DISCLAIMER: I don't own.
Chapter Started: 5/1/03 Chapter Finished: 5/3/03
A/N: Holy Cheetos, Batman! Reviews! *Squashes reviewers in hug* Thank You! okay, Hiroshi is a bastaaaaaaaaaaard, okay? Okay! Trust me - and I know I shouldn't be giving this away right now, but - Haku WILL kick his butt! Two four six eight, who do we appreciate??? Haku! Haku! HAKU WILL BE MAKING AN APPEARANCE!!!!!!!!! *gasp, pant, heave* and, yes, Hiroshi does get a bit... "distressed" in this chappy. I know, I'm like - all freaked up about child abuse, and I'm gonna be a social worker when I grow up. Pathetic. My seventh grade health teacher preached about Meth and children for a week, and it's still affecting me. I think that's why I'm so into these hurt- Chihiro-Haku-saves-the-day ficlets. That's pathetic, too.
Am I pathetic or what?
Okay, okay. I was halfway through this chapter (Chappy 3) when I was hit with Writers' Block, so I got up to get something to eat. And, being the moron that I am, I didn't save ONCE! And I have a little furry beast that came and I don't know what he hit, but it rebooted my computer. Aargh, so I have to rewrite this Chappy and it'll be posted a bit late. *sweatdrop* also, I changed one thing in the last chap: Chihiro's birthday is in one more week, not five months. =^_^= I'm not about to write five months' worth of boring chapters just to get to her birthday, ya? The major AU as in MAJOR TOTALLY AU THAT IT ALMOST ISN'T FUNNY I will warn you about. You'll have to forgive me, I know you won't like it. but hey, there's nothing wrong with giving Chihiro mental powers then having some moron psychiatrist ruin them, ya? So there's nothing wrong with an AU.
Ten minutes after the last chap
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"Guess what?" Chihiro demanded, taking off her shoes so that she could splash her feet happily in the river. "I think that I might have made some friends!" smiling, she held her shoes to her chest and walked downstream a little, where the rapids really hit. The stones went all the way across, so she could get to the other side. but first she took her hair out, unbraiding it so that it fell in crimps around her jaw and cheeks.
Chihiro began her journey across, being careful of the slippery stones. Right in the middle, she slipped a little and dropped a shoe. It went down to another rock not to far downstream, and bobbed there, held up on some green weed stuff growing on the rock.
"Oh, poo," Chihiro said, and flung her other shoe to the other side. then she put one foot on one rock, then the other on a different rock so that she was close to doing the splits, and she leaned out, balancing herself by placing her fingers on a smaller rock in front of the one that held her shoe. Biting her tongue, Chihiro leaned out as far as she dared, reaching to touch her pink shoe. . . abruptly she slipped with a scream, and knocked her shoe out. She watched it go down the stream before her head ducked under the water, and she was pulled into the rapids. Her back knocked against something hard, and she made a sound, and water poured into her mouth and nose, flooding her stomach.
She was sinking. And Chihiro knew she'd drown.
She wasn't even scared. 'so this is how it all ends - not so painful. . .' she thought, opening her eyes wide. Her fingers closed around a things hard - horns? And her clothe-less body bumped onto something silky, wet, and her thighs automatically closed around it. she peered ahead, and saw the nose of her rescuer... a dragon? Was she dreaming? Was she dead?
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she was laying face- first in shallow water. Coughing, Chihiro sat up immediately, and saw she was on the side she had started on, except further downstream. She choked again, then threw up, quaking all over. Her clothes clung to her, and she shivered in the wind.
She looked over her shoulder. "Kohaku?" she asked softly. She spotted her shoe that she had thrown on the other bank, way upstream, a tiny pink dot.
She realized she wasn't dead, fully, completely realized it. it had been so peaceful. . . Chihiro began to cry. She beat the ground with her little fists, and just cried harder. "Why, why, why, why ,WHY, WHY?!?" She demanded. She looked around, jumped to her feet, and ignoring her lightheadedness, she ran to the nearest tree and pummeled it. more tears fell with each hit, partly from the pain that was being inflicted on her hands and partly out of pain because she would have to continue living.
She screamed at the tree, and at an invisible Hiroshi, and an invisible Kimiko, and invisible parents. She cursed the world and everything in it, using language a bit dirty for a young lady.
Finally, Chihiro collapsed, sporting her bruised and bleeding knuckles, putting her forehead against the tree, sobbing harder then ever. After a while, she drowsily apologized to the tree, to her invisible parents, to the world and everything in it, and carefully picked the slivers out of her knuckles. Once that was done, she drowsily crawled to the Kohaku River and placed her hands in, washing the blood away. they hurt, but her physical pain would never compare with her emotional turmoil.
"Kohaku," she whispered. "I want to live. . . but I want to die, too. What am I going to do?" a bird dove into the water, creating a splash, and escaped with a fish, splashing Chihiro's damp face. She wiped the water and her tears away. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I've just been really stupid, and really bad." She sighed. "I'm sorry," she repeated for the third time, "for being mean to you all, especially you, Kohaku. I- I guess I'd better go and get home. It's getting dark, and I don't want to piss Hiroshi off any more than I should."
She got to her feet, still lightheaded, still drowsy, and made her way out. She was barefoot, and didn't want to bother with trying to get her not-lost shoe. Hiroshi would love it - her feet all bloody from walking on the rocks and stuff (they were already stinging painfully and red was leaving little spots), tired, worn out, and lightheaded. She wouldn't even be able to squirm, and he'd be delighted to get her in trouble for this, then play the game with her, then punish her.
He always did. More excuses meant lesser punishments, though.
So Chihiro trekked home. By the time she opened the door, her hair was frazzled out, her feet really were bleeding and hurting like hel, and she was even more tired then before. She hoped she would be able to wash out her mouth first before Hiroshi caught her.
He wasn't home. Walking carefully on her knees and elbows, Chihiro got upstairs and washed her hands and feet thoroughly. Then she brushed her hair, and having learned how to not too long ago, she French-braided it down the left and right side of her head. Hiroshi would have a harder time pulling it, then.
With a sigh, she washed her face again, then changed her clothes, put on a pair of socks, then went downstairs.
She was sitting on the couch hunched up and almost asleep when Hiroshi finally returned. He found Chihiro immediately, and his face contorted into a sneer.
"Konicheewa imouto," he said sweetly. Chihiro stumbled to her feet and bowed.
Hiroshi's hands snapped out and she was lifted painfully by her wrists and thrown on her stomach on the ground.
"Your Sensei spoke to me about the game, Chihiro-chan," he hissed in her ear, placing a knee forcefully on her back. "she wanted to know if you were being abused. Do you know what I told her?"
"... N- No, Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro whispered, voice muffled by the carpet.
"I told her the game was just a way to teach you your ABC's when you were littler, and that your tutor gave you a treat if you did it right and she scolded you if you got it wrong. Your Sensei fell for it." he forcefully turned Chihiro's head, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. "did you really think it would be that easy, imouto? That some social worker would come and save you by taking me away to jail? Guess what: it's not that easy. Nobody will believe you, should you tell them. And you're just going to be punished even harder with each word you utter in public." He flipped her over onto her back, and Chihiro whimpered.
"I know you spoke, and I'm going to guess you said two hundred words all together. But since I'm feeling nice, I'll only consider it one hundred. So your mouth will have to be punished one hundred times for each word; and your mind will have to be punished......... five times, hard, for thinking of speaking; and you, Chihiro Ogino, will be punished three times harder for making me late and speaking to that rotten btich, and for talking back." He picked her up by her bruised wrists and arms, and threw her onto the kitchen floor, which wasn't carpeted.
He grabbed her head and slammed his knee down on her chest, effectively knocking the air from her rib cage. He closed his fingers firmly around her forehead, digging his finger nails into her temples enough to bring blood, and banged her head down on the floor. Chihiro squawked and cried out, tears flowing. "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai onii-sama!" she wailed out as he slammed her head down again. "I won't ever speak without your permission again, I promise! Gomen, gomen!" he slammed it down again, bringing blood this time. Chihiro's eyesight went blurred for a second, and she saw double. "Please, PLEASE onii-sama, Hiroshi-sama, stop, please! I am a bad girl BAD girl! Gomen nasai, I am sorry, I am sorry!" she shrieked as he brought it down again. "I WILL NEVER SPEAK AGAIN, GOMEN NASAI, GOMAN NASAI!" She screamed, sobbing harder then ever, and everything went distorted as he brought her head down for the final and fifth time. Chihiro sobbed and writhed beneath him, and he allowed her to reach up and clutch the back of her head, hair matted with blood.
"I told you that your head would be punished five times," he said sweetly. "and now it's time to punish your mouth, one hundred times."
"NO!" Chihiro sobbed, wishing that darkness would just take her. Hiroshi's knee temporarily left her chest, but she only curled into a ball from the pain, clutching her head. Why was she still alive? Last time her had done this, she had passed into blackness the third time! Why wouldn't she die? Why wouldn't she die? Why wouldn't she die?
"SHUT UP," Hiroshi called, and flattened her body. He slammed his knee into her rib cage once more, knocking the air out of her once more. But he let her keep her fingers around her head in pain. Inwardly, Hiroshi was impressed she wasn't in shock yet.
Forcing her jaw open, Hiroshi slammed a bar of soap in.
Chihiro choked, and tried to get it out, but it wouldn't budge. It tasted awful, and she had the strangest feeling to throw up. He forced it in so far that her jaw ached and she choked, unable to swallow.
Then it began. First he smacked her cheeks, counting out loud for her.
Each cheek was hit ten times each before Hiroshi yanked her arms down, then resumed. Fifteen more times, then sixteenth hit was to her chin.
Chihiro was screaming by now, tears coursing down in endless rivers, jaw aching terribly, still unable to swallow. "Sixty-four more to go," he murmured, a sick sense of joy in his voice. Chihiro cried harder.
He ripped the soap out, and Chihiro choked, coughed, then swallowed before coughing and spitting.
"Ready?" before Chihiro had a chance to do anything else, he was hitting her face again, and again, and again, and again. She was well aware that we was only hitting hard enough to leave a red mark each time, but all of those red marks together were going to make some pretty big bruises. He began counting, over Chihiro's screams, once more.
"Fifty-six, fifty-seven-fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one, sixty- two, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five!" it continued like this, all the way to eighty-five. Then he stopped for a rest again, and Chihiro searched in vain for a way to make him stop.
"You'll kill me!" she cried. "any more and you'll kill me!"
Great idea, Chihiro. Have you forgotten he WANTS you dead?
"Please, Onii-sama, please stop," she whispered. To her shock, he did.
Or maybe it was the ringing phone.
Chihiro wasted no time in struggling to her feet, and stumbling slowly away for the kitchen counter. She climbed the drawers just like she used to when she was little, and stopped to rest and cry at the window. She choked and forced herself to calm down, though, when she heard something.
Hiroshi.
"W- wait a second, dad. This is - this is j- just a joke, r- right?" Chihiro heard the distress in her voice, and she felt a sick sense of satisfaction. She was only a little unhappy at herself for this. "n- no. okay." His voice broke completely. "w- we'll be there. B- bye."
Chihiro tried to reassemble herself and open the window, but Hiroshi was already in there. He looked like he was trying not to cry.
And, oh god, Chihiro thought. She wanted to hate him, so much. She wanted to hate Hiroshi beyond all belief and watch him die, but she found herself wondering how to comfort him as he carried her into the bathroom and cleaned her up.
"What happened?" she whispered after a while.
"M- mom," Hiroshi said, and his voice broke again. Chihiro could see tears in his eyes.
'good!' she thought. 'I hope he dies in misery! His deserves it, he deserves it!' she reached up and wiped a lone tear away. 'STOP IT CHIHIRO, HE DESERVES TO SUFFER!' now Chihiro wanted to hate herself, too.
He redressed her, cleaned her up, then carried her out to his car. She immediately passed out in the back seat.
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When she woke up again, she was laying in a white bed. A doctor - as far as she could see - was there, but that was it.
"E- escuse me?" she asked softly, trying to sit up. But pain wracked her entire body and she fell back down with a squeak, tears beginning to fall.
"Be careful, Ogino," the doctor said, scurrying over.
"Where am I?" Chihiro asked after she was coherent and the pain was just a soreness.
"The hospital. You look like you've taken a pretty bad beating - almost lost you."
"Where's my momma and daddy?"
"Mr. Ogino is with your brother, and they are with your mother. I would really like you to see her, Lord knows that you need to, deserve to, but I can't unless you get hurt any more."
"Why can't they come here?"
He sighed. "Miss Ogino, this may be hard for you to take... your mother is very, very ill, and has a baby girl - HAD - a baby girl in her tummy. But something has gone terribly, terribly wrong, and she's had your sister early. She was given a private choice; herself or her baby. She chose her baby, and right now, she is," he paused. "she is dying."
Chihiro looked up at him. "No she isn't," she said bluntly. "and if I can't see my family, can I see my baby sister? What did momma and daddy name her? Is she sleeping? What does she look like?"
The doctor sigh. "I don't think you're grasping how serious this is. Your baby sister's name is Hikari. I think, at least. She is fine - looks just like you, I imagine. We believe that SHE will pull through the night. But your mother is *dying* and even though we are doing everything we can, we," he sighed. "won't be able to keep her alive in time for the nearest hospital to ship some blood that has her same blood type. That's hard to explain - the fact is, we do not think that she will survive."
"Yes, momma will survive," Chihiro explained, unsure as to why the doctor was looking more and more distressed every time she said something. Was she saying something bad? "Momma had me and momma had Hiroshi, so momma had Hikari and momma is still alive."
"But your mother won't be alive for LONG!" the doctor said. "she is going to be DEAD soon!"
Chihiro stared at him.
"Can I see her?" she'd have to show him that Yuuko was still alive.
He sighed heavily again. "sure," he said at last. What he really wanted to know was how Chihiro had gotten beat up so badly. But he used a board to transport her to a moveable bed, and pushed her out of the room and down to the end of the hall, then the first floor, and took her to a room.
Inside, Akio was sitting by a bed, smoothing the blankets needlessly, tears in his eyes, and Hiroshi was holding Yuuko's hand. Yuuko looked half asleep, and was trying to say something, but Akio was shushing her.
"Momma!" Chihiro said as the doctor wheeled her bed next to Yuuko's. after a few words with Akio, she was lifted with a board again and got to lay next to Yuuko. The many things in her mother's body and how weak and strained she looked scared Chihiro, and she wrapped her arms around Yuuko as best she could, feeling how frail her mother was.
"Momma, what happened to you?" she whispered as Yuuko tried to brush her daughter's hair but just lay her hand on Chihiro's head.
"Sweetheart, you look like you fell down a cliff," she said in a cracked, weak voice.
"No, I fell down the stairs at school. Three stories! That's why I'm in the hospital here with you." she replied, trying to sound happy but failing miserably. "what happened to you?"
"I'm okay, honey," Yuuko said softly. "where's Hikari?"
"The doctors have her," Akio said, smoothing the blankets again. "they think that she'll pull through the night - she survived the day, right?"
"Mmm," Yuuko sighed.
"Go to sleep, Mom," Hiroshi said. "we'll stay here with you. and when you wake up, you'll be all better," his voice broke. "and we can all go home and be a family again." Chihiro buried her face in Yuuko's hair, or where it should have been.
"Momma, your hair got cut!" she cried. "it's so short!"
"I know honey," Yuuko mumbled. "I'm sorry I'm so weak and tired right now. How did your first day of school go?"
"It was good," Chihiro squeaked. Yuuko closed her eyes.
"Sleep, "Akio told her. "I love her, Yuuko," he continued softly.
"I love you, mom," Hiroshi added.
Chihiro hugged Yuuko closer. "I love you, mommy, lots and lots, so you have ta wake up cause the doctor said your gonna die but you're NOT your not gonna die, momma, you're gonna wake up, okay, everything is gonna be okay, and we can take Hikari home, and she can sleep in my room if she bothers you, momma," she broke down and cried as Yuuko closed her eyes. "no, mommy," she cried. "don't go to sleep! You might not wake up, so you hafta not go to sleep!"
"Why did you choose Hikari over us?" Hiroshi asked quietly. "you could be in better shape than this, mom."
"Don't worry, it's just a little nap," Yuuko whispered. "tale good care of Hikari-chan, she's only a baby. I couldn't end her life, never, I love you all. Why are you so frantic?" her voice faded off. "it's just a nap..."
"Will she make it through the night?" Akio demanded, taking Yuuko's hand. He ran a finger over the tape and needles covering her skin, and listened to the bleeping of the heart monitor, not wanting to take his eyes off his wife, but wanting to make sure the screen wouldn't go into a sharp wine.
"we don't think she will," the doctor said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"NO! there is a difference between 'think' and 'know' Doc, you have to save her, do something!"
"There is NOTHING more we can do until we get the blood from the nearest hospital that has it! none of you have her same blood type, and all other patents here are wounded! Now, I ran a blood test on Miss Ogino Chihiro, and she has the same, but look at her! Neither would survive."
"I can help?" Chihiro asked. "I wanna make momma better!"
"You can't," the doctor started, but Hiroshi broke. "Yes she can! She's got blood, and plenty of it!"
"She is too young! She is wounded! Now, maybe is she was a few years older and not so worn and hadn't lost so much blood already, then, maybe, there might have been a chance! And what happened to her?"
"She fell down the stairs at her school, and passed out in the car, you heard her!" Hiroshi shouted. "dad, tell him! Chihiro can save mom!"
Akio didn't say anything. He covered his face in his hands and groaned. "I don't know what to do," he moaned.
"JUST SIGN SOME FRIGGING PAPERS!" Chihiro's brother cried. "DAD, JUST SIGN SOME FREAKING PAPERS AND CHIHIRO CAN SAVE MOM!"
"Now just WAIT A SECOND!" The doctor broke. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that!"
Hiroshi looked at his little sister. "This is all your fault!" he shouted, beginning to cry angrily.
"Now, she didn't do anything!" Mr. Doctor broke in.
"That's right - this is all Hikari's fault!"
"What did the newborn baby do?" the doctor challenged back.
"STOP IT!" Chihiro shrieked. "I wanna help mommy, I wanna help mommy!"
"You are too young and too hurt," the doctor said, trying to remain calm for the little girl's sake. "and it would not last long. One can only give so much blood, especially as a child at a young age. You can not, I am very sorry."
"What about Hikari?" Hiroshi exploded. "what's her blood type?"
"We don't know that yet. At least, I don't."
"Then find out! She can do it!"
"Hikari is a newborn baby! She could NOT donate any of her blood, no! do you WANT her dead?"
"THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!!!"
"SHUT UP!" Akio roared, and everybody looked at him. "you'll wake her up," he continued shakily. "Hiroshi, just accept it. by the time this god forsaken hospital gets the blood they have so CONVENIANTLY run out of, your mother will be dead, and that's that. Go... go do some homework or something. Go to school."
"Dad, how can you just sit there! I'll drive to the next hospital and get it myself!"
"The mail would be faster," Akio said.
Chihiro shook her head. She took a deep breath and sat up, hugging Yuuko's hand to her for a moment. She wanted more than anything to help Yuuko, and she had the potential to. "I want to save momma," she said quietly, then, in a louder voice, "I want to see my sister."
The doctor pushed a buzzer, and a couple of nurses came running in.
"Take this girl to the nursery," the doctor told one of them, handing a clipboard to the other. "her baby sister is Ogino Hikari."
"Yes, doctor," the nurse said, then her eyebrows shot up when she looked at Chihiro.
"are you sure that is wise?" she asked. "the girl looks to be in terrible physical state..."
"She isn't bleeding internally or anywhere else any more, and the antibiotics are taking affect. Her mother," he added, jerking his head to Yuuko. The nurse understood immediately and picked Chihiro up.
"So you're Ogino?" she asked, walking out and down the hall to an elevator. Fifth floor. "what happened to you?"
"I fell down the stairs," Chihiro explained flatly, wondering how the fact that this nurse had a bust the size of Tokyo was possible. "don't you think your shirt is a little too tight?"
she laughed as they walked into the room. She set Chihiro down and went to a window, talking through it to an old woman.
"Chihiro?" asked an incredulous voice. Chihiro looked up quickly, and her jaw dropped momentarily when she saw Rumi, Makoto, Minako, two men and a woman, and a girl that must have been Rei.
Then, remembering before she passed out in the car, she looked down again.
"Hi Mako-chan, Rumi-chan," she muttered.
"Oh yes, and this is Mina-chan - you didn't get to meet her properly, and this is our older sister Rei-chan. That man there is our real father, and that man THERE is our step-father, and that is our step-mother." She got up from where she was sitting and pushed her head up. "you've been crying, and you look terrible," she announced.
"What happened?" Makoto asked, kneeling in front of her.
"I fell down the stairs."
"Ouch," Minako put in. "I did that once, and I didn't look a thing like you."
"Well, I fell down a lotta stairs." Chihiro took a deep breath. "what are you doing here?"
"Seeing our new baby brother," Mako-chan said. "what are YOU doing here? Looks like you need to be in the Code Blue ward, or whatever they call it."
"Stop crowding her," Rei cut in. "hi, I'm Rei. You must be the Ogino girl I've heard so much about. My name is Rei - and you must call me Rei-chan, of course."
"Okay."
"Miss Ogino? Are you ready to see your sister now?"
"Oh, yeah," Chihiro said. "I gotta go, guys." She ran over to the nurse, who bent down and murmured, "she isn't here like I thought she'd be - she's in a different place. in the same hallway as your mother, in fact."
"Oh. Okay. Can I see her, then?"
the nurse bit her lip. "I'm not sure. We'll go see if you can, okay? They usually make it so that young children can't come in rooms like those."
"Okay. Let's go." The nurse picked her up, flashed a toothy smile at Rumi and Co., then took Chihiro back to the floor they had started on, and down a hall.
They entered a room that had two doctors in it already, and they were crouched quietly over what looked like a plastic see-through box.
"Excuse me, doctors?" the nurse asked. "Can we see Ogino Hikari?"
One of them looked up and came over.
"Not the girl," she said.
"But this is Ogino's older sister. She's not allowed to see her mother, you know."
The doctor sighed.
"A small look," she said. "I think that she will make it through the night. She has a much higher chance of living now," the nurse carried Chihiro over to the plastic see-through box.
Chihiro gasped.
There was her new baby sister, laying there on her back, in just a diaper. A piece of tape held some needles poked in her skin, and a heart monitor gave off a steady bleep.
"Is this Hikari?" Chihiro asked. the doctors and nurse nodded.
"Yes. This is your sister."
"She's so small! Can I give her a hug? I think she needs a hug."
"No, I'm sorry. If you gave her a hug right now, it might hurt her really, really bad. If you wash your hands, you can hold hers, though, if you like."
"I want to!" Chihiro washed her hands, then they let her reach in and stroke the skin along Hikari's arm before poking a finger into her tiny palm.
"So little," she breathed. "Are all babies this little?"
"No, Miss Ogino, they aren't supposed to be."
"So why is Hikari so short?"
"She was born prematurely, dear. She wasn't supposed to come out of your mother's tummy for another month."
"Is that why she and my momma are so sick?"
"Yes, among others."
Hikari made a little sound and stirred a little bit.
"You have a very beautiful sister, Miss Ogino."
"I know."
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A/N: Rei, Minako, and Makoto are all from Sailor Moon, so I'll have the next chap posted later tonight. Just hang around! =^_^= poor Yuuko and Hikari and Akio and Chihiro. I'm still toying with the idea of feeling sorry for Hiroshi, but I don't think I do. He's such a no-good little moron. And poor, poor, poor Chihiro. I GUARANTEE you that she's got it harder from here on in. but so does Hikari.
I know EXACTLY how Chihiro and Haku are going to meet, so never you worry! And Haku will save the day.
Pathetic. Haku always saves the day in my ficlets.
ANYHOOT, it'll still be a while. I'm going to make my chaps longer or shorter, and I'm going to make a couple of minor time jumps (i.e. the next day... that night... the week passed in a blur...) etc., etc., you get my point. I'm practically quivering with excitement for that fateful scene when Haku and Chihiro meet! *giggles nervously* but I have to warn you ahead of time: AU. As in, this is AU AUTHOR'S UNIVERSE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE whatever you want to call it, THIS IS AU. So, knowing that, you'll understand my motives behind Haku and Chihiro. Okay? Okay.
Next chap soon. Literally. I can't believe I said that whole stupid double- post thing. Just stick around tonight.
Chapter Started: 5/1/03 Chapter Finished: 5/3/03
A/N: Holy Cheetos, Batman! Reviews! *Squashes reviewers in hug* Thank You! okay, Hiroshi is a bastaaaaaaaaaaard, okay? Okay! Trust me - and I know I shouldn't be giving this away right now, but - Haku WILL kick his butt! Two four six eight, who do we appreciate??? Haku! Haku! HAKU WILL BE MAKING AN APPEARANCE!!!!!!!!! *gasp, pant, heave* and, yes, Hiroshi does get a bit... "distressed" in this chappy. I know, I'm like - all freaked up about child abuse, and I'm gonna be a social worker when I grow up. Pathetic. My seventh grade health teacher preached about Meth and children for a week, and it's still affecting me. I think that's why I'm so into these hurt- Chihiro-Haku-saves-the-day ficlets. That's pathetic, too.
Am I pathetic or what?
Okay, okay. I was halfway through this chapter (Chappy 3) when I was hit with Writers' Block, so I got up to get something to eat. And, being the moron that I am, I didn't save ONCE! And I have a little furry beast that came and I don't know what he hit, but it rebooted my computer. Aargh, so I have to rewrite this Chappy and it'll be posted a bit late. *sweatdrop* also, I changed one thing in the last chap: Chihiro's birthday is in one more week, not five months. =^_^= I'm not about to write five months' worth of boring chapters just to get to her birthday, ya? The major AU as in MAJOR TOTALLY AU THAT IT ALMOST ISN'T FUNNY I will warn you about. You'll have to forgive me, I know you won't like it. but hey, there's nothing wrong with giving Chihiro mental powers then having some moron psychiatrist ruin them, ya? So there's nothing wrong with an AU.
Ten minutes after the last chap
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"Guess what?" Chihiro demanded, taking off her shoes so that she could splash her feet happily in the river. "I think that I might have made some friends!" smiling, she held her shoes to her chest and walked downstream a little, where the rapids really hit. The stones went all the way across, so she could get to the other side. but first she took her hair out, unbraiding it so that it fell in crimps around her jaw and cheeks.
Chihiro began her journey across, being careful of the slippery stones. Right in the middle, she slipped a little and dropped a shoe. It went down to another rock not to far downstream, and bobbed there, held up on some green weed stuff growing on the rock.
"Oh, poo," Chihiro said, and flung her other shoe to the other side. then she put one foot on one rock, then the other on a different rock so that she was close to doing the splits, and she leaned out, balancing herself by placing her fingers on a smaller rock in front of the one that held her shoe. Biting her tongue, Chihiro leaned out as far as she dared, reaching to touch her pink shoe. . . abruptly she slipped with a scream, and knocked her shoe out. She watched it go down the stream before her head ducked under the water, and she was pulled into the rapids. Her back knocked against something hard, and she made a sound, and water poured into her mouth and nose, flooding her stomach.
She was sinking. And Chihiro knew she'd drown.
She wasn't even scared. 'so this is how it all ends - not so painful. . .' she thought, opening her eyes wide. Her fingers closed around a things hard - horns? And her clothe-less body bumped onto something silky, wet, and her thighs automatically closed around it. she peered ahead, and saw the nose of her rescuer... a dragon? Was she dreaming? Was she dead?
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she was laying face- first in shallow water. Coughing, Chihiro sat up immediately, and saw she was on the side she had started on, except further downstream. She choked again, then threw up, quaking all over. Her clothes clung to her, and she shivered in the wind.
She looked over her shoulder. "Kohaku?" she asked softly. She spotted her shoe that she had thrown on the other bank, way upstream, a tiny pink dot.
She realized she wasn't dead, fully, completely realized it. it had been so peaceful. . . Chihiro began to cry. She beat the ground with her little fists, and just cried harder. "Why, why, why, why ,WHY, WHY?!?" She demanded. She looked around, jumped to her feet, and ignoring her lightheadedness, she ran to the nearest tree and pummeled it. more tears fell with each hit, partly from the pain that was being inflicted on her hands and partly out of pain because she would have to continue living.
She screamed at the tree, and at an invisible Hiroshi, and an invisible Kimiko, and invisible parents. She cursed the world and everything in it, using language a bit dirty for a young lady.
Finally, Chihiro collapsed, sporting her bruised and bleeding knuckles, putting her forehead against the tree, sobbing harder then ever. After a while, she drowsily apologized to the tree, to her invisible parents, to the world and everything in it, and carefully picked the slivers out of her knuckles. Once that was done, she drowsily crawled to the Kohaku River and placed her hands in, washing the blood away. they hurt, but her physical pain would never compare with her emotional turmoil.
"Kohaku," she whispered. "I want to live. . . but I want to die, too. What am I going to do?" a bird dove into the water, creating a splash, and escaped with a fish, splashing Chihiro's damp face. She wiped the water and her tears away. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I've just been really stupid, and really bad." She sighed. "I'm sorry," she repeated for the third time, "for being mean to you all, especially you, Kohaku. I- I guess I'd better go and get home. It's getting dark, and I don't want to piss Hiroshi off any more than I should."
She got to her feet, still lightheaded, still drowsy, and made her way out. She was barefoot, and didn't want to bother with trying to get her not-lost shoe. Hiroshi would love it - her feet all bloody from walking on the rocks and stuff (they were already stinging painfully and red was leaving little spots), tired, worn out, and lightheaded. She wouldn't even be able to squirm, and he'd be delighted to get her in trouble for this, then play the game with her, then punish her.
He always did. More excuses meant lesser punishments, though.
So Chihiro trekked home. By the time she opened the door, her hair was frazzled out, her feet really were bleeding and hurting like hel, and she was even more tired then before. She hoped she would be able to wash out her mouth first before Hiroshi caught her.
He wasn't home. Walking carefully on her knees and elbows, Chihiro got upstairs and washed her hands and feet thoroughly. Then she brushed her hair, and having learned how to not too long ago, she French-braided it down the left and right side of her head. Hiroshi would have a harder time pulling it, then.
With a sigh, she washed her face again, then changed her clothes, put on a pair of socks, then went downstairs.
She was sitting on the couch hunched up and almost asleep when Hiroshi finally returned. He found Chihiro immediately, and his face contorted into a sneer.
"Konicheewa imouto," he said sweetly. Chihiro stumbled to her feet and bowed.
Hiroshi's hands snapped out and she was lifted painfully by her wrists and thrown on her stomach on the ground.
"Your Sensei spoke to me about the game, Chihiro-chan," he hissed in her ear, placing a knee forcefully on her back. "she wanted to know if you were being abused. Do you know what I told her?"
"... N- No, Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro whispered, voice muffled by the carpet.
"I told her the game was just a way to teach you your ABC's when you were littler, and that your tutor gave you a treat if you did it right and she scolded you if you got it wrong. Your Sensei fell for it." he forcefully turned Chihiro's head, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. "did you really think it would be that easy, imouto? That some social worker would come and save you by taking me away to jail? Guess what: it's not that easy. Nobody will believe you, should you tell them. And you're just going to be punished even harder with each word you utter in public." He flipped her over onto her back, and Chihiro whimpered.
"I know you spoke, and I'm going to guess you said two hundred words all together. But since I'm feeling nice, I'll only consider it one hundred. So your mouth will have to be punished one hundred times for each word; and your mind will have to be punished......... five times, hard, for thinking of speaking; and you, Chihiro Ogino, will be punished three times harder for making me late and speaking to that rotten btich, and for talking back." He picked her up by her bruised wrists and arms, and threw her onto the kitchen floor, which wasn't carpeted.
He grabbed her head and slammed his knee down on her chest, effectively knocking the air from her rib cage. He closed his fingers firmly around her forehead, digging his finger nails into her temples enough to bring blood, and banged her head down on the floor. Chihiro squawked and cried out, tears flowing. "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai onii-sama!" she wailed out as he slammed her head down again. "I won't ever speak without your permission again, I promise! Gomen, gomen!" he slammed it down again, bringing blood this time. Chihiro's eyesight went blurred for a second, and she saw double. "Please, PLEASE onii-sama, Hiroshi-sama, stop, please! I am a bad girl BAD girl! Gomen nasai, I am sorry, I am sorry!" she shrieked as he brought it down again. "I WILL NEVER SPEAK AGAIN, GOMEN NASAI, GOMAN NASAI!" She screamed, sobbing harder then ever, and everything went distorted as he brought her head down for the final and fifth time. Chihiro sobbed and writhed beneath him, and he allowed her to reach up and clutch the back of her head, hair matted with blood.
"I told you that your head would be punished five times," he said sweetly. "and now it's time to punish your mouth, one hundred times."
"NO!" Chihiro sobbed, wishing that darkness would just take her. Hiroshi's knee temporarily left her chest, but she only curled into a ball from the pain, clutching her head. Why was she still alive? Last time her had done this, she had passed into blackness the third time! Why wouldn't she die? Why wouldn't she die? Why wouldn't she die?
"SHUT UP," Hiroshi called, and flattened her body. He slammed his knee into her rib cage once more, knocking the air out of her once more. But he let her keep her fingers around her head in pain. Inwardly, Hiroshi was impressed she wasn't in shock yet.
Forcing her jaw open, Hiroshi slammed a bar of soap in.
Chihiro choked, and tried to get it out, but it wouldn't budge. It tasted awful, and she had the strangest feeling to throw up. He forced it in so far that her jaw ached and she choked, unable to swallow.
Then it began. First he smacked her cheeks, counting out loud for her.
Each cheek was hit ten times each before Hiroshi yanked her arms down, then resumed. Fifteen more times, then sixteenth hit was to her chin.
Chihiro was screaming by now, tears coursing down in endless rivers, jaw aching terribly, still unable to swallow. "Sixty-four more to go," he murmured, a sick sense of joy in his voice. Chihiro cried harder.
He ripped the soap out, and Chihiro choked, coughed, then swallowed before coughing and spitting.
"Ready?" before Chihiro had a chance to do anything else, he was hitting her face again, and again, and again, and again. She was well aware that we was only hitting hard enough to leave a red mark each time, but all of those red marks together were going to make some pretty big bruises. He began counting, over Chihiro's screams, once more.
"Fifty-six, fifty-seven-fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one, sixty- two, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five!" it continued like this, all the way to eighty-five. Then he stopped for a rest again, and Chihiro searched in vain for a way to make him stop.
"You'll kill me!" she cried. "any more and you'll kill me!"
Great idea, Chihiro. Have you forgotten he WANTS you dead?
"Please, Onii-sama, please stop," she whispered. To her shock, he did.
Or maybe it was the ringing phone.
Chihiro wasted no time in struggling to her feet, and stumbling slowly away for the kitchen counter. She climbed the drawers just like she used to when she was little, and stopped to rest and cry at the window. She choked and forced herself to calm down, though, when she heard something.
Hiroshi.
"W- wait a second, dad. This is - this is j- just a joke, r- right?" Chihiro heard the distress in her voice, and she felt a sick sense of satisfaction. She was only a little unhappy at herself for this. "n- no. okay." His voice broke completely. "w- we'll be there. B- bye."
Chihiro tried to reassemble herself and open the window, but Hiroshi was already in there. He looked like he was trying not to cry.
And, oh god, Chihiro thought. She wanted to hate him, so much. She wanted to hate Hiroshi beyond all belief and watch him die, but she found herself wondering how to comfort him as he carried her into the bathroom and cleaned her up.
"What happened?" she whispered after a while.
"M- mom," Hiroshi said, and his voice broke again. Chihiro could see tears in his eyes.
'good!' she thought. 'I hope he dies in misery! His deserves it, he deserves it!' she reached up and wiped a lone tear away. 'STOP IT CHIHIRO, HE DESERVES TO SUFFER!' now Chihiro wanted to hate herself, too.
He redressed her, cleaned her up, then carried her out to his car. She immediately passed out in the back seat.
.
When she woke up again, she was laying in a white bed. A doctor - as far as she could see - was there, but that was it.
"E- escuse me?" she asked softly, trying to sit up. But pain wracked her entire body and she fell back down with a squeak, tears beginning to fall.
"Be careful, Ogino," the doctor said, scurrying over.
"Where am I?" Chihiro asked after she was coherent and the pain was just a soreness.
"The hospital. You look like you've taken a pretty bad beating - almost lost you."
"Where's my momma and daddy?"
"Mr. Ogino is with your brother, and they are with your mother. I would really like you to see her, Lord knows that you need to, deserve to, but I can't unless you get hurt any more."
"Why can't they come here?"
He sighed. "Miss Ogino, this may be hard for you to take... your mother is very, very ill, and has a baby girl - HAD - a baby girl in her tummy. But something has gone terribly, terribly wrong, and she's had your sister early. She was given a private choice; herself or her baby. She chose her baby, and right now, she is," he paused. "she is dying."
Chihiro looked up at him. "No she isn't," she said bluntly. "and if I can't see my family, can I see my baby sister? What did momma and daddy name her? Is she sleeping? What does she look like?"
The doctor sigh. "I don't think you're grasping how serious this is. Your baby sister's name is Hikari. I think, at least. She is fine - looks just like you, I imagine. We believe that SHE will pull through the night. But your mother is *dying* and even though we are doing everything we can, we," he sighed. "won't be able to keep her alive in time for the nearest hospital to ship some blood that has her same blood type. That's hard to explain - the fact is, we do not think that she will survive."
"Yes, momma will survive," Chihiro explained, unsure as to why the doctor was looking more and more distressed every time she said something. Was she saying something bad? "Momma had me and momma had Hiroshi, so momma had Hikari and momma is still alive."
"But your mother won't be alive for LONG!" the doctor said. "she is going to be DEAD soon!"
Chihiro stared at him.
"Can I see her?" she'd have to show him that Yuuko was still alive.
He sighed heavily again. "sure," he said at last. What he really wanted to know was how Chihiro had gotten beat up so badly. But he used a board to transport her to a moveable bed, and pushed her out of the room and down to the end of the hall, then the first floor, and took her to a room.
Inside, Akio was sitting by a bed, smoothing the blankets needlessly, tears in his eyes, and Hiroshi was holding Yuuko's hand. Yuuko looked half asleep, and was trying to say something, but Akio was shushing her.
"Momma!" Chihiro said as the doctor wheeled her bed next to Yuuko's. after a few words with Akio, she was lifted with a board again and got to lay next to Yuuko. The many things in her mother's body and how weak and strained she looked scared Chihiro, and she wrapped her arms around Yuuko as best she could, feeling how frail her mother was.
"Momma, what happened to you?" she whispered as Yuuko tried to brush her daughter's hair but just lay her hand on Chihiro's head.
"Sweetheart, you look like you fell down a cliff," she said in a cracked, weak voice.
"No, I fell down the stairs at school. Three stories! That's why I'm in the hospital here with you." she replied, trying to sound happy but failing miserably. "what happened to you?"
"I'm okay, honey," Yuuko said softly. "where's Hikari?"
"The doctors have her," Akio said, smoothing the blankets again. "they think that she'll pull through the night - she survived the day, right?"
"Mmm," Yuuko sighed.
"Go to sleep, Mom," Hiroshi said. "we'll stay here with you. and when you wake up, you'll be all better," his voice broke. "and we can all go home and be a family again." Chihiro buried her face in Yuuko's hair, or where it should have been.
"Momma, your hair got cut!" she cried. "it's so short!"
"I know honey," Yuuko mumbled. "I'm sorry I'm so weak and tired right now. How did your first day of school go?"
"It was good," Chihiro squeaked. Yuuko closed her eyes.
"Sleep, "Akio told her. "I love her, Yuuko," he continued softly.
"I love you, mom," Hiroshi added.
Chihiro hugged Yuuko closer. "I love you, mommy, lots and lots, so you have ta wake up cause the doctor said your gonna die but you're NOT your not gonna die, momma, you're gonna wake up, okay, everything is gonna be okay, and we can take Hikari home, and she can sleep in my room if she bothers you, momma," she broke down and cried as Yuuko closed her eyes. "no, mommy," she cried. "don't go to sleep! You might not wake up, so you hafta not go to sleep!"
"Why did you choose Hikari over us?" Hiroshi asked quietly. "you could be in better shape than this, mom."
"Don't worry, it's just a little nap," Yuuko whispered. "tale good care of Hikari-chan, she's only a baby. I couldn't end her life, never, I love you all. Why are you so frantic?" her voice faded off. "it's just a nap..."
"Will she make it through the night?" Akio demanded, taking Yuuko's hand. He ran a finger over the tape and needles covering her skin, and listened to the bleeping of the heart monitor, not wanting to take his eyes off his wife, but wanting to make sure the screen wouldn't go into a sharp wine.
"we don't think she will," the doctor said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"NO! there is a difference between 'think' and 'know' Doc, you have to save her, do something!"
"There is NOTHING more we can do until we get the blood from the nearest hospital that has it! none of you have her same blood type, and all other patents here are wounded! Now, I ran a blood test on Miss Ogino Chihiro, and she has the same, but look at her! Neither would survive."
"I can help?" Chihiro asked. "I wanna make momma better!"
"You can't," the doctor started, but Hiroshi broke. "Yes she can! She's got blood, and plenty of it!"
"She is too young! She is wounded! Now, maybe is she was a few years older and not so worn and hadn't lost so much blood already, then, maybe, there might have been a chance! And what happened to her?"
"She fell down the stairs at her school, and passed out in the car, you heard her!" Hiroshi shouted. "dad, tell him! Chihiro can save mom!"
Akio didn't say anything. He covered his face in his hands and groaned. "I don't know what to do," he moaned.
"JUST SIGN SOME FRIGGING PAPERS!" Chihiro's brother cried. "DAD, JUST SIGN SOME FREAKING PAPERS AND CHIHIRO CAN SAVE MOM!"
"Now just WAIT A SECOND!" The doctor broke. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that!"
Hiroshi looked at his little sister. "This is all your fault!" he shouted, beginning to cry angrily.
"Now, she didn't do anything!" Mr. Doctor broke in.
"That's right - this is all Hikari's fault!"
"What did the newborn baby do?" the doctor challenged back.
"STOP IT!" Chihiro shrieked. "I wanna help mommy, I wanna help mommy!"
"You are too young and too hurt," the doctor said, trying to remain calm for the little girl's sake. "and it would not last long. One can only give so much blood, especially as a child at a young age. You can not, I am very sorry."
"What about Hikari?" Hiroshi exploded. "what's her blood type?"
"We don't know that yet. At least, I don't."
"Then find out! She can do it!"
"Hikari is a newborn baby! She could NOT donate any of her blood, no! do you WANT her dead?"
"THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!!!"
"SHUT UP!" Akio roared, and everybody looked at him. "you'll wake her up," he continued shakily. "Hiroshi, just accept it. by the time this god forsaken hospital gets the blood they have so CONVENIANTLY run out of, your mother will be dead, and that's that. Go... go do some homework or something. Go to school."
"Dad, how can you just sit there! I'll drive to the next hospital and get it myself!"
"The mail would be faster," Akio said.
Chihiro shook her head. She took a deep breath and sat up, hugging Yuuko's hand to her for a moment. She wanted more than anything to help Yuuko, and she had the potential to. "I want to save momma," she said quietly, then, in a louder voice, "I want to see my sister."
The doctor pushed a buzzer, and a couple of nurses came running in.
"Take this girl to the nursery," the doctor told one of them, handing a clipboard to the other. "her baby sister is Ogino Hikari."
"Yes, doctor," the nurse said, then her eyebrows shot up when she looked at Chihiro.
"are you sure that is wise?" she asked. "the girl looks to be in terrible physical state..."
"She isn't bleeding internally or anywhere else any more, and the antibiotics are taking affect. Her mother," he added, jerking his head to Yuuko. The nurse understood immediately and picked Chihiro up.
"So you're Ogino?" she asked, walking out and down the hall to an elevator. Fifth floor. "what happened to you?"
"I fell down the stairs," Chihiro explained flatly, wondering how the fact that this nurse had a bust the size of Tokyo was possible. "don't you think your shirt is a little too tight?"
she laughed as they walked into the room. She set Chihiro down and went to a window, talking through it to an old woman.
"Chihiro?" asked an incredulous voice. Chihiro looked up quickly, and her jaw dropped momentarily when she saw Rumi, Makoto, Minako, two men and a woman, and a girl that must have been Rei.
Then, remembering before she passed out in the car, she looked down again.
"Hi Mako-chan, Rumi-chan," she muttered.
"Oh yes, and this is Mina-chan - you didn't get to meet her properly, and this is our older sister Rei-chan. That man there is our real father, and that man THERE is our step-father, and that is our step-mother." She got up from where she was sitting and pushed her head up. "you've been crying, and you look terrible," she announced.
"What happened?" Makoto asked, kneeling in front of her.
"I fell down the stairs."
"Ouch," Minako put in. "I did that once, and I didn't look a thing like you."
"Well, I fell down a lotta stairs." Chihiro took a deep breath. "what are you doing here?"
"Seeing our new baby brother," Mako-chan said. "what are YOU doing here? Looks like you need to be in the Code Blue ward, or whatever they call it."
"Stop crowding her," Rei cut in. "hi, I'm Rei. You must be the Ogino girl I've heard so much about. My name is Rei - and you must call me Rei-chan, of course."
"Okay."
"Miss Ogino? Are you ready to see your sister now?"
"Oh, yeah," Chihiro said. "I gotta go, guys." She ran over to the nurse, who bent down and murmured, "she isn't here like I thought she'd be - she's in a different place. in the same hallway as your mother, in fact."
"Oh. Okay. Can I see her, then?"
the nurse bit her lip. "I'm not sure. We'll go see if you can, okay? They usually make it so that young children can't come in rooms like those."
"Okay. Let's go." The nurse picked her up, flashed a toothy smile at Rumi and Co., then took Chihiro back to the floor they had started on, and down a hall.
They entered a room that had two doctors in it already, and they were crouched quietly over what looked like a plastic see-through box.
"Excuse me, doctors?" the nurse asked. "Can we see Ogino Hikari?"
One of them looked up and came over.
"Not the girl," she said.
"But this is Ogino's older sister. She's not allowed to see her mother, you know."
The doctor sighed.
"A small look," she said. "I think that she will make it through the night. She has a much higher chance of living now," the nurse carried Chihiro over to the plastic see-through box.
Chihiro gasped.
There was her new baby sister, laying there on her back, in just a diaper. A piece of tape held some needles poked in her skin, and a heart monitor gave off a steady bleep.
"Is this Hikari?" Chihiro asked. the doctors and nurse nodded.
"Yes. This is your sister."
"She's so small! Can I give her a hug? I think she needs a hug."
"No, I'm sorry. If you gave her a hug right now, it might hurt her really, really bad. If you wash your hands, you can hold hers, though, if you like."
"I want to!" Chihiro washed her hands, then they let her reach in and stroke the skin along Hikari's arm before poking a finger into her tiny palm.
"So little," she breathed. "Are all babies this little?"
"No, Miss Ogino, they aren't supposed to be."
"So why is Hikari so short?"
"She was born prematurely, dear. She wasn't supposed to come out of your mother's tummy for another month."
"Is that why she and my momma are so sick?"
"Yes, among others."
Hikari made a little sound and stirred a little bit.
"You have a very beautiful sister, Miss Ogino."
"I know."
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A/N: Rei, Minako, and Makoto are all from Sailor Moon, so I'll have the next chap posted later tonight. Just hang around! =^_^= poor Yuuko and Hikari and Akio and Chihiro. I'm still toying with the idea of feeling sorry for Hiroshi, but I don't think I do. He's such a no-good little moron. And poor, poor, poor Chihiro. I GUARANTEE you that she's got it harder from here on in. but so does Hikari.
I know EXACTLY how Chihiro and Haku are going to meet, so never you worry! And Haku will save the day.
Pathetic. Haku always saves the day in my ficlets.
ANYHOOT, it'll still be a while. I'm going to make my chaps longer or shorter, and I'm going to make a couple of minor time jumps (i.e. the next day... that night... the week passed in a blur...) etc., etc., you get my point. I'm practically quivering with excitement for that fateful scene when Haku and Chihiro meet! *giggles nervously* but I have to warn you ahead of time: AU. As in, this is AU AUTHOR'S UNIVERSE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE whatever you want to call it, THIS IS AU. So, knowing that, you'll understand my motives behind Haku and Chihiro. Okay? Okay.
Next chap soon. Literally. I can't believe I said that whole stupid double- post thing. Just stick around tonight.