Hell Is For Children
~Little Dylan
Chapter 1
Her breaths came in short gasping sobs as she ran down the allyway, her red-rimmed eyes filled with tears and her cheeks stinging from the cold air. Snow drifted slowly down from the gray sky only to puddle into ice water on the narrowed streets of Sapporo, adding to the day's dreariness.
Her socks were shredded to bits, her pink coat that matched her galoshes gone, blood dribbling down from the slashes in her wrists and pooling in her small tightly-clenched fists. Her thighs were slightly cold from the breeze that the slashes in her pleated black skirt revealed, and her yellow shirt was stained in dark red blood, her sleeves drenched in the dark liquid. Her eyesight began to get fuzzy as sobs wracked her small frame, ripping themselves from her chest and falling on deaf ears. She cried out weakly as she collapsed to the ground, her head pounding and feeling her own blood pool under her.
Voices were near her now, speaking in rapid northern dialect, not the Tokyo accent she was so used to. Something about an ambulance, her parents...?
Her parents were dead.
The last thing she remembered were the hands reaching for her, calling out to her, and she clamped her small blood-stained hands over her small ears. As confusion settled in a hazy fog over her mind, she started to scream, screaming and sobbing for anyone who would help her.
Tasukete! Onegai! Dareka, tasukete kure!
And the hands that were supposed to hit her...gently lifted her from the ground...
That was when everything went black.
"Zechs!"
He visibly jolted in his seat as the door to his office in the Preventers building swung open and his wife hurried in, dressed in casual clothes and looking a bit nervous. He almost immediatly stood as she closed the door behind her
"Lucrezia?"
"No, no, don't stand. Sit down." She said, making small gestures with her hand. He blinked.
"Arianna and Dominic?"
"At home, sit down!" She cried out softly, and he sat down with her still pacing around the room. She paced a few more times before turning to face him, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Do you remember...a few days ago when that little girl was found wandering around Hokkaido...? Her father was found dead in Tokyo?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yeah...covered in blood, scared and alone, and not remembering anything about how she got there."
"That's her...well, she was taken to a hospital near Sapporo and her medical records were extracted."
"And?"
Lucrezia sighed, wondering how she could put this in mild terms.
"The girl's name is Akihiko Yui, and her mother died in childbirth. And since the girl's father was killed, they contacted the next of kin, her only living blood relatives listed on the form." She took a deep breath before continuing. "It was us, Zechs. They contacted us. We're listed as blood relatives on her forms."
"Really, when you look at it, Japan's not all that different from the rest of the world like we thought, huh." Zechs inquired as he stepped off the shuttle into Narita Airport.
"Be that as it may, it's as simple as us going in there, checking out the claim, confirming it's false, and be home in time for dinner." Lucrezia snapped, her eyes scanning the airport for the woman who was supposed to act as their aide. Zechs tossed a concerned look at his wife.
"Lu..you okay?"
She sighed dejectedly.
"Fine...I just haven't been feeling all together lately, and I'm starting to get sick again. And now, with this..." She sighed, her eyes downcast. "I'm sorry if I've come off a little short these past few days..."
A small grin crossed his features as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her closer, tilting her chin up to meet her eyes.
"It's okay, love...don't we all at some point or another?" he whispered, his face inching closer and closer to hers...
"Um...excuse me?" A soft voice interrupted them. Zechs and Noin both jerked apart and came face to face with a young red-haired woman with soft blue eyes.
"Mr. Peacecraft?"
"Yes?" Zechs answered the woman, stepping forward. She bowed in response.
"I am Haruka Tomoe. I was sent by the Niji Hokoru hospital to be your aide for this trip..."
"Yes, Ms. Tomoe. And how will we be getting to the hospital from here?"
"If you'll come right this way, we have a car waiting..."
"If that is the case, Mr. Takada, there must be a mistake in the girl's medical forms." Noin insisted as she sat across from the middle-aged Japanese man at the desk.
"Mrs. Peacecraft, I assure you, the records were checked and confirmed by the childrens' father just six months ago. All information listed on the legal forms are correct." He said, speaking with a slight accent. Lucrezia sighed and closed her eyes, then opened them and dried another approach.
"Mr. Takada, you realize that I have not heard of nor have had any contact with these children, and neither has my husband?"
"We realize, Mrs. Peacecraft."
Lucrezia sighed and stared down at the three forms before her.
"Ryosuke, Kotaro and Akihiko Yui. We're listed as direct relatives on ALL of these children's forms?"
"Yes."
A moment of silence passed between the two before she spoke again.
"Am I permitted to look at the forms?"
"Of course, Mrs. Peacecraft."
She cautiously opened the first manila folder, leafing through school transcripts, medical information and random others until she found the general information sheet and it's translation sheet. She picked it up and briefly read it through.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, really...Name, Ryosuke Yui, date of birth, blood type, ecetera..." She whispered to herself. She coninued to skim until she found the part she was looking for.
"Biological parents, current conditions as listed...Oh my God!" She cried as she jumped up from her chair, her heart pounding in her ears.
"Mrs. Peacecraft?"
"M-Mr. Takada...this, this is impossible...!"
"Mrs. Peacecraft? Are you okay?"
"No, this can't be right, this..."
"I assure you, all information was confirmed by their father six months ago."
The manila folder fell suddenly from her trembling hands as she backed to the doorway.
"P-please excuse me, I have to find my husband..."
"Do as you must, Mrs. Peacecraft." Mr. Takada nodded, a bit confused as the woman quickly ran out the door.
So, he's the oldest son. Zechs thought as he watched through the thick glass window that separated him from Aki's room. The young four year old girl was sitting in bed in a steril white hospital gown, thick gauze wrapped around her wrists and an IV in her hand . Her face was pale, accented by her dark blue eyes and her dark hair fell in dark strands to her midback. A young boy, looking about 10 was in bed next to her, an arm around her as he read from a Japanese storybook.
"That's her." Haruka said softly. "The boy next to her is Ryosuke Yui, the oldest son. The second oldest is Kotaro. They both speak English and some European languages that their mother taught them...Kotaro, he should be around here someplace...Shall I find him for you?"
"Please." Zechs' voice was strangely monotonous as he continued to stare at the young girl and her brother. "There are some questions I would like to ask the two boys, if it isn't too much trouble."
"Of course, Mr. Peacecraft." And with that, Haruka swiftly walked down the hall, leaving Zechs alone to watch the children.
Looking at Ryosuke, his wild dark hair and eyes and the girl beside him, it was a dead giveaway on who the father was. Hell, Ryosuke looked exactly like him.
"Ryosuke, Kotaro and Aki." Zechs whispered softly. "Heero...no, my sister's children..."
TBC
~Little Dylan
Chapter 1
Her breaths came in short gasping sobs as she ran down the allyway, her red-rimmed eyes filled with tears and her cheeks stinging from the cold air. Snow drifted slowly down from the gray sky only to puddle into ice water on the narrowed streets of Sapporo, adding to the day's dreariness.
Her socks were shredded to bits, her pink coat that matched her galoshes gone, blood dribbling down from the slashes in her wrists and pooling in her small tightly-clenched fists. Her thighs were slightly cold from the breeze that the slashes in her pleated black skirt revealed, and her yellow shirt was stained in dark red blood, her sleeves drenched in the dark liquid. Her eyesight began to get fuzzy as sobs wracked her small frame, ripping themselves from her chest and falling on deaf ears. She cried out weakly as she collapsed to the ground, her head pounding and feeling her own blood pool under her.
Voices were near her now, speaking in rapid northern dialect, not the Tokyo accent she was so used to. Something about an ambulance, her parents...?
Her parents were dead.
The last thing she remembered were the hands reaching for her, calling out to her, and she clamped her small blood-stained hands over her small ears. As confusion settled in a hazy fog over her mind, she started to scream, screaming and sobbing for anyone who would help her.
Tasukete! Onegai! Dareka, tasukete kure!
And the hands that were supposed to hit her...gently lifted her from the ground...
That was when everything went black.
"Zechs!"
He visibly jolted in his seat as the door to his office in the Preventers building swung open and his wife hurried in, dressed in casual clothes and looking a bit nervous. He almost immediatly stood as she closed the door behind her
"Lucrezia?"
"No, no, don't stand. Sit down." She said, making small gestures with her hand. He blinked.
"Arianna and Dominic?"
"At home, sit down!" She cried out softly, and he sat down with her still pacing around the room. She paced a few more times before turning to face him, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Do you remember...a few days ago when that little girl was found wandering around Hokkaido...? Her father was found dead in Tokyo?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yeah...covered in blood, scared and alone, and not remembering anything about how she got there."
"That's her...well, she was taken to a hospital near Sapporo and her medical records were extracted."
"And?"
Lucrezia sighed, wondering how she could put this in mild terms.
"The girl's name is Akihiko Yui, and her mother died in childbirth. And since the girl's father was killed, they contacted the next of kin, her only living blood relatives listed on the form." She took a deep breath before continuing. "It was us, Zechs. They contacted us. We're listed as blood relatives on her forms."
"Really, when you look at it, Japan's not all that different from the rest of the world like we thought, huh." Zechs inquired as he stepped off the shuttle into Narita Airport.
"Be that as it may, it's as simple as us going in there, checking out the claim, confirming it's false, and be home in time for dinner." Lucrezia snapped, her eyes scanning the airport for the woman who was supposed to act as their aide. Zechs tossed a concerned look at his wife.
"Lu..you okay?"
She sighed dejectedly.
"Fine...I just haven't been feeling all together lately, and I'm starting to get sick again. And now, with this..." She sighed, her eyes downcast. "I'm sorry if I've come off a little short these past few days..."
A small grin crossed his features as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her closer, tilting her chin up to meet her eyes.
"It's okay, love...don't we all at some point or another?" he whispered, his face inching closer and closer to hers...
"Um...excuse me?" A soft voice interrupted them. Zechs and Noin both jerked apart and came face to face with a young red-haired woman with soft blue eyes.
"Mr. Peacecraft?"
"Yes?" Zechs answered the woman, stepping forward. She bowed in response.
"I am Haruka Tomoe. I was sent by the Niji Hokoru hospital to be your aide for this trip..."
"Yes, Ms. Tomoe. And how will we be getting to the hospital from here?"
"If you'll come right this way, we have a car waiting..."
"If that is the case, Mr. Takada, there must be a mistake in the girl's medical forms." Noin insisted as she sat across from the middle-aged Japanese man at the desk.
"Mrs. Peacecraft, I assure you, the records were checked and confirmed by the childrens' father just six months ago. All information listed on the legal forms are correct." He said, speaking with a slight accent. Lucrezia sighed and closed her eyes, then opened them and dried another approach.
"Mr. Takada, you realize that I have not heard of nor have had any contact with these children, and neither has my husband?"
"We realize, Mrs. Peacecraft."
Lucrezia sighed and stared down at the three forms before her.
"Ryosuke, Kotaro and Akihiko Yui. We're listed as direct relatives on ALL of these children's forms?"
"Yes."
A moment of silence passed between the two before she spoke again.
"Am I permitted to look at the forms?"
"Of course, Mrs. Peacecraft."
She cautiously opened the first manila folder, leafing through school transcripts, medical information and random others until she found the general information sheet and it's translation sheet. She picked it up and briefly read it through.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, really...Name, Ryosuke Yui, date of birth, blood type, ecetera..." She whispered to herself. She coninued to skim until she found the part she was looking for.
"Biological parents, current conditions as listed...Oh my God!" She cried as she jumped up from her chair, her heart pounding in her ears.
"Mrs. Peacecraft?"
"M-Mr. Takada...this, this is impossible...!"
"Mrs. Peacecraft? Are you okay?"
"No, this can't be right, this..."
"I assure you, all information was confirmed by their father six months ago."
The manila folder fell suddenly from her trembling hands as she backed to the doorway.
"P-please excuse me, I have to find my husband..."
"Do as you must, Mrs. Peacecraft." Mr. Takada nodded, a bit confused as the woman quickly ran out the door.
So, he's the oldest son. Zechs thought as he watched through the thick glass window that separated him from Aki's room. The young four year old girl was sitting in bed in a steril white hospital gown, thick gauze wrapped around her wrists and an IV in her hand . Her face was pale, accented by her dark blue eyes and her dark hair fell in dark strands to her midback. A young boy, looking about 10 was in bed next to her, an arm around her as he read from a Japanese storybook.
"That's her." Haruka said softly. "The boy next to her is Ryosuke Yui, the oldest son. The second oldest is Kotaro. They both speak English and some European languages that their mother taught them...Kotaro, he should be around here someplace...Shall I find him for you?"
"Please." Zechs' voice was strangely monotonous as he continued to stare at the young girl and her brother. "There are some questions I would like to ask the two boys, if it isn't too much trouble."
"Of course, Mr. Peacecraft." And with that, Haruka swiftly walked down the hall, leaving Zechs alone to watch the children.
Looking at Ryosuke, his wild dark hair and eyes and the girl beside him, it was a dead giveaway on who the father was. Hell, Ryosuke looked exactly like him.
"Ryosuke, Kotaro and Aki." Zechs whispered softly. "Heero...no, my sister's children..."
TBC