Disclaimer-Plot's mine, characters aren't

A Beating Heart

Rancha and Buruma stood back as Juuhachi vomited for the third time in 10 minutes. Juuhachi had thrown up everything that she'd eaten before she was absorbed a few months ago. This wasn't good. If this kept up, Juuhachi would lose all her strength.

"Come on," Rancha muttered, trying to straighten out Juuhachi when she lifted off the floor, her spine curling. All three of them were covered in blood. "Come on, Juuhachi."

Outside, the scene wasn't nearly as chaotic. In fact, it was quite serene. Well, except for Juunana, who was shooting ki beams at the sky in frustration. Kururin was sitting against the wall, quiet. No one dared to ask him one of the millions of question they had: Why her? Where did this happen? And most importantly, what did he plan on doing now?

Hours passed. The scene changed little. Chichi sat on the floor, keeping an eye on Goten, Akane, and Turankusu. Bejita occasionally looked over at his mirai son, who was grounding his foot into the floor to keep from exploding in anger. Juunana was still shooting ki beams into the sky. Everyone else was just waiting.

A huge scream rang out, a shriek that sounded like the mix of grating metal and an animal caught in the fire. Just as suddenly, it was gone.

Voices. Low voices. Then, the door opened. Buruma stepped out. Her legs were visibly shaking, and when she spoke, her voice matched.

"Kururin? I…I think you better come in here."

Kururin pulled himself up and walked into the room. The door shut, and silence resumed.

Within seconds, the door swung open again, and Kururin walked out. His face was as white as paper and it was a wonder, his legs could support him, quaking as they were. He walked past them all, face forward, not making a sound. No one spoke to him, and he seemed to not be aware of their presence.

He stopped at the edge of the balcony and rested his hands on the edge.

With a sudden, jerking motion he collapsed to his knees and started sobbing, his shoulders heaving.

"Kururin!" Goku yelled. He whirled around to face Buruma, who was standing at the door, a bundle wrapped in her arms.

"Buruma! What happened!"

She seemed unable to speak. Wordlessly, she opened the bundle and let the others crowd around to look.

"Oh my God!" Chichi gasped, clasping a hand to her mouth to prevent her from choking.

Visible, resting on her tiny chest, sat the child's heart. It was beating, all right. But it wasn't doing any good.

"This…this is the rarest case I know," Buruma managed to stutter. "A heart outside the chest…I don't know how to deal with this."

"Well, what are her chances?" Juuroko asked.

"We've got three hours before she dies." Buruma looked around at the faces clustered around her, and spoke the dreaded words: "There's only a 1 in 4 chance that she'll survive."

OH MY GOD! Things are really starting to heat up now! 1 in 4 chance, that's not good. But I'll tell you what is good: REVIEWS!