different, he definitely would've at least had a shot at racing overseas, and perhaps being a contender, but in the meantime, he'd taken up a different sport to pass the time until the day where he could potentially reignite his passion for racing into one of his kin… not that that's going to happen anytime soon… at least, not with the luck that I've had so far. Hideki thought, taking a deep breath, and halting his rather pleasant train of thought, deciding that for now, getting ready for the day of school ahead of him was more important than reliving his past.
Rising fully out of his bed, he ran his hands down his arms, rubbing the feeling into them as he headed towards the shower to fully wake himself up. As he traipsed towards the washroom, his eyes performed a rudimentary scan of his surroundings, as they always did. His gaze swept across the rest of his room, landing upon his table as he crossed the room. His eyes fixed upon his desk/workbench on the far side of his room, upon which lay a half-dirtied shop towel, along with a set of metric wrenches, and the unfinished engine sitting in the block stand where he'd left it. All that was left to do was slip the head gasket on and put the cylinder head on top of it. Hideki remembered that the day before his, well …interesting game, he'd been engrossed in finishing his top end replacement of the engine on his KTM 150SX. He recalled tearing the bike apart and pulling the engine and gearbox out of the bike and dragging them both up to his room whence he could tear it apart and work his magic upon the Austrian-engineered piece of mechanical art.
As he passed the workbench, and slid through his room's doorframe, he rounded upon the linen cupboard immediately to his right, and grabbed a terry-cloth towel on his way to the washroom. Picking one out at random, his hands closed upon the handle to the cupboard door and closed it quietly. His eyes continued to scan along the walls surrounding taking note of the picture frames adorning the vertical partitions surrounding him as me made his way. The pictures were set up in such a way that as one headed in the direction Hideki was currently headed, they'd be able to see a visual timeline of the Hinata family, complete with pictures of his parent's wedding day, the day Hideki had been born, his birthdays, Hideki's first day of school, his first bike, his first motocross win, his first championship, His parent's 15th anniversary, His day of Junior High graduation, culminating with the latest picture on the wall, which showed the Hinata family celebrating Hideki's baseball team's success into qualifying for the prefectural tournament. Each picture marked a special moment in time for the Hinatas, each one important.
He continued down the hall, entering the relatively simple washroom, complete with the Shower/bath combo and an unassuming porcelain sink. Hideki shut the washroom door behind him once inside, immediately stripping out of his sleepwear, letting it slide off his body to collapse on the floor at his feet. Stepping out of the clothes, he hung the towel on the rack next to the shower, and, reaching over, twisted the knob on the side of the shower to commence the flow of water into the basin, letting it run for a few seconds in order for the water heater to come to full effect before he stepped into the fanning spray.
God does this feel good… Hideki noted, relaxing and letting the pulsating stream of water help relieve him of the stresses of the previous day, and get him into the mindset for school. As he let the water run its path down his body, he reflected upon the day prior, and decided that for now, it was necessary to let it drop as he knew that if he were to dwell upon it any farther it would bother him for the rest of the day. He hadn't made much progress other than that what he saw must be some sort of premonition indicating events to come, or something of the sort. Either way, he wouldn't find anything important out in the near future, so he was going to leave it be for the time being, and wait for either something to happen, or if he were to have some sort of revelation. At that time he would come to revisit it, but not until then.
About ten minutes later, after thoroughly cleaning himself, Hideki stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and headed back to his room, whereupon he dressed himself up in his under armor shirt and biking shorts, along with his Shoei helmet, getting ready to bike the 8 miles to his school. He'd gotten lucky, or at least he'd like to believe so. He got accepted to a school that didn't start until almost 0830, so he could almost coast all the way there and still have enough time to change into his school attire and prepare for class with time to spare.
As he headed down the stairs into the kitchen below, he encountered both his parents already seated at the table, his father with the latest issue of Rider ® Magazine spread out in front of him, along with Car and Driver© directly underneath it, enjoying what looked to be an egg sandwich while his mother was simply enjoying what seemed to be a muffin with strawberry jelly smothering one side of it.
"Morning, guys. So what's new?" Hideki asked, setting his things next to his place at the table, taking care to not put unnecessary wrinkles into the uniform his mother had made pristine the day prior.
"Well, son, there doesn't seem to be too much going on in the racing world, or at least, nothing spectacular… but Toyota's thinking of coming out with a racing-spec suspension setup for the new Camry's that I'm interested in seeing go to production…" His father spoke, giving Hideki an acknowledging glance before continuing his look-over of the material spread before him.
His mother piped in as well; "Kiddo, you sure you're doing okay? I mean, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit overprotective, but, well, you know…" she trailed off, her gaze falling as silence claimed her voice.
"Yeah mom, I'm doing alright. I'll see if the school doc can check me out and tell me what's up, but other than that episode yesterday, I fell just like I normally do. And don't worry about being overprotective. You're my mom. It's kinda your thing to do that, isn't it?" He asked, a raised eyebrow and a half-grin playing across his features.
His mother's face grew flustered before her eyes dropped sown and she stated "Yes, but… oh well, you're still here and that's what matters… So, anything going on in school lately?" his mother asked, raising her gaze while biting once more into her muffin.
"No, nothing really. Everything's still pretty much the same. I'm still me, I still have my handful of friends," Hideki replied, reaching across and putting a few sausage links onto his plate, continuing; "and so far my classes have been simple enough in comparison to remapping Dutch's ECU. School's been child's play in contrast, but it's still interesting nonetheless."
"Wait, mom, where'd you get that muffin..?"
"...Muffin button..." she replied with a subdued smirk.
His father's gaze rose from the magazines as he replied: "Glad to hear that school's going well for you. It makes me wonder how you'd be if we hadn't made you go through your racing career and focused instead on academics, considering how naturally adept you are in that arena…" his eyes drifting off, slightly glazing over.
"-But dad, if that were the case, I don't know if I'd still be the same person I am right now. Besides, if all I ever did was immerse myself in studies, I might bore easily with it, and I'd lose the drive I have now. Dad, academics didn't teach me my work ethic; racing did." Hideki took another bite out of his sausage before continuing: "If I'd never gone through with it, my mindset and attitude would be totally different, and who knows, I might be lazy, unmotivated, and withdrawn from you two… but, here I am, motivated, connected, and alive. For what it's worth, dad, I think you made the right choice…" he finished his sausage and rose to take his plate to the sink to wash it off. Once that was complete, he strapped on his riding shoes, gathered his gear and his school things and started out the door. But as he crossed the threshold, he paused, giving his father the piece of his mind for the day, saying; "Don't doubt yourself dad, I never did, and things have gone good so far." With that said, Hideki pulled his Schwinn out of the garage, and started his relatively short trek to school for the day.
As he faded out into the distance, his mother lowered her muffin, turned to his father and spoke softly "You know, for a kid his age to not only have such an expansive vocabulary, but to praise you like that, and be thankful for what you've done for him, honestly, I think he's right… you did good hon." She stuffed the rest of the muffin in her mouth and moved to take her plate to the sink. Depositing it within its depths, she turned towards her husband, who still had a far-away look in his eyes. Sauntering up to her husband, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moved her lips to just outside his ears before she spoke softly: "You're still the man that I fell in love with all those years ago, and you are still the same rambunctious, childish, lovable, loyal, comforting, and all around good guy you were back at University, maybe even more so now than before." She paused, leaning into him more for emphasis before continuing; "But, if for some reason you need reassurance, I'll be more than happy to show you just how right you were…" she let it sink into him, watching his facial expression for the subtle change she knew it would undergo. Once it did, she extracted herself, straightening out while she continued: "But I gotta get going to work. Promise you won't think about this too hard, okay?" With that said, she walked away towards the closet to retrieve her navy blue blazer for work, putting a little extra swing in her hips just in case he hadn't gotten the message, a smirk lighting up her face the entire time.
He sat there, turned completely around, watching his wife walk away, mesmerized. After a few moments, he swung back to the magazines, but not before he gave a low wolf whistle of appreciation. Raising his head and putting his hands together, he raised a silent prayer to the sky; Thank you kami for blessing me with Kuesa. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay your kindness for this gift but know it's well-appreciated.

Meanwhile, Hideki was booking it towards school, averaging nearly 20 mph the entire way there. Thanks to his consistent motocross training and his tenacious drive to be the best he could, he was well conditioned to make this short jaunt in next to no time. And lo and behold, less than 25 minutes later, he arrived back at school, early enough to park his bike and head straight for the showers, whereupon he could commence his preparation for the day. However, as he'd passed what he'd thought was roughly the 6-mile mark, someone had yelled something to him, but he'd only caught the tail end of their sentence. Something along the lines of "…KEEP TRUCKIN, MAN!" He'd tried to turn around and see who it was to acknowledge whomever had spoken to him, but he'd already rounded the corner, and whoever it was had disappeared beyond his line of sight. Resigning himself, he'd continued on. I wonder who that might have been. Usually no one even bothers to notice me, much less take the time to speak to me in passing. But as he thought more upon it, his mind fixated on one thing he'd found rather peculiar about that voice… It didn't seem like a man who said that… I wonder if I happened to catch the attention of a woman… This could mean great things for Hideki Hinata. Oh yeah, Hideki's definitely got it going on today! Hells yeah! And with that thought running through his head, he started off towards the shower hall with a little extra spring in his gait, thinking just a little higher of himself. Little did he know that today, unlike every other day, there existed a pair of eyes, observing him since his entrance in the school grounds, eyes that followed his every movement with speculative interest, eyes whose owner followed Hinata into the depths of the otherwise clear school.

Elsewhere…

Yui was so happy to finally be home, traipsing around her meager yard with her wheelchair, wheelying up and down her driveway, testing her sense of balance among the sights and sounds that were most definitely her home. As she let herself back down onto the pavement, she leaned back in her chair, simply reveling in the life that was going on around her. Finally, she was able to wander about outside once again, after all these years that she'd been confined to her bed. Not to say that her bed wasn't comfortable, quite the opposite. However, simply seeing nature from a vantage point was nothing in comparison to this! All the memories from her early childhood were coming back to her once again. The soft scent of the cherry trees mixed with the lilacs that her neighbor had in her front yard drifted to her upon a gentle breeze which softly enveloped her in a sun-induced warm embrace, overloading her senses in a pleasant way, a way in which she hadn't had the pleasure of immersing herself within since she'd been able to walk. As far as I'm concerned, she thought, this is by far the next best thing. Even if I have to stay in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, this is so much better than sitting in that bed all day. Besides, now my mom can actually get a job and not have to worry about me. Hey- I might actually be able to go to public school now! How much fun that would be! Not to mention all the potential friends I might make! Oh yeah! Yui continued her thought process in this fashion for quite some time before she heard a rather loud whirring sound coming towards her. At once she saw a young man riding by rather quickly on his bike. Her mind starting running just as fast as the man was pedaling.
Ohmigod, he is flying! Wow, oh wow! I so wish that I could do that- wait! If I keep healing like I am, I might just be able to do what he's doing pretty soon, hell yea. Hey wait! Where's he going!? She finally voiced her enthusiasm to him just as he was passing by: "Dude, that awesome! JUST KEEP ON TRUCKIN, MAN!" As he swept around the corner, she could swear that he turned his head to look at her, but he was already around the corner before she could get a clear look at him. "Aw, shoot. I wanted to get a good look at him…" She looked down at her legs in disdain before continuing; " You know, you can start working anytime now legs… anytime. It'd be greatly appreciated. Come one, work!" And Yui commenced to once again struggle to make her legs move even an inch in any direction. Moving only her toes once again, she gave up, a slightly crestfallen look upon her face as she realized that there would be no major movement from her legs anytime soon. Damnit Kami, why did you give me half of my mobility back just to tease me with the other half I wish so much to use? You're cruel, Kami. Really cruel. Yui moved her gaze in the man's direction, gazing in his direction even though he was far gone by now. But still, that man… Resigning herself to the fact that she probably wouldn't see him again, if ever, came to reflect what of the man she had actually seen. From what she could make out, he looked pretty good with those skin tight clothes on him, although they hid any definition away from her prying eyes… but still… A girl can dream, can't she..?
With the thought of a hot man riding by her eyes on repeat in her mind, she plowed forward up the driveway, receding once again into the depths of her home, where her mother was just finishing showering, getting ready for the day.

"Hon, you ready to go yet?" Her mother asked from somewhere within the house.

"Please, mother, I should be asking you that, jeez…" If I had to wait any longer I'd have to go check up on her to make sure she didn't die on me or anything…

Waiting in the foyer, she started to daydream, thinking of what it would be like once she could walk again, her attention drifting off once again as all the possibilities came to her once again, causing her to feel giddy.
Which is how her mom found her a few minutes later, eyes closed, a pleasant expression upon her face. She looked upon her daughter with an almost pitying expression; I wish I could spare you the pain of going through with this, and if I could I would gladly take it in her place, but, unfortunately, this is something that must be done if there's any chance of reconciliation later for Yui… The woman's thoughts faded as she finished approaching her daughter.

Lightly tapping Yui on the shoulder, she spoke; "Hey, we're going to be late to our own meeting if you keep this up. Let's hurry up and get going."

Yui immediately snapped awake as she turned to acknowledge her mother with a silent nod, wheeling her chair to the passenger side of the compact car, opening the door, transferring her body to the seat, and collapsing the wheelchair to set it in the seat behind her.
Her mother sidled into the seat next to her, strapped herself and Yui into their respective seat restraints, and started the engine.

Elsewhere…

Oh, it had been heavenly. But then again, every time he hit the showers when he arrived at school, it felt just as good as the last time. The hot water chasing away the slight sheen of perspiration that his body had acquired over the short jaunt from his house to the school, along with releasing the knots that habitually formed in his lower back due to the rather high intensity of his pedaling, combined with his drive to better himself to the point of exhaustion, regardless of how short his jaunt was. And then, the great feeling of just being clean after he dried himself off and dressed never got old. Loathe as he was to admit it, it actually made him look forward to the school day, and give him a rather positive outlook at the onset of the day.
Granted, he wasn't one to grumble and moan, but school was definitely not one of his favorite things to do, if given the choice. But, since he had relatively no choice in the matter, he at least made an effort to enjoy what little he could of school while he still could.
Gathering up his things, he folded and stored his biking outfit, freshly washed, into his small duffel bag, threw that and his schoolbag over his shoulder, and began the short walk up to his classroom, where upon his arrival, set them back down, and began undergoing the process of taking out his school things and reviewing the material from the day prior. As he sat there, reabsorbing the material, he became unfocused and lost his bearing on his surroundings, becoming immersed in the material in front of him. It was comfortable, it was quiet, and, most importantly, it was peaceful. There wasn't the usual hustle and bustle sounds of humanity scurrying upon itself in the general morning rush. No, here it was calm, tranquil… He could easily lose himself in its serenity, which often happened.
Which just so happened to include today. Which might explain why he had so miserably failed to notice the pair of eyes that were still watching him, ever since his entrance to the school grounds. They had watched him walk in, watched him enter and leave the men's showers, and had watched him enter his classroom, and subsequently lose himself in his schoolwork. Then a thought arose from behind the eyes.

Why the hell am I just standing here, acting like a freakish stalker!? I mean, my behavior is creeping even me out… But what the hell can I do? I'm too scared to approach him in the state I'm in, given that my vocal chords would actually work right now. Besides, what the hell would I say? "Hey, I've been watching you from afar for a little while now, and I've been hoping to talk to you for awhile, but haven't had the courage, so I've been sneaking peeks at you in the morning…" Yeah, that'll go over real well. Then he'll slip from my grasp, and end up with some other girl, and I can't let that happen, at least not yet. Not when I haven't even had the chance to see him up close. Who knows, he might just be dating material after all, at least if he has the attitude to match the body…

Hinata suddenly had a feeling that he was being watched, and therefore suddenly turned his head to stare at the small window in the corner of the door, to see if someone was looking in on him. He saw a flash of burgundy, and then nothing. Curious, he stood and strode towards the door. Once he reached it, he flung it open, stepping out into the hall. Once again, he saw the burgundy flash at the corner of his vision. Wondering what was going on, he strolled down the hall, increasing the length of his stride. Rounding the hall corner, his gaze was met with…
Nothing. Typical. Resigning himself to believe he was becoming delusional, he chalked it up to some sort of aftereffect of his visions, and now they were manifesting in real-time. Turning, he traipsed back to his classroom's door, only to be attacked by a dark form that blew into his back full force, almost knocking him to the ground. Luckily enough for Hideki, his feet automatically shot out in front of him to break his fall at the same time that his Judo training kicked in, and simultaneously ripped his opponent off him and to the floor whilst regaining his balance and standing fully before his foe, who, upon closer inspection, was actually a friendly.

"Dude, Rick, what the hell bro? You just rise up out of bed this morning and decide to sneak attack your good friend?" Hinata said, a deeply confused look upon his face as Rick stood to face him.

"No, just thought you could use a break from the norm for once. Not that yesterday doesn't count, but still…" Hideki facepalmed, and started rubbing his temples before stating; "Well, if that was the final objective, there are better ways to go about it than, well… this."

Rick, rubbing a quickly developing sore spot on his back, thanks to his apparent lack of forward thinking, gave Hideki a sheepish grin before agreeing. "Yeah, that could've gone better, I suppose…"

"Well, now that we've cleared up the issue of your idiocy.."

"HEY!" Rick roared, his eyes shooting open as he looked incredulously on at Hideki.

"…Anyways, how's about we go to homeroom and help get you caught back up on whatever you didn't do last night. Oh, don't give me that look," Hinata stated, noting the change in expression of his friend, "We both know that you can't finish homework to save your life. Now come on, let's go before the rest of the student body gets here and we get distracted…" The two boys' voices faded, and then stopped altogether as the door to the classroom was shut and they were now within the confines of the classroom.

Down the other hall, and audible sigh escaped a set of lips. A set of lips belonging to the same person whose eyes had sought out Hideki earlier that morning. Oh goodness, what if he'd seen me staring at him!? Yeah, that's definitely not creepy. Not creepy at all. But thanks to whoever's above for that other guy coming in when he did. If he hadn't Hideki might have heard me breathing and then he could've found me. But that's neither here nor there. Time to go get my things and stop being this stalker-thing. And with that, a human form in a burgundy over jacket walked back the hall from where it came, and headed downstairs to change into its school uniform, its long, black hair fluttering behind it in a wave that rolled down from its head to the tips about halfway down its back.

A jail, somewhere in the city…

Although she had gone into this headstrong and confident, Yui was now starting to notice the creep of anxiety, nervousness, and fear ebbing ever so slowly to the forefront of her conscience. At first, she had been secure in her ideal that she could meet this up-to-now faceless human who had done this to her, reconcile with what they'd done, and with the snap of fingers, whoosh, they'd be put away, and she could get on with her life, and start actually living for once, instead of being a vegetable, even if she was mostly limited by her wheelchair.
But nothing was ever as easy as it seemed, at least, not in this arena. There was no way that she could anticipate being fearful of being in the same room as her attempted killer. There was no way she could've realized how dangerous the killer could be, or how'd they react upon seeing her. Who knew, they might attack her and try to kill her once again… (Granted while it was near impossible for that to occur, that didn't make much of a mark on Yui's colorful imagination, nor did it help any to calm the fear that took over…)
But, regardless, Yui knew that she had to keep face if she ever thought of facing her alleged attacker head-on and coming out alright. So, she swallowed her pride, amped up her courage, and strode into the lobby of the building, her chair's wheel whirring lightly as she crossed the threshold.
The first thing she noticed as she rode in was the tense atmosphere. There were officers everywhere she looked, and everywhere there wasn't an officer, some felon was just hanging out, waiting to be processed. Almost all of the benches and chairs were taken up. Hmmm, seems to be a rather busy afternoon… wonder if there's some sort of crime spree going on… Yui wondered as she strolled through the large entrance hall towards a corridor which was depicted as 'WITNESS INTERROGATION AND IDENTIFICATION' by the sign looming over the entrance, suspended by large metallic chains and hooks. As she looked down the hall, she squinted her eyes, trying to see through the relative darkness of the hall ahead of her. It wasn't that the hall wasn't lit; it was more that the hall itself seemed to absorb the light and return less of it back to the space than then rest of the building. Yui looked up towards her mother, who was walking alongside her. Her mother was sporting a fixed expression, one that Yui hadn't seen her mother use since the aftermath of her father's disappearance from her early life, when times had been rather turbulent for both mother and daughter. In fact, as Yui looked at her mother's expression more carefully, she noticed that her eyes held a stormy look within their depths, indicating that there was most likely some sort of inner battle taking place within her mind as they made their way to the identification room near the end of the hall.
Dropping her gaze back to in front of her, she looked slightly to her right and saw her destination. She nodded her head in the general direction of the door, attempting to garnish her mother's attention to draw her closer, but, to no avail, it seemed that her mother was still lost within herself. What is bothering her so much, I wonder…? Yui pondered, as she pushed herself a little faster so that she could cut off her mother. Once she completed the hook, she sat there, waiting for a moment before the inevitable would happen. Hee hee mother, this'll show you to pay attention!
And, of course, but a moment later, her mother, oblivious to her surroundings, rammed directly into her mischievous daughter, tripping herself and falling face-first into her daughter's lap.
Dazed, ans slightly confused, she squinted her eyes together, wondering where she'd ended up. On the floor? No, this is too soft to be the floor… but wait, how did I fall? There wasn't anything in front of me- She looked in front of her and her daughter's face met her rising gaze.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, mother." Yui had an eyebrow raised, a slight smirk upon her rather smug expression. "Unless of course you'd rather just keep tripping all day, that's fine with me."

"Yui, try to take this seriously, please. Besides, I've got a bit on my mind right now, so you can't blame me for not being entirely aware of my surroundings." Yui's mother paused, finally taking notice of where she was, and the sign that was now overhead. "Oh." Was all she said.

With a frustrated sigh and a cross expression gracing her features, Yui lifted her mother off of her frame, and continued to the room where she was scheduled to find her attacker.
As the thought crossed Yui's mind, a slight chill crossed her mind, making her huddle a little further into the wheelchair's seat, trying to find any extra comfort she could from the supportive leather. As she entered the room, there was an officer awaiting her, seated at the far side of the table that took up much of the inner portion of the room. Yui rolled into the room, immediately taking up residence on the opposite side of the table, waiting for the man to begin to speak while her mother took a seat next to her in the available chair. After a few moments, the officer began to speak.
"Ms. Motori and Ms. Yui, I presume?" He asked, waiting for their confirmation. He didn't wait long, as they both nodded quickly. He continued; "Well, if both of you are ready, we have the suspects up and ready for identification… Let's just hope that the perp responsible is here… lord knows it's been too long since we bagged a real bad one."

"Don't worry sir, if he's here, I'll be able to pick him out right quick. My memory can be photographic like that at times." Yui piped up, hopeful that her good memory wouldn't fail her this time.

The officer looked down at the young girl, somewhat surprised by her enthusiasm at the matter. Usually people who'd gone through the same type of ordeal were still in some state of shock or fear, and did this to finally put their demons that'd been haunting them to rest once and for all. Never, in his 8 years on the force had he seen a victim that was so eager to undergo the process, or at least not any one that willingly did this with such vigor. Maybe she's putting up a front so that we don't have to worry about her mental stability… Or maybe she is simply holding her breakdown for later, perhaps… Or she could just really be ecstatic about putting this behind her and this isn't a façade… interesting indeed.
With that thought in his mind, he moved to open the blinds. As he did so, Yui and her mother looked through the glass to see… them. The suspects were there right in front of their eyes, lined up in close proximity to one another, all holding numbered signs signifying who they were.
As Yui looked on at the small group, she started noticing things about them. The way they stood, the way that they held their gaze at the glass, which was probably 1-way, or at least that's what Yui guessed at, if their lack of directional gaze was anything to go by. And then she noticed the man at the end, who was fidgeting slightly. He seemed a bit more nervous than the others, and his gaze never quite met the glass in front of him. She wondered why that was. If anything, it made it seem that he was guilty, whereas Yui didn't believe that this man could have been her attacker, as he was simply too squirmy to have any real credit to his name, at least, not in this case. So, she removed her gaze and studied the rest of the group. Typical ruffians, weight room jockies, and generally dredged unashamed dropouts of society. In other words, your typical criminal profile. But something wasn't adding up. None of them seemed to have a clue as to why they were there. It was well written in the expressions upon their faces, the clear confusion, and impatience that riddled their faces with an array of fierce expressions. But still, there was that other at the end, the one who seemed to be the only one actually nervous about the whole ordeal. She took a closer look at him.
She now noticed something about him that she had overlooked earlier. He was definitely refraining from making any eye contact with the glass set before him, which is why she couldn't really get a good lock on who he was. She rolled herself back a few feet, and turned her head towards the officer in the room. She then asked: "sir, is there any way that we can get number 6 to fully face the glass, I can't really get a good look at him with the way he's acting right now…"

The officer nodded, replying: "Of course ma'am, we'll have that taken care of as soon as possible…" The officer then pressed a button near the door at the entrance, which looked to be some sort of intercom. He spoke quietly into it, whence there came a quick and quiet reply from whoever was on the other end. Yui turned her attention back to the line of men, and soon enough, a separate officer entered that room and told them to stand at attention, fully facing the glass. They didn't all comply at once, so Yui was made to wait another minute or so as they finally situated themselves. But now she had a good look at everyone, so she went down the line once again, studying their features closely, awaiting any kind of reaction that could trigger a portion of her memory. But none of the men she saw before her were triggering anything, or at least nothing to her knowledge. But then she got to the end of the line and saw that last man once again. And now she finally saw his face.
She let out a small gasp that she didn't realize she let out. She looked upon his features, and it triggered a memory within her. She could see the car coming closer and closer, and now, that dark shadow that she'd seen within the car, the one screaming at the people on the sidewalk to get out of the way, that shadow finally had a face. But what fully triggered her memory was his eyes. He had deep grey irises which were set within a pearlescent white that had a tinge of deep red within it, making them look almost bloodshot. She'd remembered them. Back then, they'd looked like the eyes of one possessed, almost like demon eyes.
Yes, this was definitely the man who'd ran into her that day, the one who'd caused her to be impaled upon the rebar, the one who'd hospitalized her and almost had her killed. The one who'd given her doctors the chance to reset her spine and give her a second chance at life. The one who'd made her seemingly impossible recovery possible. The man who'd for better or worse, changed her life forever.
And, unfortunately, the man who was charged for hit-and-run. But, so was the way of things. He may never have meant to do it, but it was his fault for pushing the limits of his machine in the vicinity of pedestrians, and now he had to suffer the consequences of attempted manslaughter. Which to Yui seemed to be a shame, as the man in front of her had a lot of life left to live before him, and now he was subject to spend a major portion of it locked up.
Yui looked up at the officer, nodding at number six, letting him know that he was the one he was looking for. But before the officer could leave, Yui spoke up: "Sir, if it's not too much trouble, could I please have a word with the young man before my mother and I leave? There's something I want to say to him before I go."

Yui's mother was taken aback. What could her daughter possibly have to say to the young man besides hash him out for his poor decision? She was about to reject her daughter's proposal outright, and was commencing to voice her decision when she caught the look that the officer was casting in her direction. He walked over to Yui, his gaze warning her mother not to speak at the moment as he engaged her daughter. "Is there anything specific you wish to impart on the young man that we could do for you instead?"

Yui shook her head; "No, this is something that I need to say to him, and it's something he needs to hear me say to him, not anyone else, otherwise it'll lose its meaning."

The officer nodded his head in understanding, moving over to the intercom and notifying the other end of Yui's wishes. There came a quick reply afterwards, and then the comm. was shut off. On the other side of the glass, the six suspects were escorted off the identification platform. He turned to Yui, stating; "He's in a separate room, and being prepped for a chat with you as we speak. Actually, it's right next door if you wish to do it right now…"

Yui twisted her head slightly, contemplating for a moment. After a few seconds, she formulated a reply; "Yes, I think I'll go and do that now, thank you sir…" She extrapolated herself from the room, heading over to the other room to speak with the man in the other room.

At this, Yui's mother had had enough. She turned on the officer in something akin to anger as she belted out; "How dare you subject my daughter to that without my prior approval? How could you just forsake her well-being so that she can speak with that, that monstrosity!? Why do I get no input at all?" by this time, the enraged mother had crossed the expanse between her and the officer and was now up in his face. "What if she can't handle it, what if it breaks her on the inside, what if this does irreparable damage to her persona? Ever think about that!?" She all but shrieked in his face.

The officer, calm as ever, replied; "No, that isn't the case at all. Actually throughout the entire identification process I was watching your daughter closely to see if there was any possibility that she couldn't handle any portion, or that she was going to have a breakdown of sorts. However, that appears not to be the case, as she's shown strength of character much greater than most people that go through these kinds of traumatic experiences show, along with a drive that I don't find in many people. She seems like she can handle it rather well…"

Ms. Motori huffed, rather put off by his observations, not believing him entirely. "regardless, I'm still going in there and supporting my daughter while she faces him."

The officer stepped in front of Ms. Motori and blocked her path as he calmly stated; "Actually, at this point that might be more damaging than helpful. Whatever she has to say to that young man is something that she believes she must say alone, for whatever reason that may be to her."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to just stand by and let whatever happens to her happen? How can I just abandon my only child like that?"

"You're not abandoning her. You're letting her handle this on her own terms, in a way that only she can. Trust me, she is quite safe from him if he should prove hostile in any way. However, I don't think that'll be much of a problem."

Ms. Motori scoffed at him. "Oh, and why might that be..?"

The officer looked to his right, almost looking through the wall where Yui was bound to be engaged in some sort of conversation with the young man as they spoke. "because, that young man turned himself in, and confessed to the whole thing, along with his explanation for why he did what he did after the incident. While it doesn't excuse his actions one bit, it does explain a bit of what happened that day. That, and the feel I got off of him. Ma'am, I've been in the force for some time now, and I could read a person rather well even before I entered the force. This kid isn't the type to get violent or angry over nothing."

Ms. Motori looked away from the officer for a moment before saying: "That doesn't really help my nerves any, you know…"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, it'll have to do for now…"

Hinata was just finishing the English problem up on the whiteboard when an image of a prison interrogation room came to the forefront of his mind. Sitting further back in his chair, Hideki decided that he could entertain his imagination for a few minutes while the rest of the class was finishing up. As he sat there, the situation opened up in his mind, and he started to formulate the surroundings, along with the smaller details, like the pink hair that took up one side of the table. Coming from somewhere in the pink mass came a girl's voice, and it seemed consoling, almost as if the pink-haired girl was encouraging the person on the far side of the glass. And on the other side of the glass was a man, someone who looked to be around his age, looking somewhat forlorn and downcast, as if he was guilty of something that he wished he'd never even thought of in the first place. Well, this is a rather specific dream, now isn't it..? Hinata thought, as he checked his bearings around him, ensuring that he hadn't indulged for too long and missed the next problem, or gotten called on. When he was assured that neither was the case, he continued his mental interlude, picking up right where he left off…

Interestingly enough, his daydream was corresponding rather well with an event taking place in the downtown precinct.