A World of Pain
~ Hmm, do you think I could be continuing? ~
By Starbo
Disclaimer: If I had any rights to Digimon, I wouldn't be writing this disclaimer, now would I?
A/N: Did anyone see my bio? It said that I'm now updating this on Wednesdays! It's now official! lol. Oh, and the first part of this chapter is written in a stream of consciousness, which means whatever is written is how the person proceeds it. A lot of times, this means they might slip into a memory or flash back without you realizing it. Just go with the flow and if it's too confusing, let me know why, and I'll do my best to fix it.
Everything is spinning, spinning rapidly around him. It was like the world was on a Merry-Go-Round and he was barely hanging on. It wasn't too long before his grip on it lost and he fell to the ground with a thump. The last thing he could remember was someone saying;
"Owe! Guess you should've waited for the bus."
Yes, let's wait for the bus. It'll only be a few minutes. Come on, it'll be much easier than trying to get there by walking.
"But, Osamu! The bus already left! You said it'll take half an hour to get back!" a little Ken whined, pulling on his big brother's shirt.
"But it'll take an hour to walk there," Osamu pointed out. When he saw how confused Ken was, Osamu said, "It will take two half an hours to get there if we walk."
"But I don't like to wait!" Ken protested stubbornly, making a cute pout face that always worked on his mother.
Osamu just laughed and messed up his little brother's hair, much like their father does to him. He looked around and saw a candy store. "All right, then let's go in there."
Ken followed Osamu's gaze and nearly did a flip. He started to run ahead, so excited, but then came to a halting stop. Osamu was confused until Ken ran back and grabbed hold of his hand, then tried to pull him into a run. They both laughed and broke into a run to the store, Osamu getting there first because he was the taller and faster and older one of the two. However, he waited at the door until Ken caught up and then went inside.
The little boy's eyes were big as saucers when he stepped inside the little Japanese shop. In big cities, like the one that Ken and his brother lived in, a lot of the stores were more American looking, but a few of them remained true to their history. Everything was on display so that the people driving pass could see what was in there, but just being in the shop was a whole another experience. The colors and scents were always better up close.
"Look around, Little Brother," Osamu gestured.
For a moment, Ken was confused on where to start, and had to take a few steps in one direction just to change to another until he finally picked the shelve he wanted to see the most. He heard the old man behind the counter chuckling but paid no heed. There was gum, gumball, gum drops, lollipops, candy canes, and jaw-brakers.
Ken grabbed one of the jaw-brakers and went up to the counter, just to find that it was too high for him. No matter. There was a box near by and he used that as a stool to see over the counter.
"'Cuse me," Ken whispered low as he held out his little hand filled with a few coins. "Can this buy me a jaw-braker for my brother?"
That old man had that look on his face, the kind that most adults get to say they think you're the cutest thing in the world. Sometimes that look was good, and other times it had his aunts pinching his cheeks and leaving red lipstick marks all over his face. The man picked a few coins out of Ken's hand and then gave back a few littler coins.
"There you go, Little Kid," the old man replied in a whisper.
"Thank you, Sir." Ken hoped down from the box and ran over to his brother, who was reading the back of some package. "Osamu! Osamu! I got this for you!"
Osamu looked down and saw the jaw-braker in his younger brother's hand. "Ken, did you . . . ?"
"Yep!" Ken beamed brightly. "Dad gave some coins to do what I please with them."
"Oh," relieve flowed through Osamu's face. "Thank you, Ken."
And then everything went black again, Ken was floating somewhere, not feeling anything. He didn't know how long he was there, with no clock to tell time. He couldn't find the ground, not sure that there was one. All he did was let his mind drift from one thought to another.
Had he really seen *him*? Had Ken had a close encounter with Davis, the guy he watched fall *dead* right before his eyes? How could this be? It made no sense! He must be dreaming. He's probably in some hospitable or alley way - he really didn't care which - and was probably dreaming up this whole thing.
//Yeah, I'm dreaming. Just like I was dreaming when Osamu . . .// Ken's thoughts choked. He never had gotten over that, his brother's . . . Whenever he thought about it, it felt like he was going to hyper-ventilate and a panic attack would make him nearly immobile. He did his best to not think about it, hoping that time does heal wounds and he could forget about the pain.
But still, even while trying to stifled the thoughts. . .
Osamu told Ken not to do that, that he shouldn't grab things from people walking by. He knew better than that. Well, of course, Ken knew better. He just didn't care. Osamu was so perfect, so great, that Ken bet if Osamu were to steal something from someone, no one would care. They'd probably tell everyone how they were robbed by the great Osamu and that'd make them popular on its own.
No one liked Ken. They all like *Osamu.* His friends didn't even say hi to him, only to Osamu. Some friends they were. His parents pushed him, asking why he couldn't be more like his bigger brother. It was unfair how he kept getting compared to his wonderful, perfect bigger brother. He could never do anything that was good enough for anyone!
"Ken? Ken!" Osamu shouted as Ken stomped off. "Ken, wait up! Don't run off like that, I might loose you."
"I don't care!" Ken heard himself scream back in a strangled voice. "No one would care! They'll be looking at how perfect you are and not care about me!"
Osamu reached for his little brother's shoulder, but Ken took off across the street, not paying any attention to the cars speeding by. He landed both feet safely on the sidewalk and turned to shout some more at his big brother. And that's when he saw it.
Blood. Blood everywhere. Cars screeching to a stop. Mangled body. Broken glasses. Blood, like a puddle, spreading, reaching for everything. Hand stretched out. Blood . . .
~*~*~*~
"What's happening to him now?" Davis asked curiously, half-afraid.
They had the boy, Ken, lying under a tree in the shade and were doing their best to cool him off, thinking that it might be the mid-winter's sun that was surprisingly warmer than usual today. At first, Ken was just completely still, but then he started to get this horror look on his paling face and then was breathing very hard and unevenly.
"I think he's going into shock," Tai answered, whipping out his cell phone. "Who should I call? Hospitable or Joe?"
"Joe," Matt answered. "I don't want to explain an over-charged hospitable bill to my dad."
"How compassionate," Tai sneered as he scrolled down his phone book in the cell phone.
"Look, if Joe can't do anything, then *of course* I'll take him to the hospitable!" Matt snapped back.
"Hello, Joe? . . . Yeah, well, hit the pause button! This is serious! . . . One of Matt's new friends is unconscious and breathing really hard. . . . I think he might be in shock . . . Might be hyper-ventilate . . . I don't know, that's why I called you! You're the doctor! . . . . He's breathing hard - like a girl just found her dream man sleeping with her *mother* kind of hard! . . . . No, but he hit his head pretty hard. . . . He wasn't healthy to begin with. . . . I said I don't know! . . . Fine, fine, all right!"
Tai hung up and without looking at Matt he explained as he dialed the emergency number for the hospitable, "Joe said that he can't be sure on what's happening, but it sounds like Ken needs some drugs to calm him down. Sorry, but it looks like we're going to the hospitable."
"Just fucking great," Matt mumbled, one of the rare times he ever cusses, even being a teenager.
Kari took hold of Ken's hand and gently stroked it, hoping to gain some reaction out of the strange boy. Jun had glanced over to make sure her brother was alright, saw Matt, and all Kari could do was run after her. Of course, Jun seemed to drop her fanatic attitude when she saw Ken on the ground.
When Tai got off of the phone, it ended up that Matt was carrying Ken to the hospitable because it was Matt who was complaining about an ambulance and how expensive they are, even for a few blocks. All of them, Tai, Matt, TK, Kari, Davis, and Jun, ran to the hospitable and barged into the emergency room with doctors and nurses waiting for them.
~*~*~*~
A few, but extra long, hours passed by and a new-be doctor came out to the waiting room where six people sat near the door, waiting just for him. There were other people, but they weren't important at this moment. Making sure these kids don't go hysterical was his main job at the moment. This was only his second month as a real doctor and he was assigned the task of breaking the news to them, sort of on-hands job training. He thinks it's because no one else wanted to do it.
"Are you the ones that came in with Ken?" he asked.
They all got up, but one of them, the one that had brought Ken in on his back spoke up first, "Is he alright?"
"He's going to be fine," the doctor said with a small, reassuring smile. "He was having an anxiety attack, but he's calm now. . . . However, I am keeping him over night for a few days to see that his health is restored."
"No, that's won't be necessary," the blonde boy said right away.
"After hearing about how you tried to take him home in his already bad state," the doctor was close to glaring, "I don't think the decision is up to you. Tell me, is there an adult with you?"
"Yeah, my dad's over there," a younger boy (who a blind person could tell was the older boy's little brother) pointed to a man making funny faces at the kids so they wouldn't be worried about getting their shots. The boy called out, "Hey, Dad, the doctor wants to talk to you."
His father did one last face for the kids, said goodbye, and then came over, completely serious. That attitude didn't work for long when the older, blonde boy mumbled, "You're such a clown."
The father shook the doctor's hand with a big, goofy grin. "Hello, I'm the father of Matt and TK and current care-taker of Ken. The boy is alright, isn't he?"
The doctor relayed the message to him and then asked, "Did you say care- taker . . . ?"
"Well . . ." the father hesitated. He just realized what his slip of the tongue might have done. If he told the doctor that his son had found him on the street, the boy could end up in a "group home" - a fancy term for orphanage. Somehow, Mr. Ishida felt that wouldn't be fair to Ken.
"He's our cousin," Matt offered too smoothly for the doctor to catch on that it was a lie. "His mother and father are going threw a divorce, and he asked to come live with us while his parents went through . . . you know."
"That doesn't explain his current health," the doctor commented.
"Um, well," TK shuffled his feet. "I don't want to say anything bad about my aunt, but I don't think . . . . It's a family matter-" he looked up with pleading eyes, "-and I think family should handle it."
By lack of experience or too soft of a heart, the doctor nodded in understanding. "Very well, but he is still staying over night for the next few days."
The father sighed a sigh of relief and shook the doctor's hand again. "That's absolutely fine. Thank you very much. Is there chance that we might see Ken right now?"
"It'll be best to let him sleep," the doctor basically orders. "Come back tomorrow, during visiting hours."
"Alright, thank you very much, Sir!" Mr. Ishida beamed and hurried his kids and their friends out of the hospitable. When out, he was a hair away from slapping Matt upside the head. "Next time when you miss the bus with a sick kid, call me for a ride!"
"I thought you were at work this weekend!" Matt snapped back. "Thought you didn't want to be disturbed."
"Well, looks like I'm not working anyway," Mr., Ishida sighed, slightly grinning. "Not that I'm complaining about that part. . . . But you have more common sense than that, Matt. I know you do."
"Yeah, yeah . . ."
"Where's Kari?" Davis asked suddenly, gaining a giggle from Jun, who had been trying to glomp onto Matt. She would've got to if his friends didn't keep stepping in the way.
Everyone looked around and no one could find the small girl.
"I know where she is," Tai almost sighed.
~*~*~*~
Kari closed the bathroom door very quietly after she heard the nurse leave, tipping toeing back to her little place in the corner. It was only one small corner, but it was a right under the camera, where they couldn't see her. This could be very dangerous, if someone wanted to do harm. But then again, they'd have to bypass all of the other barriers put up to protect the patients, so this blind spot wasn't so bad. But then again . . .
Kari had snuck away when the doctor had first told them about the situation that Ken was in. He was a hurt soul, or lost, and he needed someone to be there for him. Someone that was close to his age and had experienced pain and suffering. True, she was never a waif(1), but she had ended up in the hospitable because of health problems.
//I can still hear me asking Tai to not be mad at me for not being able to play soccer. . . Ken is almost like a child, lost and tired, just looking for someone to hold him. Maybe he's too sick right now, but there had to be a reason why he was wondering the streets starved half-to-death. There's no way he could be a homeless person, not with those clothes. There's a reason and I want to find out what.//
There was her problem. She wanted to wake him up and ask him all kinds of questions, but knew that he wasn't well and needed rest. Her nature of a healer told her to let him get better first. It was almost as bad as waiting all week for fanfic writer to update and then find out the person was late.
//Well, I'll give him my comfort when he needs it, but for now, I guess all I can do is wait. . .//
~*~*~*~
"What do you mean that's she in the hospitable still?" Jun asked baffled. Other than herself, Davis was the only one who didn't know Kari's nature and attitude.
"She does this every once and while," Tai shrugs. "If she sees someone in need of help, she'll help. Right now, she probably thinks that Ken needs someone there for him, so she'll be there for him."
"But she hardly knows him," Davis pointed out.
"Doesn't matter to her," TK answered with something in his voice that made Davis look at TK for a long moment. TK, in turn, half-choked and looked away. He can still remember the fight that Davis and he had right before Davis . . . went away. Even though they had kind of patched things up in the battle, he wondered if Davis would remember it and go back to that anti- social thing he was before.
"Well, anyone need a ride?" Mr. Ishida asked.
"Yeah, I could use one," Tai said. He looked over to Matt and saw the look of complete distress on his face while Jun had a death grip on his arm. "And I think Jun and Davis could use a ride home, too."
"What about Kari?" Davis asked.
"She'll be alright. She has her cell phone if she gets caught and needs a ride home. Oh, I should call Mom and let her know."
//These guy seem easy-going,// Davis remarked to himself. Somehow, he felt that wasn't completely true, that was something underneath all of this. Most of the reason why he was quite around everyone was because he was trying to figure out what the underline tone in everyone's voice was. Very strange, to hear it in their voices, and not in the strangers passing by.
"How come we haven't seen Yolie today?" he blurted out all of a sudden.
A cold chill swept through all of them, making Davis very still and half- scared.
"Do you guys not like her or something?" Davis questioned.
"Davis . . ." Jun nearly whispered. "I don't think anyone has mentioned Yolie to you yet. How did you know about her?"
" . . . I don't know," Davis shrugged. "I just do. Can we see her?"
Amazed, Jun nodded. She remembered perfectly well from these past days. She hadn't mentioned Yolie and she was positive that no one had either.
In the car, Davis stared out the window, lost in memory. His memory was starting to blur, even if he only had a few days of it. It more like the little details were getting smeared together until only conversations and actions that seemed important stuck out in his mind. There was one that he was trying to grasp, something that he knew he had to remember.
//. . . "I thought you were dead, we all did!"//
The memory pops into his head, nearly making him gasp out loud. //They thought I was dead?? How could that be? All I know is that I woke up with the Guardian and was sent here. . . . Still, everyone says that I should have more of a memory than what I do now, so I guess I have lived more than just a few days. . . . But dead? How could I have been dead and come back to live without realizing it?!//
And as these wild, confused thoughts ran threw his head, on the outside, he looked perfectly fine . . . aside from paling a little bit, but with his face towards the window and everyone else chatting or driving or trying to pry Jun off of Matt, the others didn't notice.
Davis's thoughts skipped back to the present and he remembered Kari. She was so sweet and kind and he would like to get to know much more, even if he was already suppose to know her. But then he felt something in his stomach. It was cold, lifeless, like a void opening up to stuck his being away. His mind flew back to the first day he remembered and how Jun was telling him about his affection towards Kari.
// "I knew it!" she snickered. "You like Kari!" . . . . "I've only met about three, but they mentioned a lot of names, so I'm guessing about eight or ten." //
Those eight or ten were the friends he had questioned about. If just looking at Kari, thinking about her, hurts him so much, then what would it be like when he meets those other seven or nine friends of his?
Well, he's already done that for a few of them. Tai, Matt, and TK, they claim to be his friends. And it was then that he realized what the underline tone was that he heard in everyone's voice. They had all thought him dead, so they were treating him differently. Not that he could blame them, but there was something more. His anxious to run away didn't just come from them acting weird around him. It came from a fear of being hurt. Just thinking of these friends makes him hurt inside, an invisible wound opening up all over again.
By now, Davis was one step away from panicking, though he tried to keep it under control. His hands were a little bit shaky; he was sweating in thin, cold sheets all over his body; and his heart pumped his blood so fast that it seemed to be the only thing that he could hear.
The car stopped in front of a large apartment building and everyone but TK and Matt got out. Davis hardly noticed Matt and the others in a struggle to get Jun off of Matt's arm, which finally ended in Matt telling Jun that he couldn't get to her present if she didn't let go of his arm. As soon as she took the bait, Matt slammed the door and shouted at his father to drive as fast as he could!
"Hey, where's my present?" Jun shouted after the car zooming away.
With a roll of his eyes, Tai sighed at the sure stupidity that seemed to roll of this girl. Not having met Jun's mother, he really didn't know if it was genetic, but he's just glad that it wasn't affecting Davis. Speaking of which. . .
"Davis, are you alright?" he asked, noticing that the boy seemed to be in a deep struggle.
Davis looked up at him and Tai will never forget the look in the boy's eyes. There was confusion and uncertainty running freely in there, but there was hurt, too. He was scared and hurt and didn't know why. It gave Tai a cold-pitted stomach, sucking away his breath.
Davis backed up a little bit, away from everyone, and then looked towards the building. Someone was up there that he remembered. A friend; a true friend, he sensed. But just being around those other friends hurt. How much would a real friend hurt him?
He didn't wait to find out; turning on his heel and mad-dashing to flee the scene. Someone shouted after him, but Davis paid no heed. He didn't care where he was going, but he had to out run the pain.
He had a brief vision, something from his forgotten past. He was running from something else that had tried to trap him, make him feel worthless. Of course, in his state at the time, he already did. But he felt that he wanted to run, so he did. And he kept on running until he found his escape, something big and comforting held him as he was lowered back down to reality.
However, that thing wasn't there and he could only keep running, hoping to find it sooner or later. Maybe it was the Guardian that had helped him, but he had no way of knowing until he remembered-
Something slammed into him and tumbled to the ground . . .
To the Reviews:
Katmon,
I did NOT knock out your Ken-chan! I merely render him unconscious . . . lol. Hey, he fainted, all right? Thank you for your review and I'm really sorry that I missed the deadline. But at least I've updated. Go look at my profile some time and you'll see that there's a few fics that I haven't updated sense a long, long, LONG while back! I'm not even sure that they'll be carried on. Eh. . . . But don't worry about this one! I'm having too much fun to not update it! ;-)
~ Hmm, do you think I could be continuing? ~
By Starbo
Disclaimer: If I had any rights to Digimon, I wouldn't be writing this disclaimer, now would I?
A/N: Did anyone see my bio? It said that I'm now updating this on Wednesdays! It's now official! lol. Oh, and the first part of this chapter is written in a stream of consciousness, which means whatever is written is how the person proceeds it. A lot of times, this means they might slip into a memory or flash back without you realizing it. Just go with the flow and if it's too confusing, let me know why, and I'll do my best to fix it.
Everything is spinning, spinning rapidly around him. It was like the world was on a Merry-Go-Round and he was barely hanging on. It wasn't too long before his grip on it lost and he fell to the ground with a thump. The last thing he could remember was someone saying;
"Owe! Guess you should've waited for the bus."
Yes, let's wait for the bus. It'll only be a few minutes. Come on, it'll be much easier than trying to get there by walking.
"But, Osamu! The bus already left! You said it'll take half an hour to get back!" a little Ken whined, pulling on his big brother's shirt.
"But it'll take an hour to walk there," Osamu pointed out. When he saw how confused Ken was, Osamu said, "It will take two half an hours to get there if we walk."
"But I don't like to wait!" Ken protested stubbornly, making a cute pout face that always worked on his mother.
Osamu just laughed and messed up his little brother's hair, much like their father does to him. He looked around and saw a candy store. "All right, then let's go in there."
Ken followed Osamu's gaze and nearly did a flip. He started to run ahead, so excited, but then came to a halting stop. Osamu was confused until Ken ran back and grabbed hold of his hand, then tried to pull him into a run. They both laughed and broke into a run to the store, Osamu getting there first because he was the taller and faster and older one of the two. However, he waited at the door until Ken caught up and then went inside.
The little boy's eyes were big as saucers when he stepped inside the little Japanese shop. In big cities, like the one that Ken and his brother lived in, a lot of the stores were more American looking, but a few of them remained true to their history. Everything was on display so that the people driving pass could see what was in there, but just being in the shop was a whole another experience. The colors and scents were always better up close.
"Look around, Little Brother," Osamu gestured.
For a moment, Ken was confused on where to start, and had to take a few steps in one direction just to change to another until he finally picked the shelve he wanted to see the most. He heard the old man behind the counter chuckling but paid no heed. There was gum, gumball, gum drops, lollipops, candy canes, and jaw-brakers.
Ken grabbed one of the jaw-brakers and went up to the counter, just to find that it was too high for him. No matter. There was a box near by and he used that as a stool to see over the counter.
"'Cuse me," Ken whispered low as he held out his little hand filled with a few coins. "Can this buy me a jaw-braker for my brother?"
That old man had that look on his face, the kind that most adults get to say they think you're the cutest thing in the world. Sometimes that look was good, and other times it had his aunts pinching his cheeks and leaving red lipstick marks all over his face. The man picked a few coins out of Ken's hand and then gave back a few littler coins.
"There you go, Little Kid," the old man replied in a whisper.
"Thank you, Sir." Ken hoped down from the box and ran over to his brother, who was reading the back of some package. "Osamu! Osamu! I got this for you!"
Osamu looked down and saw the jaw-braker in his younger brother's hand. "Ken, did you . . . ?"
"Yep!" Ken beamed brightly. "Dad gave some coins to do what I please with them."
"Oh," relieve flowed through Osamu's face. "Thank you, Ken."
And then everything went black again, Ken was floating somewhere, not feeling anything. He didn't know how long he was there, with no clock to tell time. He couldn't find the ground, not sure that there was one. All he did was let his mind drift from one thought to another.
Had he really seen *him*? Had Ken had a close encounter with Davis, the guy he watched fall *dead* right before his eyes? How could this be? It made no sense! He must be dreaming. He's probably in some hospitable or alley way - he really didn't care which - and was probably dreaming up this whole thing.
//Yeah, I'm dreaming. Just like I was dreaming when Osamu . . .// Ken's thoughts choked. He never had gotten over that, his brother's . . . Whenever he thought about it, it felt like he was going to hyper-ventilate and a panic attack would make him nearly immobile. He did his best to not think about it, hoping that time does heal wounds and he could forget about the pain.
But still, even while trying to stifled the thoughts. . .
Osamu told Ken not to do that, that he shouldn't grab things from people walking by. He knew better than that. Well, of course, Ken knew better. He just didn't care. Osamu was so perfect, so great, that Ken bet if Osamu were to steal something from someone, no one would care. They'd probably tell everyone how they were robbed by the great Osamu and that'd make them popular on its own.
No one liked Ken. They all like *Osamu.* His friends didn't even say hi to him, only to Osamu. Some friends they were. His parents pushed him, asking why he couldn't be more like his bigger brother. It was unfair how he kept getting compared to his wonderful, perfect bigger brother. He could never do anything that was good enough for anyone!
"Ken? Ken!" Osamu shouted as Ken stomped off. "Ken, wait up! Don't run off like that, I might loose you."
"I don't care!" Ken heard himself scream back in a strangled voice. "No one would care! They'll be looking at how perfect you are and not care about me!"
Osamu reached for his little brother's shoulder, but Ken took off across the street, not paying any attention to the cars speeding by. He landed both feet safely on the sidewalk and turned to shout some more at his big brother. And that's when he saw it.
Blood. Blood everywhere. Cars screeching to a stop. Mangled body. Broken glasses. Blood, like a puddle, spreading, reaching for everything. Hand stretched out. Blood . . .
~*~*~*~
"What's happening to him now?" Davis asked curiously, half-afraid.
They had the boy, Ken, lying under a tree in the shade and were doing their best to cool him off, thinking that it might be the mid-winter's sun that was surprisingly warmer than usual today. At first, Ken was just completely still, but then he started to get this horror look on his paling face and then was breathing very hard and unevenly.
"I think he's going into shock," Tai answered, whipping out his cell phone. "Who should I call? Hospitable or Joe?"
"Joe," Matt answered. "I don't want to explain an over-charged hospitable bill to my dad."
"How compassionate," Tai sneered as he scrolled down his phone book in the cell phone.
"Look, if Joe can't do anything, then *of course* I'll take him to the hospitable!" Matt snapped back.
"Hello, Joe? . . . Yeah, well, hit the pause button! This is serious! . . . One of Matt's new friends is unconscious and breathing really hard. . . . I think he might be in shock . . . Might be hyper-ventilate . . . I don't know, that's why I called you! You're the doctor! . . . . He's breathing hard - like a girl just found her dream man sleeping with her *mother* kind of hard! . . . . No, but he hit his head pretty hard. . . . He wasn't healthy to begin with. . . . I said I don't know! . . . Fine, fine, all right!"
Tai hung up and without looking at Matt he explained as he dialed the emergency number for the hospitable, "Joe said that he can't be sure on what's happening, but it sounds like Ken needs some drugs to calm him down. Sorry, but it looks like we're going to the hospitable."
"Just fucking great," Matt mumbled, one of the rare times he ever cusses, even being a teenager.
Kari took hold of Ken's hand and gently stroked it, hoping to gain some reaction out of the strange boy. Jun had glanced over to make sure her brother was alright, saw Matt, and all Kari could do was run after her. Of course, Jun seemed to drop her fanatic attitude when she saw Ken on the ground.
When Tai got off of the phone, it ended up that Matt was carrying Ken to the hospitable because it was Matt who was complaining about an ambulance and how expensive they are, even for a few blocks. All of them, Tai, Matt, TK, Kari, Davis, and Jun, ran to the hospitable and barged into the emergency room with doctors and nurses waiting for them.
~*~*~*~
A few, but extra long, hours passed by and a new-be doctor came out to the waiting room where six people sat near the door, waiting just for him. There were other people, but they weren't important at this moment. Making sure these kids don't go hysterical was his main job at the moment. This was only his second month as a real doctor and he was assigned the task of breaking the news to them, sort of on-hands job training. He thinks it's because no one else wanted to do it.
"Are you the ones that came in with Ken?" he asked.
They all got up, but one of them, the one that had brought Ken in on his back spoke up first, "Is he alright?"
"He's going to be fine," the doctor said with a small, reassuring smile. "He was having an anxiety attack, but he's calm now. . . . However, I am keeping him over night for a few days to see that his health is restored."
"No, that's won't be necessary," the blonde boy said right away.
"After hearing about how you tried to take him home in his already bad state," the doctor was close to glaring, "I don't think the decision is up to you. Tell me, is there an adult with you?"
"Yeah, my dad's over there," a younger boy (who a blind person could tell was the older boy's little brother) pointed to a man making funny faces at the kids so they wouldn't be worried about getting their shots. The boy called out, "Hey, Dad, the doctor wants to talk to you."
His father did one last face for the kids, said goodbye, and then came over, completely serious. That attitude didn't work for long when the older, blonde boy mumbled, "You're such a clown."
The father shook the doctor's hand with a big, goofy grin. "Hello, I'm the father of Matt and TK and current care-taker of Ken. The boy is alright, isn't he?"
The doctor relayed the message to him and then asked, "Did you say care- taker . . . ?"
"Well . . ." the father hesitated. He just realized what his slip of the tongue might have done. If he told the doctor that his son had found him on the street, the boy could end up in a "group home" - a fancy term for orphanage. Somehow, Mr. Ishida felt that wouldn't be fair to Ken.
"He's our cousin," Matt offered too smoothly for the doctor to catch on that it was a lie. "His mother and father are going threw a divorce, and he asked to come live with us while his parents went through . . . you know."
"That doesn't explain his current health," the doctor commented.
"Um, well," TK shuffled his feet. "I don't want to say anything bad about my aunt, but I don't think . . . . It's a family matter-" he looked up with pleading eyes, "-and I think family should handle it."
By lack of experience or too soft of a heart, the doctor nodded in understanding. "Very well, but he is still staying over night for the next few days."
The father sighed a sigh of relief and shook the doctor's hand again. "That's absolutely fine. Thank you very much. Is there chance that we might see Ken right now?"
"It'll be best to let him sleep," the doctor basically orders. "Come back tomorrow, during visiting hours."
"Alright, thank you very much, Sir!" Mr. Ishida beamed and hurried his kids and their friends out of the hospitable. When out, he was a hair away from slapping Matt upside the head. "Next time when you miss the bus with a sick kid, call me for a ride!"
"I thought you were at work this weekend!" Matt snapped back. "Thought you didn't want to be disturbed."
"Well, looks like I'm not working anyway," Mr., Ishida sighed, slightly grinning. "Not that I'm complaining about that part. . . . But you have more common sense than that, Matt. I know you do."
"Yeah, yeah . . ."
"Where's Kari?" Davis asked suddenly, gaining a giggle from Jun, who had been trying to glomp onto Matt. She would've got to if his friends didn't keep stepping in the way.
Everyone looked around and no one could find the small girl.
"I know where she is," Tai almost sighed.
~*~*~*~
Kari closed the bathroom door very quietly after she heard the nurse leave, tipping toeing back to her little place in the corner. It was only one small corner, but it was a right under the camera, where they couldn't see her. This could be very dangerous, if someone wanted to do harm. But then again, they'd have to bypass all of the other barriers put up to protect the patients, so this blind spot wasn't so bad. But then again . . .
Kari had snuck away when the doctor had first told them about the situation that Ken was in. He was a hurt soul, or lost, and he needed someone to be there for him. Someone that was close to his age and had experienced pain and suffering. True, she was never a waif(1), but she had ended up in the hospitable because of health problems.
//I can still hear me asking Tai to not be mad at me for not being able to play soccer. . . Ken is almost like a child, lost and tired, just looking for someone to hold him. Maybe he's too sick right now, but there had to be a reason why he was wondering the streets starved half-to-death. There's no way he could be a homeless person, not with those clothes. There's a reason and I want to find out what.//
There was her problem. She wanted to wake him up and ask him all kinds of questions, but knew that he wasn't well and needed rest. Her nature of a healer told her to let him get better first. It was almost as bad as waiting all week for fanfic writer to update and then find out the person was late.
//Well, I'll give him my comfort when he needs it, but for now, I guess all I can do is wait. . .//
~*~*~*~
"What do you mean that's she in the hospitable still?" Jun asked baffled. Other than herself, Davis was the only one who didn't know Kari's nature and attitude.
"She does this every once and while," Tai shrugs. "If she sees someone in need of help, she'll help. Right now, she probably thinks that Ken needs someone there for him, so she'll be there for him."
"But she hardly knows him," Davis pointed out.
"Doesn't matter to her," TK answered with something in his voice that made Davis look at TK for a long moment. TK, in turn, half-choked and looked away. He can still remember the fight that Davis and he had right before Davis . . . went away. Even though they had kind of patched things up in the battle, he wondered if Davis would remember it and go back to that anti- social thing he was before.
"Well, anyone need a ride?" Mr. Ishida asked.
"Yeah, I could use one," Tai said. He looked over to Matt and saw the look of complete distress on his face while Jun had a death grip on his arm. "And I think Jun and Davis could use a ride home, too."
"What about Kari?" Davis asked.
"She'll be alright. She has her cell phone if she gets caught and needs a ride home. Oh, I should call Mom and let her know."
//These guy seem easy-going,// Davis remarked to himself. Somehow, he felt that wasn't completely true, that was something underneath all of this. Most of the reason why he was quite around everyone was because he was trying to figure out what the underline tone in everyone's voice was. Very strange, to hear it in their voices, and not in the strangers passing by.
"How come we haven't seen Yolie today?" he blurted out all of a sudden.
A cold chill swept through all of them, making Davis very still and half- scared.
"Do you guys not like her or something?" Davis questioned.
"Davis . . ." Jun nearly whispered. "I don't think anyone has mentioned Yolie to you yet. How did you know about her?"
" . . . I don't know," Davis shrugged. "I just do. Can we see her?"
Amazed, Jun nodded. She remembered perfectly well from these past days. She hadn't mentioned Yolie and she was positive that no one had either.
In the car, Davis stared out the window, lost in memory. His memory was starting to blur, even if he only had a few days of it. It more like the little details were getting smeared together until only conversations and actions that seemed important stuck out in his mind. There was one that he was trying to grasp, something that he knew he had to remember.
//. . . "I thought you were dead, we all did!"//
The memory pops into his head, nearly making him gasp out loud. //They thought I was dead?? How could that be? All I know is that I woke up with the Guardian and was sent here. . . . Still, everyone says that I should have more of a memory than what I do now, so I guess I have lived more than just a few days. . . . But dead? How could I have been dead and come back to live without realizing it?!//
And as these wild, confused thoughts ran threw his head, on the outside, he looked perfectly fine . . . aside from paling a little bit, but with his face towards the window and everyone else chatting or driving or trying to pry Jun off of Matt, the others didn't notice.
Davis's thoughts skipped back to the present and he remembered Kari. She was so sweet and kind and he would like to get to know much more, even if he was already suppose to know her. But then he felt something in his stomach. It was cold, lifeless, like a void opening up to stuck his being away. His mind flew back to the first day he remembered and how Jun was telling him about his affection towards Kari.
// "I knew it!" she snickered. "You like Kari!" . . . . "I've only met about three, but they mentioned a lot of names, so I'm guessing about eight or ten." //
Those eight or ten were the friends he had questioned about. If just looking at Kari, thinking about her, hurts him so much, then what would it be like when he meets those other seven or nine friends of his?
Well, he's already done that for a few of them. Tai, Matt, and TK, they claim to be his friends. And it was then that he realized what the underline tone was that he heard in everyone's voice. They had all thought him dead, so they were treating him differently. Not that he could blame them, but there was something more. His anxious to run away didn't just come from them acting weird around him. It came from a fear of being hurt. Just thinking of these friends makes him hurt inside, an invisible wound opening up all over again.
By now, Davis was one step away from panicking, though he tried to keep it under control. His hands were a little bit shaky; he was sweating in thin, cold sheets all over his body; and his heart pumped his blood so fast that it seemed to be the only thing that he could hear.
The car stopped in front of a large apartment building and everyone but TK and Matt got out. Davis hardly noticed Matt and the others in a struggle to get Jun off of Matt's arm, which finally ended in Matt telling Jun that he couldn't get to her present if she didn't let go of his arm. As soon as she took the bait, Matt slammed the door and shouted at his father to drive as fast as he could!
"Hey, where's my present?" Jun shouted after the car zooming away.
With a roll of his eyes, Tai sighed at the sure stupidity that seemed to roll of this girl. Not having met Jun's mother, he really didn't know if it was genetic, but he's just glad that it wasn't affecting Davis. Speaking of which. . .
"Davis, are you alright?" he asked, noticing that the boy seemed to be in a deep struggle.
Davis looked up at him and Tai will never forget the look in the boy's eyes. There was confusion and uncertainty running freely in there, but there was hurt, too. He was scared and hurt and didn't know why. It gave Tai a cold-pitted stomach, sucking away his breath.
Davis backed up a little bit, away from everyone, and then looked towards the building. Someone was up there that he remembered. A friend; a true friend, he sensed. But just being around those other friends hurt. How much would a real friend hurt him?
He didn't wait to find out; turning on his heel and mad-dashing to flee the scene. Someone shouted after him, but Davis paid no heed. He didn't care where he was going, but he had to out run the pain.
He had a brief vision, something from his forgotten past. He was running from something else that had tried to trap him, make him feel worthless. Of course, in his state at the time, he already did. But he felt that he wanted to run, so he did. And he kept on running until he found his escape, something big and comforting held him as he was lowered back down to reality.
However, that thing wasn't there and he could only keep running, hoping to find it sooner or later. Maybe it was the Guardian that had helped him, but he had no way of knowing until he remembered-
Something slammed into him and tumbled to the ground . . .
To the Reviews:
Katmon,
I did NOT knock out your Ken-chan! I merely render him unconscious . . . lol. Hey, he fainted, all right? Thank you for your review and I'm really sorry that I missed the deadline. But at least I've updated. Go look at my profile some time and you'll see that there's a few fics that I haven't updated sense a long, long, LONG while back! I'm not even sure that they'll be carried on. Eh. . . . But don't worry about this one! I'm having too much fun to not update it! ;-)
