Author's Note: It's been a long time since I last updated. I'm very sorry for making you wait, its just that I have short attention span and I am now hooked on Bleach fanfictions. So put down those pitchforks and torches! Here's a new chapter that was four months in the making.
Enjoy!
Standard Disclaimer applies here!
Chapter 13: Gone?
"Kurama-kun!"
When he heard that familiar voice desperately call out his name, Kurama snapped. He turned his head towards the direction of the door a little too sudden; one could almost hear a painful cracking sound. A strong sense of dread enveloped him, even if he wasn't sure if that voice was just a figment of his imagination.
Trusting his instincts rather than his reason, Kurama excused himself from the rest of his family, who was currently laughing at the joke his younger brother had just said.
"Is there something wrong?" Shiori asked, worry laced her voice. Seeing the anxious look Kurama tried to hide, the kind mother could not help but be concerned. She just knew her son all too well, even with that mask he put on, she can still see through it. Sadly, she couldn't do anything with him putting up that huge wall around himself. All she could do was to be patient until the day comes when he is ready to put down that wall.
"Nothing, mother. I just left something in the car. I'll be right back," with that, he zoomed out of the room, leaving two bewildered men and one wistful woman.
'I'll be waiting, son.'
Kurama rushed out of the room not exactly knowing what was bothering him. His gut just screamed that he needed to be some place else at the moment. What else can he do but follow it?
Walking warily down the empty corridor, he kept his eyes alert for anything out of the ordinary. He continued a little further only to stop on his tracks, eyes wide with fear.
And that's when he saw it. Rather, notsee it. About 5 meters ahead, Botan's fallen body was slowly disappearing, as if evaporating into thin air. For what seemed like years, Kurama just stood there, still not wanting to believe the image in front of him.
'Kurama-kun.'
It was that voice again that brought him back to reality. Finally letting the image sink in, Kurama's feet voluntarily moved under him. What first started out as baby steps ended as a mad dash towards Botan.
Had Kurama been a little more attentive, he would have noticed the door to Room 621 burst open. Six men in white scrubs passed by him as they frantically pushed the gurney with a ghostly pale blue-haired lady lying motionless in it. Another resident exited the room supporting a shaken dark-haired woman, who seemed too shocked from the events she had just seen.
All of Kurama's problems would have been solved that moment only if he had paid more attention to his surroundings like he usually does. Even as one resident moving the gurney bumped into him as they passed by, Kurama seemed unmoved. It seems like when it comes to her, other things seemed insignificant. Except for her.
At last, he finally reached her. He instantly bent down to her level, examining Botan's unknown condition. She was deathly pale, and he didn't like that. Her dainty feet were no longer in line of sight and her right leg was quickly following its fate. Seeing that more parts of her spiritual form disappear at a rapid pace, Kurama started to panic.
'This is bad,' he thought. He needed to calm down and think things through. If not, he might loose her. And he could not, would not risk that.
Forcing himself to settle down, a sensible thought entered his mind. Within seconds, he grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number. Ever since that meeting in Yukimura's Ramen House, Kurama had been in constant contact with Kuwabara to consult on Botan's situation every now and then.
After seven rings, Kurama started to become impatient once again. "Damn it, pick up! Pick up!" he cursed rather uncharacteristically. Another five rings had gone by until Kuwabara decided to answer it.
"Yo, Kurama! What's up, man?" he answered with a casual tone.
"What took you so long?" Kurama demanded, frustration apparent in his voice. Really, he looses his cool when it comes to her.
"Um, am I needed somewhere else? Oh my god! Did Eikichi run away again?!" Kuwabara went hysterical on the other line just thinking of his cat walking astray in the streets.
"Its not about Eikichi! I don't even know why he entered our conversation!" Kurama huffed. Kuwabara can really be clueless when it comes to more important things. "Its Botan, sh-she's d-disappearing!" he couldn't bring himself to say or even think of something bad happening to her.
"She's what?" Kuwabara started to sober up just hearing the fearful tone Kurama's voice held. It's rare to find Kurama in these kinds of moments and having to witness it for the first time, Kuwabara was utterly shocked.
"She's disappearing!" Kurama said louder than normal, but right now he didn't care if he was branded as a loony. "What can I do to bring her back?" he demanded, urging the other man to give him an answer at once.
"Wait, let me think," Kuwabara said on the other line, pausing a little while and gave way to an uncomfortable silence.
"Kuwabara! I don't have all the time in the world! Her body is –," Kurama was cut off with Kuwabara's boisterous voice.
"Aha! I remember. Remember that thing that binds her in this world?" the gruff man asked from the other line.
"You mean her necklace?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's it!" Kuwabara paused slightly, racking his brain for any knowledge that stuck in it from the times he read books about spirits and the outer-worldly spirits and creatures.
In reaction, Kurama ducked his hand into his pocket once again, feeling for the smooth surface of the amethyst gem. Grasping it tightly, Kurama tugged out the necklace from his pocket. "Got it," he simply replied, "Now, what next?"
"Transfer your ki into it, that should give her enough spirit energy to survive," he instructed with a serious tone.
Now clutching the jewel in both hands, his cellular phone nestled between his ear and shoulder, Kurama closed his eyes in concentration and let his own spirit energy flow into it. He was wiling to sacrifice every single drop of it if it would mean saving her life.
At first, he was uncomfortable doing the ki transfer. He felt small waves of electricity pulsing through his veins as he did so and became weaker by the second. It flowed to his fingers, making his spine tingle as a reaction.
He slowly opened his eyes, intent to see how Botan was doing. To his surprise, instead of gaining her spiritual body, the disintegration process increased even further. Bright particles replaced her once prostrate form as it danced around him. After a few seconds, these particles rounded together to form one flickering orb before it zoomed into the small pendant clutched in between Kurama's hands.
"Kuwabara?" Kurama asked as he stood from his kneeling form.
"Yeah?"
"What did you just make me do?" a monotonous tone had taken over leaving Kuwabara quite bewildered.
"Huh, why? Did something bad happened?" Kuwabara asked, scratching his head in the process, "I swear, I did exactly what Dr. Silverberg [1 wrote in his book on spirits and otherworldly beings. Let me check again, might have missed something."
Bad was an understatement. Just moments ago, he had become witness to Botan's disappearing act. And the undeniable feeling of self-reproach in his gut was making him queasy. He didn't exactly like the idea of being responsible for her current non-existence.
"Then can you explain to me why she disintegrated into thin air?" Kurama asked, obviously holding back the hostility he was starting to feel. The last thing he wanted was to yell at Kuwabara when he knew that he had offered them much help from the very beginning of this ordeal. But the waves of worry and distress flooding his senses wasn't exactly helping in toning down the sarcasm.
"She what? Disappeared you say?" Kuwabara panicked, "Wait, there must be something here in the appendix about disappearing souls. Hang in there, buddy!"
Within seconds, Kurama heard his friend humming an off-key tune from the phone, a sign that Kuwabara started his new research. Momentarily, he heard the distinct sound of flapping pages. Kurama started to get rather impatient by the minute. Not knowing made him vulnerable to un-welcomed emotions. He paced back and forth, hoping this would relieve his senses. A sudden dread enveloped him, making his knees buckle that he had to lean on the wall. By then, he saw it clearly, a realization – he didn't know how to handle the reality that Botan may be gone, forever.
He shook his head furiously, chastising himself for even pondering at those thoughts. Slowly, he let his free hand slide in his pocket where Botan's necklace was. When he felt the smooth surface of the jewel, he clutched it tightly like a life-line as if it would give him the courage to accept whatever the outcome of this whole situation, whether it be good or bad.
Surprisingly, warmth emanated from the treasured piece, the familiar warmth he felt whenever he was with Botan. Little by little, he pulled it out of his pocket only to be greeted by a peculiar sight. There in his palm, where the necklace rested, was the image of the amethyst pendant glowing in a purplish hue in time with his own heartbeat. At that, he seemed to grasp an understanding, knowing where Botan disappeared to. Heaving a sigh, releasing all the pent up pressure, he spoke to his frantic friend on the other line, "It's alright now, Kuwabara. I think I know now where she went. Thanks for the help."
"Hm?" the flipping sound of pages stopped, "Well, that's good. I think you can handle this even without me. Just give me a call anytime. Take care of her, Kurama." With that he hung up.
"Yes," Kurama whispered to himself, clutching the jewel tighter, "I will."
Dr. Mikamura, attending physician in Tokyo General Hospital and Sakura Daioh's doctor, rushed out of the room to transport her patient to the nearest operating room, leaving a distraught Ayame with one of the nurses. She had someone sedate the patient to keep her from flailing and thrashing about.
Now running along the seemingly deserted hallways of the sixth floor, with two interns pushing the gurney and three nurses trailing behind doing their best to catch up, she checked on the heart monitor making sure that she her patient did not reach the terminal state.
Not paying attention to anything but her patient, Dr. Mikamura stumbled a little bit from the force caused by a red-haired young man bumping into her. She would have yelled at the young delinquent reminding him that no running was allowed in the hallways, except for hospital staff, that is, but the heart monitor showed the patient's state turning for the worse, blood pressure dropping one notch closer to critical levels. She dismissed the young man's rude actions; she would just have to save her rage for another time for right now, she has a life to save.
As they neared the elevators, one of the nurses rushed forward to press the 'up' button. By the time the Dr. Mikamura's medical team arrived, an empty lift welcomed them to bring them to their destination.
When they reached the eight floor, the team turned to a corner to an awaiting operating room. Dr. Mikamura barked her instructions as she got prepped for a surgery to keep the young girl from having a heart attack.
The rest of her team laid the blue-haired patient to the operating table, ready and alert for further instructions from the doctor. Now with Dr. Mikamura by her patient, she looked at her medical team and said, "Okay, let's go save this girl's life." Everyone nodded in response.
"Scalpel," she instructed and the scrub nurse handed her the desired tool. One of the interns was intently watching the heart monitor for any changes in vital signs. When the scalpel was about an inch above the young girl's chest, the intern went wide-eyed as he noticed the patient's vitals recede back to normal levels.
"Wait, doctor!" he exclaimed.
Dr. Mikamura looked up to the green intern, "This better be good, Ouga-san, or I'll be sending you back to medical school just with a snap of my fingers."
The poor intern gulped loudly at the threat, but he continued quite nervously, "I-I think o-operation is unnecessary at t-this point."
"And why is that?"
"It seems that her vitals are all back to normal," he pointed out, motioning for the heart monitor above his head. With that, Dr. Mikamura studied the monitor of the said contraption and found that there was truth to the statement of her now terrified intern. She nodded at him, which caused the latter to sigh in relief, and pulled her mask to her chin for her to be able to speak clearly.
"I believe that you all heard him. No operation here, I'm afraid," she said, now placing the unused scalpel back to the tray, "Scrub out and bring Ms. Daioh to the ICU. We'll need to find out what caused seizures."
With that, interns and nurses bustled out of the operating room bringing the still unconscious patient along. Dr. Mikamura was rooted to here spot in contemplation even with her team long gone. Never in her 20 years of medical experience had something like this happened. Sure, medical miracles were possible, but for every case, there was a very, very, very slim chance of it happening.
She shook her head to get those thoughts out of her head. For now, she had no explanation why that happened. She still had to run some tests on her to find out what really caused her to go berserk for a minute and then suddenly go back to the normal state in another minute.
For now, she had to go with the 'medical miracle' theory.
Kurama walked back to his mother's hospital room, certain that Botan was in no trouble. Still, there remains the fear that she might not recover from this. He hated himself for even considering the ide, but still…
'No,'Kurama rid himself of those negative thoughts. He had to trust Botan that she will rise above this. He wanted to believe that she was stronger than this. Kurama still had to fulfill his promise of bringing back the life she lost. He needed her to be brave and recover from this. Not just for her sake, but for his as well.
'I have faith that she will pull through,' Kurama thought as he finally reached the designated room, 'And when that time comes, I'll be here to welcome her back.'
As he opened the door and entered the room, he put on a smile that didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Hey, where'd you been?" the youngest member of his family asked.
"Oh, just around the corner. No need for you to be concerned," he replied now walking to Shiori's side. His brother merely shrugged and continued packing his mother's belongings.
His step-father, who was talking with Shiori when he arrived, stood up and picked the shawl by the table and draped in on his wife's shoulders. "You take care of your mother," he said to Kurama, "I'll be settling the medical bills and talk to the doctor. Let's meet up in the hospital entrance."
"Yes, father," Kurama said as his step-father leaned over to kiss Shiori's forehead and whispering 'see you later' in her ears. Shiori smiled at his sweet gesture and replied with a nod. When Hatanaka left the room, Kurama walked to the folded wheel chair and set it up for his mother. He helped his mother to the chair and guided her to where his younger brother was.
"I'm glad you'll be coming home, mother," Kurama said, tenderly grasping his mother's shoulder.
"Me, too, son," she looked up to him with a tender smile on her face, "Me, too."
"Yeah, the house seems lonely without mother," the young Suichi piped in, "Besides, you cook better food than father." Both Kurama and Shiori laughed at his comment.
"I had to survive the week with just onigiri! Breakfast, lunch, dinner – onigiri!" Suichi exclaimed, exasperated, "That's all father knows to cook! Mother, please don't get sick ever again!"
Shiori turned to his young step-son who was kneeling beside her, mock-pleading. She caressed his hair and said with a kind smile, "Yes, I'll try my best not to get sick again. But you two better take care of me."
"Yes, mother," both brothers said in chorus. Shiori was the heart of this family. She was the common denominator that brought three different people together.
"Okay then, let's meet your father outside." Kurama pushed her mother in the wheel chair while Suichi carried her luggage. It wasn't that heavy so the young man had no trouble with it.
When they entered the elevator, Shiori remarked, "Wait 'till I tell your father what you think about his cooking."
Red-faced, Suichi cried, "Mother!" With that, they all laughed.
The trio found Hatanaka by the cashier in the hospital lobby. It seemed that there was a long line and they had to stay for another 10 minutes before Hatanaka was able to settle their account. When he reached his family, he took Shiori's luggage from Suichi's hands. In turn, Suichi asked his step-brother if he could be the one to push Shiori's wheel chair. With a smile, Kurama complied.
As the family happily walked out of the hospital, Kurama's acute vision caught sight of a familiar face who was about 15 to 20 meters away. By the speed he was going, Kurama inferred that he was rushing to the hospital. It was quite unusual to see him at a time like this and especially at a place like this. Having known him, Kurama was sure that his friend would rather be at the police station or out in the field busting some crook's rear end instead of being in a crummy hospital.
"Isn't that Yuusuke?" Shiori asked when he was close enough for her to see.
"Yes, mother."
"Well, I guess you would like to catch up with him, say hello or something," Shiori said, "We'll be waiting in the car. Say my regards to him." With a nod from Kurama, the rest of his family walked to the opposite direction Kurama was heading to.
Kurama walked briskly to meet his friend half-way and called out, "Hey, Yuusuke!"
With the sound of his name reached his ears, Yuusuke stopped in his gallop and looked forward to see Kurama waving to him. Distracted by this, his thoughts diverted away from the primary reason he was there in the hospital.
"Hey to you, too, stranger," Yuusuke said, catching his breath as his speed reduced, "What brings you here? The last time I saw you, you were out to dinner with that black widow."
"Yes, I believe so, too," Kurama said, both confirming the last time they met and that Maya was like a black widow.
"To answer your question, Mother was confined for a week. It seems that her heart was left weak by her last sickness," Kurama said, "But no need to worry, the doctor says. She's recuperating quite well. She says 'hi', by the way."
"That's good 'ta hear! I guess Auntie's got too much strength in her to be beaten by that!" Yuusuke said, pride showing in his eyes. Yuusuke had always liked Shiori. Her motherly attitude towards him had earned her his respect and trust. "Tell her I'll try visiting soon."
"By the way, before I forget, what brings you here? It really is quite unusual to see you running around in broad daylight."
With this question, Yuusuke reverted back to his serious mode. He received a call earlier from Ayame telling him that Botan almost had a heart attack. After hearing this, Yuusuke's rage and anxiety got the best of him and he started shouting, turning a few heads in the police department. Seeing red, it took quite a while for him to comprehend Ayame's explanation that Botan was now okay and away from any danger. But her words were simply not enough to appease the raging emotions he was harboring. He needed to see for himself that Botan was indeed away from harm's way.
"I'm visiting a friend," Yuusuke said, the serious tone that his voice held did not escape Kurama's sharp sense of sound, "She's in comatose and she had an episode this morning."
"Oh, so you're friend is a she. Does Keiko know about this friend? Only three months in your engagement and you're seeing another woman? Tsk tsk, shame on you, Yuusuke," Kurama said playfully, trying to make light of the situation. Yuusuke's serious mode was quite rare, only seeing it once when some creep tried to make a pass at Keiko. And seeing him right now in such state made him uncomfortable.
"Come off it, Kurama. You know it's not like that. This one's different, she's like a sister to me," he replied, a hint of pain registering in his eyes. Now this anguished look he had was quite familiar to Kurama. He knew that before they met, his friend had suffered from a painful experience. He had this similar look a few years ago when someone he had been close to during his childhood days was brutally murdered. But by the way his mother raised him, Kurama knew better than to pry on other people's businesses, and that is why he had never asked him of his past. They had this silent understanding that it was off-limits.
He even wondered at times if there was anyone who was able to tear down those walls surrounding his past. No one in their circle of friends had gone close enough to touch that part in Yuusuke. But seeing how things were with him and Keiko, he knew she was slowly getting there.
"I know, I know," Kurama said with a kind smile, "Well, I think you better hurry inside. You can't keep her waiting."
"Yeah," Yuusuke said, now giving his friend a grateful look for respecting his unsaid wishes of privacy, "See 'ya around, Kurama!" With a final wave, they went their separate ways – Kurama, back to his family, and Yuusuke, to that one girl whose soul the former had unknowingly kept safe in his pocket.
Back in his dark office room, Sanada had this unnerving feeling in his gut as he sat in his supposedly comfortable chair. He stared at his hands, remembering the events earlier in the hospital.
Walking back to the hospital elevator, he felt colliding with an invisible wall, the force of a seemingly strong wind almost knocking him down. Thinking back, the possibility of a strong wind passing by was close to never. Heck, there weren't even windows in that hallway! And then, for a fleeting moment, he felt a familiar presence.
He look ahead, gazing intently at the image of a woman's back encased in gold frames. 'Botan,'he thought. With her gone for almost three months, it was only then, in that empty hallway of that hospital, he first felt her after such a long time. Though he was not a fan of superstitious beliefs, he cannot deny that something unexplainable happened earlier that day.
'But why there in all places?' Sanada asked himself. As he placed both hands on the table, his right one touched the smooth surface of Shuuichi Minamino's file folder. He then distinctly remembered their meeting that morning, 'He had her necklace!' He found it quite convenient to feel her presence in the same place where he met the young business man. Even during their first meeting, Sanada remembered the look in Minamino's face when he saw his treasured art piece. Right then and there, Sanada knew the younger man knows something he didn't know.
Putting pieces of information together, though some may seem vague, all arrows were pointing to this redheaded man. 'It seems like you're involvement in this is deeper that I had expected,' Sanada thought as he grimaced at Kurama's picture in the file folder.
'But really, I need to thank you for making things easier for me,' he leaned back in his chair, placing both hands behind his head, 'And when this is all over, I'm sure to give you your just reward, Minamino.'
With a final sigh, Sanada brought his eyes back to that revered image, already cooking up plans on how to extract information from him.
A/N:Oookkkaaay, that was a bit weird. I had to put my writer's cap once again, which I haven't done for a very long time, and I really found it hard to write this chapter. Most of the original ideas for this fic seems lost. But worry not my dear readers! I'm doing my best to recover those thoughts and even fresh twists in it.
Why not help me out? Just drop in your views and thoughts about the chapter. You can even suggest some things that you would like to happen in this story. Thank you in advance!
[1 Dr. Silverberg and his book on spirits and otherworldly beings – Not a real doctor as far as I'm concerned. Just a figment of my imagination.
About the medical stuff, sorry if it was not realistic... Even if I watch too much Grey's Anatomy, I still doesn't seem right. Must be because I am too preoccupied with Dr. McDreamy to even catch medical terms and the like. Oh, well, so much for trying!
To those who reviewed this fic, LeFoxy,Sw33t-S0ft-M3lOdy,Smexy Kitten,sweetcanines,sam,Enigmatic Ice,MiaHime,starchocol8,Licensed to Kill,anna, and last but not the least, anime/videogame freak, thank you so much for the support! Thank you so much for reminding this lazy-head that she needed to finish this K+B fanfic.
For the rest of the people there who read this story, thank you so much! Don't forget to review!