Serenity Angel (with hammer and chisel in hand and multiple large blocks of cement in front of her; Works hard on breaking one that has O.F inscribed on side. Mumbling): Stupid writer's blocks and their stupid largeness and their stupid being everywhere you don't need them to be… (Keeps mumbling as Akimi comes over looking at S.A. while she's working on the cement block)
Akimi: Hey S.A.!
Serenity Angel: Hey Aki-Chan. (stops what she's doing and looks at Akimi.) Ahhh, so instead of keeping it the one week, you decided to keep the hairstyle till the next time I updated?
Akimi: Yeah… I liked it a lot. I might as well grow it out!
Serenity Angel (still working with hammer and chisel, smiling): That's good. And has Axel been bothering you about it?
Akimi: Well… (Looks over to Axel who's in a corner with duck tape over his mouth, scowl on his face, and arms crossed over his chest) He's currently following the 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all' policy.
Serenity Angel: Heh... Was it by choice?
Akimi: Well it was either that or Yukina's new BFF.
Serenity Angel: Glad to see him finally taking me seriously. (Nods head in approval and then goes back to working on block with renewed vigor.)
Akimi (Suddenly curious): Umm… Serenity, what are you doing?
Serenity Angel: Well, (wipes sweat off brow) I'm working on trying to break my multiple writers' blocks, starting with this one since it's the closest block to me.
Akimi: And how's that workin' out for you?
Serenity Angel (looking at block): Not so well… I think it's time to go bring out the heavy artillery. (Gets up from seat) Hey Aki, you and Riku can handle the disclaimer while I go look for something… (Walks out of room in to next and sounds of searching for something can be heard)
Akimi: Ok… Hey Riku! (Riku, who is playing video games with Sora, looks up) Serenity wants us to do the disclaimer.
Riku: Ok. (Puts the game on pause which aggravates Sora a little)
Sora: I was just about to beat you!
Riku: How can you do that when I'm in the lead? (Walks over to Akimi while Sora tries to think of a good comeback. Akimi smiles when Riku has reached his destination)
Akimi: You want to go first, or should I?
Riku: Ladies first.
Akimi: Ok… (Clears throat) Serenity Angel does not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters-
Riku: Except for Akimi and her world of Japan…. Hey, where is Serenity?
Akimi: She went looking for something. (Suddenly hear series of crashes and an 'aha'. S.A. comes out holding a big load of boxes and the marking on the boxes makes Akimi and Riku's eyes bulge.)
Akimi: Serenity… What is that?
Serenity Angel: Exactly what it looks like. Great big boxes of explosives. Stocked up the stash when I bought fireworks for 4th of July. (Sets them down and begins setting them up around each block.) (To Readers) Ok guys before you go off and read the long over due chapter, I just want you to know that for the first time ever, there is a song dedicated to this chapter. In fact it's the name of the chapter. I felt that it really tied into this one and I hope you will listen to it while you're reading. The song is called 'About Her' by Malcolm Mclaren. If you are a fan of the Kill Bill Movies like myself, you'll know that this song is from Kill Bill Vol. 2. Well guys hope you enjoy the chapter (stands up and dusts off hands) I need to go and find a roll of wire to set this thing off. (walks off to go find one)
Riku: I don't think this will end well…
Akimi: Wanna go find a safe place to hide?
Riku: Yeah, let's do that. (Pulls up chapter as he walks away)
Normal P.O.V.
She couldn't believe she had decided to bring them back to Akimi's apartment. She didn't hear when she had given out the invitation during their awkward moment of silence. She didn't even hear when they had accepted. She had just left her question unasked and unanswered (for now) and had just realized that they were walking in the general direction of Akimi's apartment complex. She had the sneaking suspicion that it was to make sure that she didn't faint or anything of the sort on her own way there. She was actually grateful they had accepted if it was for that reason.
There was no way in hell she was going to the cops with this one or she'd be in the loony bin for sure. Plus, she couldn't help but trust them, though common sense was yelling at her not to do that so easily. But here they were only a few blocks away.
She was supposed to be at Akimi's for the night anyway, it would raise her mother's suspicion if she went home without her belongings. Yeah, not exactly something she wanted to do. And she didn't exactly want to spend the night alone in Akimi's apartment either. They had been silent the whole way, looking like abnormally quiet and dejected teenagers to the random passerby.
"You're sure her parent's won't mind?" Sora had asked after awhile.
He was actually a little ahead of her, her having pointed out when to turn on which street corner. She didn't even hear when he had asked that question the first time. Had she even mention something about Akimi's current parental and living situation back in the alley? She shook her head of the thought looking ahead of her. They were going to find out soon anyway…
"She doesn't have parents." Kimiyo said softly, almost automatically.
At first there was no reaction, but then Sora stopped suddenly, causing Kimiyo to stop suddenly too. He turned to look at her so fast, she would've sworn he caught whiplash. Kairi and Riku had turned to look at her too.
"What?" Sora asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. She had then realized that she really hadn't even mentioned the fact, even after all they had told her. She hadn't told them anything about Akimi really. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly looking at them sympathetically.
"Akimi's an orphan. Has been so since the day she was born." She said, and almost instantly regretted the last line when she saw the look on Sora's face.
It was heartbreaking and almost had her going into tears again. They had stopped in front of a small park with a couple on benches. She sighed walking over to the nearest bench, taking a seat. She ran her hand over her face before looking at the other three again, wrapping her arms around her elbows.
"She should be the one to tell you this." Kimiyo said in a warning tone looking at them. They kept silent. She was right; it should be Akimi telling them this… But she wasn't here and this couldn't be ignored.
"It would be better if we found out at least something for now." Sora said quietly.
She sighed knowing he had more of an advantage in the 'what's fair' category than her. She knew Akimi for years, they didn't. She sighed again, wrapping her arms around herself tighter.
"When I first met Akimi, she was just returning to the orphanage after what she called 'another failed attempt of the foster system.'" She said looking ahead but not really seeing anything. They had moved closer to Kimiyo, Kairi venturing to sit next to the girl while the boys stood up.
"Imagine being a five year old… and another five year old saying that to you. On the first day of school too… Not something you expect to hear when you're trying to make a friend…" She said a sad smile faintly lining the corners of her lips.
"She said they found her on the doorstep with nothing but a name tacked to the pink blanket she was wrapped around in. Said she couldn't have been older that a few hours or so." She said, the ghost of a dark chuckle passing through her lips and into the night sky. Sora furrowed her eyebrows, a frown becoming a more prominent part of his facial features.
"Since I've known her she was being bounced from foster home, back to the orphanage to foster home again… She grew up thinking that all adults were liars and that no one gave a damn… That was until her last foster parent." She said. They looked at her then, her face set as if remembering a distant memory.
"Chihiro Hatsuyo. Akimi had been in the orphanage for a longer period than usual before she came along. So long that she thought she was gonna stay in there until she would age out of the system since she was one of the older children. And I dunno how many foster homes Aki was in before Chihro's, but I know it was more than what you could count on two hands at one time. So it's safe to assume that Aki wasn't the most… forthcoming with Chihiro. And that's putting it lightly.
"She'd had so many bad experiences before that she was determined to stop it before it could happen again. She wouldn't let Chihiro get close to her at all. Aki basically kept a very thick, almost impenetrable wall between her and herself, much thicker than the usual one she kept up. But we soon found out that Chihiro wasn't one to give up so easily. It had taken a while, but Chihiro manage to do what no adult in her life had ever done: show that there were good older figures in this world.
"Things were going really well between them and what was months turned into a year and change. It looked so well that one day Akimi told me how she thought Chihiro was going to adopt her. I'd never seen her so happy to have a parental figure in her life: A true one… She finally had stability and a real home… But it never had the chance to last." Kimiyo said, the last part coming out quietly. The others still heard it however and threw their gaze her way.
"I remember that day all too clearly: We were just about to head home from working on a class project after school, just joking and messing around when one of the staff had suddenly called Akimi back. We had waited for her while she talked to him. Not even a minute later she took off running, looking panicked. When we had caught up with her, she was on the verge of tears…" Kimiyo said pausing, shaking her head slightly before returning her gaze to see nothing.
"It had turned out that Chihiro was in a horrible traffic accident and she was in the hospital, alive, but barely. After that she had been touch and go for a while, only just holding on, but Akimi knew she was suffering… We all did. It was about the fourth or fifth day after the accident and Akimi went into her hospital room alone to talk to her… A few hours later she… she let go. One of the strongest women I know for holding on that long and being as injured as she was…
"It was a blur after that… until it came time for the reading of Chihiro's Will. It had turned out that the day that Chihiro had gotten caught in the accident was the same day the adoption papers were finalized. Chihiro had basically left everything to Akimi in her Will and they gave Akimi a choice: She could either be put back in the system or live by herself without a guardian and her social worker acting as an overseer until they see fit that she was okay under such terms. Akimi chose the second option, and not because she couldn't stand the system anymore… but because no one could ever take on the place or ever be what Chihiro was to her… She would rather live alone then under another person's roof when they were not and could never be her parents... She's been living alone ever since then…" Kimiyo said ending quietly and looking at all three of them, but letting her eyes which were currently unreadable, rest on Sora.
They trio all stood or sat there, digesting the information they had just received. Sora was trying his hardest to let the information sink in, but for some reason, it seemed like too much to do so. She had been living alone this whole time? Without a family, whether it was a real one or not? Besides the fact that they were forced to grow up differently, he thought that she would have at least had someone to watch over her here. Even though what Kimiyo had just told them and what he had seen himself while following her around was much more substantial than what the dreams ever showed him, they made her life seem like his in almost every way… except different at the same time, though not in the way Kimiyo had just told him.
At that same moment, he looked down at the ground and let his fists clench horribly tight at the realization of what he was doing. He was still letting the dreams form who she was even though he now knew for himself that she was a real person and quite possibly… no more than likely different from himself. She wasn't just some figment of his imagination. Didn't any given time since he'd been here fortify that? Or just now in the alley? Was that the reason she was taken away so easily? Because he still couldn't believe she was real?
Kimiyo had stood up watching Sora as he clenched his fist tighter, his knuckles growing whiter than should be possible. He was angry before, but what ever he was thinking now had him beyond pissed. She was scared for what she was about to do, because he seemed so volatile at the moment, but she ventured to put a hand on his shoulder which made him jump. He looked up at her and she saw that tinge of anger on his face before he made it melt away into a mask that was clearly unreadable. She looked at him sympathetically but didn't say anything. She just started to walk slowly back toward the sidewalk knowing that they would follow her. She decided to stay quiet for the rest of the trip so they could sort out what she had just told them in their own ways. She had lived through this practically her whole life. They had only just begun.
They walked a few more blocks, and turned a few more corners before they soon found themselves walking up the steps to a large building about four stories high. Kimiyo led them inside this building up many flight of steps, stopping on the fourth floor itself. They walked down the hallway stopping three doors away from the staircase, Kimiyo pulling a key chain with multiple keys on it.
"Akimi, each gave us a key when she was given the apartment. She gave it to us in case of emergencies or if we just wanted to come over here whether she's home or not or whatever else is the case." Kimiyo said, answering the unasked question that arose when she had pulled out the keychain.
"You tend to keep saying 'we'..." Riku found himself mumbling before he could prevent it, but stopped off short when he actually noticed what he was saying. Kimiyo had found the key she was look for and was currently pushing it in to the door handle when she let out a short involuntary 'heh' before turning around and giving Riku a small sad smile.
"I do, don't I?" she said before turning around and pouring her attention into the lock.
"Akimi's generally a friendly person despite her past experiences, and is on sociable terms with most of the student body with the exception of a certain few, mostly girls who are completely idiotic anyway, but she has five friends, and that number includes me, who she is extremely close to." Kimiyo said, finally getting the door and swinging it open, letting the others walk into the dark apartment before herself.
"They are Haruki Shouyouka, Kosuke Hatake, Seiji Imarai, Ichiri Yoshiwa, and myself, Kimiyo Fusaki." She said closing the door behind herself, taking off her shoes and flipping on a switch. The dark apartment suddenly became filled with light, revealing what it kept hidden before.
"This is Akimi's apartment..." she said slipping pass them and coming to stand in front of the the trio in the living room and looking around the space with them.
"I don't remember if I had said this, but you're all welcome to stay the night… Akimi would have wanted you to." She said getting their attention and stopping Sora from saying anything else when it looked like he was about to protest.
"Umm… Well, just make yourself at home… I don't know if you've been here long, but if you had previous arrangements and want to contact them…" she said, letting the sentence hang as she gestured to a phone on a small table next to the left arm of the couch.
"Yuko… We should call her and tell her what happened." Kairi said looking Sora and Riku, who looked back at her.
Kimiyo reached for the phone and once the boys had turned back to her she threw it over to Riku who caught it easily.
"You guys can make the call and I'll go some bedding and stuff out." Kimiyo said pointing to a hallway while walking backwards.
She then turned on her heel and disappeared into the hallway without another word. They looked at each other before Kairi pulled out the piece of paper Yuko had handed them before they had left the shop. Riku punched the number into the phone and passed it off to Sora. The conversation wasn't exactly the best one they had so far: Yuko at least heard them out, Watanuki on the other hand… Well it was just a good thing that Yuko didn't have a lot of neighbors or else they would have been complaining about the yelling, which was mostly on part of Yuko's arguing with Watanuki. After the initial yelling had subsided, Sora put the phone on speaker and set it between the three of them explaining the current situation they were in now, as well as a decision of what to do next.
They had decided that since it was already too late in the evening, it was best for the three to stay over at Akimi's apartment for the night. They would come back to the shop tomorrow as soon as possible in order for them to contact everyone else back in Disney Castle and tell them what had happened as well as come up with a true plan of action. Sora hung up the phone after that, putting it back on its receiver. The three looked at each other before sighing simultaneously, the events of the night finally bringing on its effects. There was just a beat of silence as the three looked at their new surroundings.
"Umm… I'll go see if she needs help." Sora said suddenly before turning and walking down the hallway himself.
The hallway led to four doors: one door at the opposite end of the hallway, two on the right side and one on the left. The two doors on the right side were spread apart, one being closer to the door at the opposite end of the hallway and the other being directly opposite of the door on the left side. The door next to the one on the other side of the hall was open with light shining out and Kimiyo's shadow visible on the wood floors. Sounds of her struggling with some package could be heard even from where he stood. Sora walked down the hallway to where Kimiyo was, ready to offer his assistance. When he passed the first two doors however, he stopped dead in his tracks, an unexplainable sensation spreading eerily down his spine. The sensation ebbed slowly away from his spine and to his right hand, tingling in one spot continuously on the back of it. He looked slowly to his right, the door he was sure was closed before now slightly ajar and pulling him to explore the unknown. Before he could even register what he was doing, he found his right hand pushing the door further open and flipping on the light switch to reveal a bedroom. It didn't take long to realize that the room belonged to Akimi.
The walls were pale gold, a few posters and pictures that captured friends and special occasions in a single shot decorating them. There was a polished wooden desk, the color of dark chocolate, near the door complete with a comfy looking office chair. The desk had a laptop resting on its surface as well as random magazines and papers neatly stacked into little piles. There were also a big, light brown candle and a couple of picture frames, the people in those pictures smiling warmly at whoever had taken the photograph and hand built shelves over the desk that was filled with books and random little toys and collectibles. There was another office chair on the other side of the desk that looked like it was as comfy as the first and three plump bean bag chairs one white, two cream colored in a remote corner of the room. There was a closet on the east wall, the beanbag chairs taking root on the left of it, the doors being the same color as the desk and wide open to reveal Akimi's choice of style. There was a big dresser the same color of the desk and closet doors on the other side of the room and next to it, opposite the door, was a window with cream colored drapes and underneath it was fairly large bed with a full bed set: Two large pillows in cream pillowcases, two medium ones in white and two small ones in gold. There was a pale gold coverlet on the length of the bed and a lighter sheet rested on the foot of the bed. There was also a wicker chest the same color as the rest of the wooden furniture in the room and a small table next to the head of the bed. There was a lamp, a candle exactly like the one on the desk, two picture frames and something else that caught Sora's interest.
He walked over to the little table slowly and found a long pad with an MP3 player lying on top of it. He took the MP3 player off the book and picked it up gently looking at it. It looked like a drawing pad.
"I see you found Akimi's room… and one of her hobbies." Sora heard a voice say that made him jump and almost drop the book. He looked back to the door to find Kimiyo staring back at him with two boxes in hand that had pictures of mattresses on them. She set them down near the door and walked over to him, her gaze on the book.
"Hobbies?" Sora asked with quiet curiosity, bypassing the fact that he was technically trespassing. She let out a slight chuckle.
"Yeah. Akimi loves doing a lot of random little constructive stuff like this whenever she's bored to keep herself busy. She's actually pretty good at it, though she believes otherwise…" Kimiyo said as she came to stand by Sora.
"She always has some a few old drawing pads around. Chihiro, among on other things, was an interior designer. Hence Akimi's room… So she gave Akimi a few pads to do whatever she wanted with it. Akimi has them so dog-eared and eraser-smudged that it's a wonder how they're still in one piece." Kimiyo said as she looked at the book in Sora's hands. When she set her gaze on the book she blinked and gave it a puzzled look. She took the book out of Sora's hands and looked at it in her own.
"Hmm… That's weird… This one looks completely new." She said turning the drawing pad over in her hands a couple of times before turning it to the front side again and flipping it open to the first drawing.
Kimiyo's eyebrows furrowed further at the first drawing while Sora's eyes widened. It was a rather large drawing of a symbol, but not just any symbol: it was the same symbol that would appear on his hand in the dreams… only it was the other half.
"Hmm… this one must not be finished yet." Kimiyo muttered before turning the page to reveal a very detailed drawing of Disney Castle itself. Not the world, but the actual Castle, from the front lawns to every tower that was built. Kimiyo had murmured approvingly at it before turning the page again. Sora watched as each drawing revealed someone, somewhere, or something he knew and, between Akimi and him, only he was supposed to know: the King and Queen, Lady Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Max, a gummi ship Chip and Dale, Radiant Gardens, Leon, Yuffie, Areith, Tifa, Cloud, Cid, Merlin, Yen Sid, and the three good fairies were just some of the people he had met on his journeys and in this book. Some of the drawings were complete while others still needed that finishing touch.
"This girl needs to stop eating so much sugar." Sora heard Kimiyo mutter while they were looking at a certain picture.
It was one of the unfinished drawings, but Sora could tell from anywhere that it was a papou fruit. Kimiyo probably thought it was just random unfinished shape with a leaf on the top. She turned the page again and Sora took a sharp intake of breath.
"Hmm… this place looks pretty." Kimiyo said as she lightly skimmed the surface of the page with her finger. It was a detailed drawing of a beach at what could possibly have been at sunset, a beach Sora knew all too well. Kimiyo turned the page again to show an overview of an island paradise.
"Destiny Islands." Sora thought as he looked at the picture. Sora suddenly got the feeling that if they looked any farther in the drawing pad that Kimiyo wouldn't like what she saw. He looked at her and moved a hand toward the drawing pad.
"Kimiyo, I think we should-" Sora had started but it was too late. She had already turned to the next page and he heard her gasp in shock. He looked at and if his eyes could widen anymore they would've fallen out of their sockets, for on the page was a fourteen year old version of himself and Kairi, and a fifteen year old Riku smiling at the two observers warmly and without a care in the world.
"No…No way… How…" Kimiyo said shaking her head, her mind not accepting what she was seeing, when suddenly, something Akimi had said came to mind.
"Kimi… I haven't…There's something that you don't know."
"Oh my God..." Kimiyo found herself whispering in disbelief, her grip on the drawing pad going slack. It fell onto the floor with a soft thud and Sora looked at her. Kimiyo stared at the wall in front of her, but nothing truly held her gaze.
"She knew... She knew all along… That's what was bothering her all this time… what she was hiding…" Kimiyo said in disbelief as she sunk down to sit on the bed. She ran a hand through her hair before letting her face fall in both hands.
"But how?" Kimiyo whispered, still incredulous.
"Dreams." Sora said as realization hit him. Kimiyo picked her head up and looked at him.
"She… she must have had them too… All this time…" Sora said. He bent down to pick the book back up and looked carefully at the picture.
"Why didn't she just tell us?" Kimiyo said out loud, not really looking for an answer as she ran a hand through her hair again.
"She didn't want to worry you… Any of you." Sora said quietly. Kimiyo looked back at the boy to find his gaze on the picture they had stopped at.
"She didn't tell you about the dreams because she didn't want to worry you… especially if it turned out to be nothing…And more than likely she believed that you wouldn't understand… not something like this…" Sora said as his left thumb ran over the edge of the drawing it occupied.
"How…" Kimiyo started but Sora answered what she wanted to ask.
"Because I did the same thing." Sora said as he looked up and ran a hand through his spikes, taking a seat next to Kimiyo. He sighed and put the book back on its place on the bedside table and sighed.
"Weird things have been happening to me since I was fourteen. I've kinda gotten used to it… as well as a little paranoid… but that's another story. We've kind of just gotten back to normal…I really didn't want to worry them… though, I guess my actions when it came to the dreams didn't exactly help… But I wanted my friends to be safe no matter what..." Sora said with his head down.
Things went quiet for a moment, the two sitting in silence. Kimiyo didn't look at him but stared at the floor beneath her. She had wanted to deny what Sora had said bout not being able to understand the dreams, but she knew he was right, no matter how much she didn't want him to be when it came down to it.
"I know I don't know Akimi… and obviously I doubted the fact that she was real… But I know better now… And I want her to be safe no matter what… No doubt, it seems a little weird… but… it's just this feeling I get, even though I really don't know her… And I know it won't go away…" Sora said, leaving out the part where he was quickly finding the thought of it ever going away increasingly unpleasant.
"I'll bring her back… I promise…" Sora said in a whisper, repeating the promise he had made earlier that evening and now bringing back the one word question that had popped into her head before.
"Where?" She found herself blurting out before she could stop herself. She sighed and refused to look Sora's way and let the hands that had fallen to her knees ball into fists.
Sora looked at her, confused by the question.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked once the silence had stretched too long for his liking. Kimiyo didn't answer him at first, still keeping her gaze down on the floor. She bit her lip before raising her head a bit, still keeping her gaze away from Sora.
"When you told me why you three were here…" She started quietly. "You said… You said that you had to take her back to that place called Disney Castle… But what happens after that?" She asked just as quietly as she had started slowly looking toward him.
His eyes widened once he realized what she was asking and he looked away from her in thought. In all honesty, Sora had not thought about what would happen after they brought Akimi to Disney Castle. He hadn't really planned that far after he found out she was real due to the fact the he was still dealing with the information. He looked back at her after a few moments of thinking, coming up with hopefully what would be seen as a good answer.
"I… I really don't know what happens after that… We'll just have to see what the future can bring…" he answered just as quietly as she had asked him.
"But…" he picked up again after a beat of silence. "It will be Akimi's decision of what to do after we bring her back to the Castle and everything that needs to be done is done... And no matter what I'll respect that decision." Sora said with true sincerity in his voice.
Kimiyo looked at the boy, and for the second time that night, was overwhelmed by the honesty in his eyes. After a few more moments of silence he stood up and took the book in hand and looked back at Kimiyo.
"I guess we should tell Riku and Kairi." He said quietly.
She looked up at him and nodded, standing up and walking out the room with him, taking off the light and shutting the door behind them. She picked up the boxes she had left at the door and took them with her. They walked into the living room in absolute silence, startling Kairi and Riku who were having their own quiet conversation on the couch. They looked back at the two and quickly noted the looks that were held on each face.
"What's wrong?" Kairi asked first, standing up to look at them.
Sora looked from Kairi's and Riku's faces, to the book and then looked back at Kimiyo. He sighed before looking back at his childhood friends and moving toward them. This was turning out to be the longest night he'd ever experience and it didn't look anywhere near finished.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He couldn't tell whether the current situation was dream or reality, his brain having blurred the line considerably a long time ago, though he leaned toward the former. He knew he wasn't alone in the room that was darker than the blackest ink ever created. He could hear the rustle of multiple black cloaks as they circled him in the room like vultures to a freshly deceased buffalo. He felt as though there was a spotlight on him and only him as he turned every which way to try and catch his unwanted company that chose to be heard but remain unseen.
They moved too fast for his eyes to even try and attempt to process, and he knew in his proverbial gut that they were mocking him. He turned round and round try to catch at least one but it felt like he was turning through sand. After his last attempt there was a sudden sound, low at first, but rising in pitch until it was full blown unison of maniacal laughter.
"You were too late." One said in a mocking tone. The others began to repeat the sentence like a mantra, which made anger bubble in Sora.
"Where is she? Give her back!" He yelled out into the darkness. They only laughed at him and kept their continuous movement.
"Sora…" He heard a weak voice call.
"Akimi?" The anger drained from him instantly and his heart almost stopped and he looked around franticly, trying to find where her voice came from.
"Akimi?!?!" Sora called him again but he was only met with laughter.
"Don't bother trying to find her." Another voice that was different from the one before said.
"She's not there." Said another voice and then another mantra began.
"You didn't protect her… You failed her… " They began to say at the same time, the statements weighing thickly in the air and beginning to sound like steel nails scratching a chalkboard. Sora covered his eyes in an attempt to drown out the sound, falling to his knees and screwing his eyes shut.
"Shut up!" He screamed, but the cry was weak against the united voices.
Laughter began to mix with the different mantras and suddenly something felt very, very wrong.
"You were too late!" A strong, malicious male voice yelled.
Sora opened his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice that was too close for comfort. They widened considerably when a dark shadow suddenly separated Sora from the spotlight and he twisted his upper body around to see a hooded figure with a sword in each hand, the blades looking like sinister red shafts of light. It was at that sudden point that Sora realized he was in the worst possible scenario ever: One of the swords were aimed at his chest and there was no way to stop it or move out of the way in time.
Sora had closed his eyes and braced himself for an impact that never came. He waited a few moments more on baited breath for some sort of pain, but nothing came.
"Sora?" He heard a concerned voice whisper to him.
He opened his eyes to find his own face surrounded by brown locks considerably longer than his own staring down at him, head tilted to the side and features stained with worry. Sora's eyes widened greatly and he blinked his eyes only to find the face had quickly changed to Kimiyo's, which was laced with the same worry the other one had held before.
"Sora, are you alright?" Kimiyo asked.
Sora blinked a couple more times before sitting up and rubbing his eyes to make sure the scene (or people) before him wouldn't change again. He looked around, remembering that he was in Akimi's apartment, as well as all the events from yesterday.
After explaining to Kairi and Riku what Sora had stumbled upon (his choice of words) in Akimi's room and what it meant, they decided to wait till morning to talk it out, too tired from all that had happened already to start another discussion that would just get them going in circles again. It was decided that the girls would take Akimi's room and the boys would sleep in the living room on air mattresses. And now here Sora found himself, with the couch pushed up against one wall and on one of the air mattresses it took forever to inflate because someone (coughsoracough) kept messing with the switch on the pump.
"You look like you were having a bad dream." She said when he hadn't answered her. She straightened up and looked down at him, her head still tilted and worry still immanent.
"More like a deserved nightmare…" Sora mumbled low as to not let Kimiyo hear.
She did anyway but decided to hold back her comment. After all, she didn't know how alike Akimi and Sora were, but she knew for sure that it was rare for Akimi to be a happy go lucky morning person. Instead she took the half dead, half smiley approach, though more often than none she was a 'to hell with the sun and early hours' person. She watched as he lazily scratched the back of his head and looked over to Riku, who was on the other air mattress a foot or two away still sleeping soundly. He just sighed and stood up bringing his coversheet with him. He turned to Kimiyo and gave her a sheepish grin as if his previous comment was never said and then did a salute, one hand still wrapped in the covers.
"Private Sora up and reporting for duty!" He said and then suddenly yawned after saying the statement. She chuckled at him and gave him a small smile.
"Not as up as we would hope." She stated as she walked backwards a little and walked into the kitchen.
He followed her, the aroma of breakfast hitting him instantly as he took one step through the doorframe. He took a seat at the small table in the kitchen and looked around, smiling at how cozy and quaint the room looked and felt despite the modern style and bustling sounds of a waking metropolis beyond the window.
"Doesn't feel like we're in a city, does it?" Kimiyo said. Sora turned his head from looking out the window to looking at Kimiyo. She had her back turned to him with tending to the contents on the stove.
"Chihiro designed the house to be that way: a real family home that fits conveniently in the small space of an apartment, though this place is bigger than the normal apartments here in Tokyo." Kimiyo said as she flipped a frying pan with a pancake in it. Sora smiled at the prospect and began looking around again, noting that someone was missing.
"Where's Kairi?" Sora asked as he turned around to look back in the living room.
"The shower. You should wake Riku up soon as well, breakfast is almost ready." Kimiyo said depositing the pancake from the frying pan in a plate already stacked high with them.
The sight would usually have him with is mouth watering, but he couldn't help to be resigned to a fairly large smile. It was quiet for the most part after that, the sound of distant running water, sizzling of a frying pan, and the low hum of a radio filling the space.
"Sora?" He turned to look at Kimiyo at the sound of her voice, totally unaware that he had been spacing out before. She had her back to him, still at the stove, but looked to be cleaning up something from there.
"Yes?" He questioned when Kimiyo didn't say anything else.
"Do you remember when I told you that besides me, there were four others who are close to Akimi?" She asked, wiping down the stove top, still keeping her back turned to him.
"Yeah, I remember." He said keeping his eyes trained on her with his undivided attention.
She had kept to the task in front of her for another moment stopping with a sudden sigh and turning to look at Sora, determination strong on her features.
"I think that they should know." She said with firm assuredness.
Sora blinked once, his own face suddenly blank and devoid of any emotion that would give way to an answer to her question.
"How much?" He asked.
He knew who and what she meant, what she was asking for. The only unknown was to what extent was the truth going to be told. Telling Kimiyo was a risk itself, but necessary due to what she had witnessed, and there was absolutely no way in hell for what she saw to ever be talked around or covered up. She did a small shifting movement, her eyes looking to the left as she shrugged unable to look Sora in the eyes. She ran her tongue over her teeth with her mouth closed, a habit she had picked when she knew the person on the receiving end of any news she had to give might not possibly like it. She looked at him, the determined look set on her face again.
"Everything." She said. His eyes widened of their own accord and as he was about to say something when she cut him off.
"Please, just hear me out first. I know that you guys are trying to be incognito about this, but like I said they're close to her too. They deserve to know everything you told me. They care about her just as much as I do and when they notice on Tuesday morning that she's no where to be seen and I was the last one to see her… I know I won't be able to lie to them, to the rest of the school, yeah, but definitely not to them." She said in the seat across from him, having taken it sometime during her explanation.
He looked at her from across the table, knowing she was right, especially when she had mentioned that her friends also cared about her too; she had him right there. Just from watching them in the couple instances he saw them together, he knew how much truth that statement held. It wasn't fair to ask Kimiyo to lie for them, especially when the future was so vague at the moment; there was no telling how long it would take to get Akimi back, and one person could only be missing for so long before people begin to worry. It seemed with Akimi that time was cut back even further. He bit the right side of his lip lightly before sighing and opening his mouth, only for Kimiyo to stop him.
"Oh, and to add on to that request," She started looking at him with a small sense of uncertainty in her eyes.
"I want to tell them today… as in after we're finished with breakfast." She said and Sora blinked.
He contemplated whether that part of the request was unexpected or not. In actuality it really wasn't: sure that gave the word 'sudden' a whole new meaning, but they had to find out before they walked into school Tuesday morning to find one of their best friends missing with no explanation. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to get extra help when it came to coming up with a good excuse for the school faculty's need-to-know basis. He looked at Kimiyo again and gave her a half smile.
"It's fine. The sooner the better right? Like taking off a band-aid." Sora said shrugging and upgrading the smile to a sheepish one. Kimiyo couldn't help but let out a light-hearted chuckle and opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it slowly, shaking her head but keeping a smile on her face.
"What?" He asked, curious by the sudden action.
"I-it's nothing." She said as she got up and went to the cupboard, her back toward him.
"Come on… You can tell me." Sora said, even more curious.
"It's nothing really, it's just that…" She said and stopped her task before turning to look at Sora and tilt her head a little.
"That sounded like something Aki would say…" She said smiling. He looked at her and she blushed under the attention from the comment and turned away.
"And considering that there was no demonstration, like pulling off an imaginary band-aid or something, that states either one of two things: you two do have your differences, besides gender (this being stated in a lowered voice) or you, like Akimi, do not work well in the morning without food in your stomach." She said turning around with four cups she had fished from the cupboard with a smile on her face. As if in response to her statement Sora's stomach growled loudly causing both teens to look down at it. Sora looked back up with a sheepish grin only to find Kimiyo with a shocked expression on her face.
"I was actually going with the differences theory…" She stated after a beat of silence.
"This boy could eat you out of house and home in one try." They both turned their heads to see Riku, the owner of the voiced statement, leaning on the kitchen doorframe. The statement made Sora have a slight sweatsdrop moment. He wasn't that bad when it came to food.
"Don't look at me that way; you know you are that bad." Riku said as if reading Sora's mind, with a yawn that made his eyes close.
"Well, well arguing already?" Another voice said. Kairi walked into the room not a moment later, looking more refreshed than the two boys.
"Just getting to know each other." Kimiyo answered looking at Kairi before looking back at Sora smiling.
Kairi and Riku each took a place at the table after the exchange and Sora and Kimiyo explained the mornings (afternoon really) agenda, Kairi quicker to agreeing to the logic than Riku. They fell into a normal breakfast conversation afterwards, telling stories of their childhoods and comparing their homes and experiences. Kimiyo found herself growing fond of the trio quite immediately, almost as if they were a regular part of her own circle of friends. Their home sounded like a great place to live and their adventures seem to never end. Kimiyo even told of the antics Akimi and the gang had gotten themselves into and the all listened in earnest, especially Sora. It make Kimiyo make a mental promise to tell him as much about Akimi as possible, as long as it didn't trek into areas that should be told by Akimi herself.
After eating and talking to their stomachs content, Kairi and Kimiyo put the dirty dishes in the sink to be washed and Sora and Riku went to put away the air matteresses, which turned out to be a not so simple task for the two friends. Kimiyo had gone to check on them before washing the dishes and couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sight before her. Sora was trying to fit the still inflated bed into the small box and was failing miserably. Even though the original level of air had lowered since the boys had slept, the mattress still had some life left in it and refused to be put away in such a manner. What further slowed Sora's advances was the fact the he was trying to fit it into the box long way first. Riku was just watching him as if trying to prove some point that was between them. She walked over as Sora still struggled with the air mattress moving to the side closest to the kitchen and unscrewing the little cap that was placed there as well as pulling out the plug that was given as an extra precaution of stopping any air from coming out. The sudden rush or (rather lack-there-of) of air caused Sora to topple over the box and sent Riku and Kimiyo into a laughing fit. She showed them the process of putting the materials back in the boxes, still chuckling about Sora's earlier method.
"Okay, these go on the shelf where there are at least six or so others on it. We bought them on sale in bulk. Best purchase ever made." Kimiyo said as she sent the boys who each had a box in hand down the hall.
She had turned around when she saw that they had made it to the closet without incident. Just as she was about to enter the kitchen to where Kairi was waiting to help with the dishes the doorbell rang. Puzzled she detoured from her original route and went to answer the door, wondering who the visitor could be. She undid the two locks and without looking through the peephole she opened the door and let her eyes widened considerably when she saw the four people on the doorstep. The four people she hadn't even called yet. They were all grinning at the confused looking Kimiyo, who was wondering how they got pass without making any her hearing them coming from down the hall. This was certainly not good. She thought she would at least be able to prepare them for getting the shock of their lives.
"What the heck are you guys doing here?" Kimiyo asked right off the bat. She noted then that her subtlety was steadily going out the window.
"Morning to you too sunshine." Kouske said as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Morning. What are you guys doing here?" She asked again after getting the little pleasantry out the way. They all gave Kimiyo their own brand of the confused face for her weird behavior.
"What? We can't come over anymore to see our two best friends, who might I add, had a sleepover with out us?" Ichiri asked with a shrug.
"Especially when we know they're supposed to be having breakfast and should have some leftovers…" Kosuke mumbled which earned him a smack across the head.
"Oh, uh…" Kimiyo started not really able to come up with a coherent sentence.
She was really beginning to panic now that they were here, didn't know anything and didn't at least have it in their right mind to be ready for a life-altering meeting.
"Kimi, are you ok? Why are you just standing there? Aren't you going to let us in?" Haruki had asked. Uh… No! Not with boy Aki and his two friends walking round the apartment! Oh no… She had to at least warn them before they saw him.
"Um… guys can I talk to you outside for a min-" She had started while trying to push Kouske and Ichiri out the door. She didn't finish her sentence for she saw all four of her friends faces widen in astonishment.
"Hey Kimiyo, When…" Sora had started but never finished. Kimiyo had slowly looked behind her to find Sora standing there, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. She looked back at her friends to find them looking one step away from having their eyes fall out of their sockets. As she looked back and forth helplessly between where she stood one phrase couldn't help but pop up into her head, and that one phrase pretty much summed up the entire situation.
Oh shit.
To be continued
Serenity Angel (Unraveling wire from wheel that is connected to explosives while going behind a barricade) (To readers): Hey guys! So we're here at chapter 10! Woot Woot! Celebration time!!! So sorry it took so long though. My summer got unexpectedly busy, but hopefully I will be able to pump out another before school starts. Expecially with the help of one of man's best creations for people who like to see things explode. (Motions over to the setup of powerful explosives around the blocks of cement.)
Sora: Umm, Serenity, are you sure that this is safe to do, you know… IN DOORS?!?!
Serenity Angel: Hey, in this place it's perfectly fine! I've done it times and times before and this barricade (pats the barricade affectionately) is like Old Faithful. Has kept people who stood behind it safe for years.
Riku: But what about that side of the room?
Serenity Angel (Shrugging): I've been meaning to get the whole space redone anyway, but it's not like it's gonna do much damage to the room. (Puts on old war helmet and passes out some to the others.) Does everyone have a helmet and a place behind the barricade? (Everyone mumbles yes) Hey Axel! (Pops up from own mini barricade behind the big barricade) Care to do the honors? (Axel comes over and snaps his finger producing a small flame and putting it to the wire. The flame quickly makes its way over to the explosives.) Anyone that wants to keep their head attached to their bodies, I'd suggest that you take cover in 5…4…3…2… (Everyone ducks and big explosion, bigger than Fourth of July fireworks, ensues.)
Sora: (once explosions finished): Wow.
Serenity Angel: Yeah, imagine if it was the one with the extra kick to them. Now let's see the results (Once dust settles everyone looks over barricade to see the blocks looking like they were still in tact) Oh come on!!!!! And those were supposed to be the good explosives. That's the last time I buy from the Acme Corporation!
Akimi: Well… (Going over to the blocks of cement) looks like they're close to breaking apart and some of them have chunks missing.
Serenity Angel (sighing): Well we'll just have to see. (To the Readers) Until next time!!! (Waves) see ya!!!