The gentle consistent sound of the monitor permeated throughout the room, the only solace he had to keep his mind away from the bandages on his hand. He slowly lifted his hand stretching his fingers before a minor pain shot through his hand. He gazed upon his fingers, each dangling along with his flaccid hand, except for where the lost one should have been. He slowly let his hand lie on his chest and continued to look at the ceiling, the monitor never wavering. He was not as lucky.
His mind continued to process the events he witnessed, trying to find a solution to the situation in his mind. What if I had said yes from the very beginning? Maybe I could have run faster. What would it have been like if I never knew she existed? Despite what he thought he couldn't shake the image from his mind. Akitsu beaten and bloodied was rushed to a separate wing of the hospital while he was sent to quickly see a doctor. That woman was with them throughout the whole ordeal.
He didn't like thinking about her, she had caused his life hell before he even knew what it was that was going on. In something that was a simple question to his begging tone she had been reluctant to take them to the hospital. It wasn't until his incessant begging became too much for her that she conceited.
Akito lied down in the bed as a small click resounded in tandem with the heart monitor. He looked to the door to see a woman walk in with a clipboard pressed tightly to the side of her white coat. She was a moderately attractive woman; her eyes were a light brown while her onyx black hair was pulled up into a bun on her head. Akito saw the smile on her face and relaxed slightly as she stepped up to him. The crow's feet near her eyes were accentuated by her constant smile. As she stood next to his bed she placed a hand on his shoulder clad in a hospital gown.
"How are you feeling Mr. Otonashi," she asked quietly as if he would crumble beneath any loud noises.
"I'm okay doctor," he said looking across the room, slowly shifting his vision to his bandaged hand.
As she saw him looking at his hand she lifted her own from his shoulder and the clipboard from her side, looking through it and flipping pages when necessary. She smiled slightly larger than before as she said, "Well you should feel a little better than okay when I tell you that you'll be just fine, and you can be released."
He looked up at her and smiled slightly before looking away, "How's Akitsu?"
She looked confused for a moment before recollecting who it was he was referring to, "Ah, yes the woman that was badly hurt," she began, "She is making a remarkable recovery despite her injuries but she won't be released for another day or two." She looked back down at the way he clasped his left hand in his right, gently rubbing where his little finger once resided. "If it's not too much could you please tell me what happened?"
Akito looked to her waist focused intently on the button that rested there, settling for his hand to gently rub his stomach as the light graze caused a small sting to resound within his being. He looked up to her with down trodden eyes and quietly spoke, "We had just left my work after picking up my paycheck and were walking to the store, we cut through a small ally and some guys came out and hit me with a pipe," he looked up to her and continued the small threat of tears falling evident in his stare. As he continued to speak, his mind didn't follow what it was he said it kept him talking enough to lie his way through the awkward ordeal. "I'm pretty sure I passed out, and when I woke up they were cutting off my finger," tears began too slowly make their way down his cheeks as silent as falling snow, "I saw Akitsu, and," he stopped talking and looked down hiding his hand underneath the sheets.
She looked down as he silently cried. "It's okay now," she began in an attempt to calm him down, "Everything's alright. We'll notify the police and we'll make sure that these bastards get what's coming to them." The slight smile she wore calmed him down.
The bastard who did this wouldn't care if the world came after her. As she spun around and stepped to the door her voice reached his ears one last time, "If it's not too much, do you mind telling me who the woman who brought you in was," Akito looked up to her, his eyes red but no longer leaking, "It's just that she hasn't been," hesitance was easily discernable in her voice, "the most cooperative."
Akito looked down to his hand and whispered, "She's my friend. She can be a bit difficult to be around though."
Her lips curled up, and as she closed the door behind her, he heard her say, "How cute. 'Difficult.'"
Akito sat alone in the room, slightly jumping as the door squealed open. Looking to his left he saw the familiar void of clothing his eyes became accustomed to when seeing the greyed hair and the sadistically content smile his "friend" wore indefinitely. "How is the little worm recovering," her tone belittled him in all the ways the word entitled. Glancing away he refused to look at her finding comfort in his scarred, bandaged hand. Her smile didn't falter in his reluctance, she simply walked over to him, and placing her hand on his shoulder began to squeeze. Increasing in pressure as the monitor beeped away.
By the time his face began contorting in pain, the monitor beeped rapidly, and he started leaning forward before finally breathing out, "I'm fine."
A few seconds passed before she let go, "That's a bit depressing," she smirked mocking every ounce of pain he was in.
"I'm glad to know that my pain entertains you," the sarcasm within his voice slowly dripped from his tone.
It, however, did not go unnoticed by Karasuba. Her smirk quickly converted back to the inhuman grin that constantly adorned her ruthless, albeit beautiful, face. Her fingers slowly wrapped themselves on his shoulder again in an attempt to harm him further but before she was able, the hospital room's T.V. sparked to life and a new voice drowned out the metronome of the heart monitor, "Akito Otonashi, it's a definite pleasure to welcome you into the game!"
Akito looked at the T.V. to see that on the screen was a bespectacled man smothered in the purest of white he had seen, which appeared to have slithered its way to his spiked hair. He looked on in confusion as he slowly muttered to himself, "What the fuck?"
"Now, now, Akito Otonashi what kind of language is that to use in this moment. You should be ecstatic knowing that you have been chosen to be an Ashikabi in these wonderful times," the man screeched through the room and screen.
"Who the hell are you," he questioned in his befuddled state.
The man looked slightly down trodden as he answered Akito, "Well I'm, of course Minaka Hiroto, the leader and guider of the little birds that are within the Sekirei Plan," he smiled as he continued to speak stroking his ego as he continued, "The Sekirei Plan, or 'S' Plan as I fondly call it, is a large event kept in secret that all Sekirei participate in so they can fight for their destined Ashikabi and ascend to the heavens!" His grand explanation left Akito within his mind; processing the information he was given. "Oh Karasuba, I'm happy you found your Ashikabi but I was so sad to find it out too. I had an Ashikabi all picked out for the Discipline Squad, but it must have been fate to bring Akito to us as the squad's new Ashikabi."
In a quick sober moment Akito spoke up, "What's the Discipline Squad?"
"Oh, well it's none other than the group of Sekirei that keep all the other Ashikabi and little birds from being too rowdy, and disrupting what fate has brought them. And as the Squad's Ashikabi you have the honor of working for us at-"
Minaka was quickly cut off, "Fuck any and all of that," Akito leaped from the bed and began screaming at the screen, "There isn't any fucking way I'll work for the torturous hell hole that is… whatever it is forcing 108 people to fight for the person that they have come to love and care for only for their hearts ripped to be out when losing in an asinine competition only for the entertainment and experiments of a narcissistic sociopath," Akito took a deep breath as his hate filled rant fueled him, "So if you have any thoughts of me working for you now then I'll make it very clear: Take your job and the erection that is your ego, and fuck off!" He forcefully yanked the cord from the wall as the T.V. quickly shut off with a stunned Minaka slowly fading away into the black screen.
Akito panted slowly as he tried to catch his breath from his tirade. Karasuba was in utter shock. In the short time she had within their meetings she had learned that he was spineless in some sort of fight, but the rant she witnessed was what she wanted. To see a calm and spineless man, become forceful in some fashion. Her grin slipped back into a smirk as she placed her hand on his shoulder and clenched until he was at her mercy. He writhed in pain until she released him and made her way to the door. "Congratulations," her voice sauntered to his ears, "you are now a loud and annoying man in which I must keep alive."
She quickly made her way out of the room and shut the door forcefully cracking the small window the door held. Akito slowly stood from the ground and rubbed his shoulder tenderly. As he made his way back into the bed the door opened to reveal a slender pale hand dropping a bag onto the floor before shutting the door and leaving. Akito looked at the bag before shuffling his way off of the bed and over to his "gift." He looked inside to see his clothes freshly washed and free of the stains that had been there before. Akito quickly began to claw at his clothes before removing his hospital and began putting his clothes on and placing his keys and wallet back into his pockets from the paper confines. He grabbed the bag and as he was about to leave the room he looked to the clock on the wall to see that it read 12:00.
He gripped at the knob and his bandaged hand twitched at his side as he looked to his feet. Closing his eyes he gently whispered, "Happy Birthday, Akito."
I'm sorry that this the shortest chapter yet but I felt that the way it ended was the best way I could have finished it. Also any criticisms on whether the characters aren't staying true to how they are is greatly encouraged. I really want to write the characters as closely as I can to how they really are. Also this story flows in tandem with four others and I was wondering if you would want me to start on those or to wait until this one is done. Let me know in the poll.
