Lol, I hadn't realized that I had spelled "rumors" wrong. Thx for pointing that out Crystalized Hope. It is now corrected. If anyone else sees any grammatical errors in the future, please let me know so I can fix it.
Mask of Deception
Chapter 18: Rainy Days
The Hospital
Tuesday 6:00 AM
It was early Tuesday morning, and the rain was still falling steadily onto the ground. For the second time that day, the doors to the already busy hospital, crashed open to reveal a young blond teenager and his distressed father, frantically running in.
"Where is he?" the older man asked the receptionist in desperation.
"Excuse me sir, but who are you looking for?" The receptionist asked him calmly and politely.
"My son, where's my son? Someone called my house and said that he was hospitalized for unknown reasons."
The receptionist thought for a moment, then finally recalled. "Oh yes, they brought him in this morning…You are his father?"
"Yes, I'm is father."
"Your name please?" She asked.
"Ishida"
The woman scanned the computer for the name but couldn't find it anywhere.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you that we have different last names, he should be under Takaishi." The man informed her.
The woman scanned the list of patients once again, but found nothing. "I'm sorry but…there doesn't seem to be anyone under the name of Takaishi staying at this hospital."
"But you called us and said that Takeru Takaishi was in the hospital!" The man said, a little confused.
"Where's my brother!" The blond boy cried out.
Please hold on for a few minutes. The woman started typing on the computer's keyboard, and scanned the screen once more. "I'm terribly sorry. I'm afraid that we have made a mistake sir. It appears that the patient that was brought in this morning does not match the name of your son and has been transferred to another hospital for better treatment." The receptionist said, looking a little puzzled herself. "We are terribly sorry for the mix up." She bowed respectfully.
The man sighed in relief that his son was okay, but was a little bit agitated that he was made to rush to the hospital so early in the morning. "I knew it was impossible for him to be here. He is in Hokkaido after all." The man mumbled. At the sound of this statement, the blond teenager stiffened up. "C'mon Matt, let's go home" His father said, and they both walked out of the hospital.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"All the records have been changed."
"Thanks buddy, I owe you one."
"No problem, anytime."
Beep!
"Tai, this isn't the time to be on the phone, we need to get TK back to your place as quickly as possible! Even though it's raining, the streets are already filling up with people."
"Sorry Mimi, I just had to cover up some of our tracks. Now we don't have to worry about being chased, but what really concerns me is… How we're going to get to the other side of the city without looking suspicious…"
Just as Tai finished his sentence, the sound of shuffling cans could be heard from the other end of the ally. Tai and Mimi turned their heads and saw that there was a homeless man rustling through the garbage in search of empty cans, but the thing that caught Tai's eye was not the homeless man, but the shopping cart that was parked right beside him. Tai then grinned and started walking in the direction of the homeless man…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I can't believe you actually did that Tai. Knocking him out like that. You even stole his shopping cart!"
"I didn't steal it Mimi, I bought it. I left quite a bit of cash in his pocket you know. Now he won't have to look for empty cans!"
"I guess, but you could have tried asking him first." She shook her head disapprovingly. "Men"
The two walked silently down the street, trying not to attract attention to themselves. They casually wheeled the shopping cart that Tai had 'bought,' keeping it covered with their jackets to conceal what was really inside.
Tai's apartment
Tuesday 9:23 AM
"We finally made it." Mimi sighed in relief as she dropped herself on Tai's couch. "I'm so tired I don't even want to move." She said shutting her eyes.
"Oh no you don't. We still have some work to do before we get to rest. Help me with the door to the guestroom will you?"
Mimi reluctantly got up and opened the door for Tai. The room was plain, but had a nice feel to it.
Tai carefully placed TK on the bed and Mimi tucked him in well. They didn't know how long he was going to be out for, so all they could do was try and make him as comfortable as possible.
They left the room and sat themselves on the living room couch. Tai picked up the cordless phone that was on the coffee table beside the couch, and started to dial an old familiar number.
"The phone again? How can you be so selfish?" Mimi looked at Tai. He ignored her comment and continued what he was doing.
"Hello?" The voice on the other line spoke up.
"It's me…I need a favor." Tai spoke into the phone. Mimi just watched him curiously, wondering to whom he was talking to.
"Tai? You sound terrible, what happened?"
"Never mind that right now. I need you to play doctor for a while."
"I am a doctor Tai…"
"Well, I need you to call my school and tell them that TK, Mimi, and I, were in a car accident, and that we won't be attending school for a while and that we are under your care."
"Mimi as in, Mimi Tachikawa?"
"Yeah"
"…Okay, I understand. What's the school's number?"
"It's…"
"Okay… I don't know what happened but, you guys take care okay."
"We will, bye."
Beep!
"Who was that?" Mimi asked curiously.
"It doesn't matter who that was." Tai said simply.
"Then what was all that about? Us being in an accident and all."
"It's our cover so that we don't have to go to school for a while. It's a good way to buy us time. I'm sure they already have a few cops waiting to question us about the events of Monday. I think that it would be better if we hung low for a while, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Now about our situation at hand… We can't exactly go to any hospitals for treatment. It's too much of a risk. Our parents might be contacted, and it would be hard to not be exposed if that were to happen, so we're going to have to treat our own wounds."
"Since we don't know how long TK will be out for, we'll take turns in cleaning him up."
Mimi gave an understanding nod. "What do we do now?" She asked.
"We sleep. I'm sure you're just as tired as I am. You can use the other guest room for now."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Day one…
Tai's Apartment
Wednesday 6:00 AM
The rain still fell heavily over the streets of Tokyo, and Odaiba was no exception. It was six in the morning, and Tai groggily got up from his troubled sleep to check on his friend. He stopped by the bathroom on his way to bring some needed supplies.
He opened the door to the dark room and turned on a table lamp. He carefully unwound the bandages applied to his friend the previous morning, and started to clean the deep wounds that were inflicted to TK's body two nights before.
When he finished, he locked himself in the bathroom to treat his own wounds. He knew that it would be painful, but then again, he knew that it had to be done.
Since TK was unconscious, he couldn't feel a thing, but Tai was unfortunately very awake. He slowly took off the bandages from his side and cringed from the pain as the open air touched his wound, but soon found it soothing on his flesh. He took the bottle of antiseptic, and looked at it for awhile, suddenly remembering the last time he had to use the 'evil' liquid with a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Sora…"
After a slight pause, Tai shook all of his thoughts of Sora away, and once again looked at his open wound. He took a deep breath, and dabbed the cotton swab on his wound, a painful expression crept onto his face as the antiseptic seeped into his wound and cleaned it. Tears burned in his eyes, but he didn't let them come out.
When he bandaged his side, he proceeded to his shoulder and repeated the same painful process.
Tai's Apartment
Wednesday 9:00 AM
The atmosphere was as gloomy as ever, and the rain outside wasn't helping at all. Tai sat idly on the couch with his head hanging over the edge so that his face was facing the ceiling. He was thinking about many different things. That's when Mimi intruded his solitude.
"I'm going out to get a few things from home… I think it would be better if I stayed her for a while. It'll be easier to care for TK this way, and also for safety reasons as well."
"Okay, don't take too long."
"I won't"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Day Two…
Tai's Apartment
Thursday 4:33 PM
Around four thirty, and time for another one of TK's treatments, Mimi entered the darkened room and flicked on the lights. She set the materials on the side table, and begun her work.
She slowly unwound the bandages, and cringed at the sight of TK's open wounds. Even though she had seen them the day before, she just couldn't get used to the sight of the gashes on his body. The wounds didn't look any better, but on the bright side, they didn't look any worse. She gently and carefully cleaned every wound as best she could, and hastily rewound them with new bandages.
Coming out of the room around five, Mimi found Tai sitting on the couch and watching the news with the volume up.
"…and finally today, teachers of Sojuku High, were given permission to speak out on what was believed to be a near life threatening event. Four of the five suspects were caught on that day, but the fifth one is still being searched for. We were also told that three students were involved, although the school would not release their names. We still do not know what the motive of this attack was, but police are still investigating. We have an interview from one of the school's teachers."
Tai was on the edge of the couch, and Mimi was standing behind him, eyes wide open.
"Kazami-sensei, we were told that you were in a tight situation on Monday, what was that like for you.?"
"Truthfully, it scared me to death. I never would expect a man to spring out from my chalk board."
"Now, we were told by a source, that a student was involved somehow. How was he exactly involved, and who were the students involved?"
Tai and Mimi held their breaths.
"I'm very sorry, but I am not permitted to tell you anything concerning the student or the other students involved."
"So there was a student involved?"
"I never said that…Now I refuse to tell you anything further."
"Now, our story on how a cow saved it's owners life"
Tai then turned the TV off, and the two in the room watched the colored pixels slowly turn to black. Mimi then sat down on the couch to the left of Tai.
"What do we do now?" She asked with uncertainty.
"I really don't know. We'll worry about that when the time comes.."
"If you say so…If you say so."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Day Three…
Outside Tai's Apartment
Friday 4:10 PM
Kari took a deep breath before knocking. It was her first time at Tai's apartment, if it really was his (she wasn't too sure).
From the outside, the building looked astonishing. Any passerby could tell that this was no regular apartment building. Only fairly rich people could afford to live in a place like this. That's why it confused her as to why Tai's address led to this building.
When she had first entered the lobby of the apartment building, she looked around in awe at what she saw. It was a regular lobby, but anyone could tell that it was designer. If the lobby had impressed her this much, she wondered what Tai's apartment would be like.
Knock knock knock went the door as her lightly clenched fist made contact with the wooden divider. Soon she would be face to face with her brother, if this were really his apartment.
The last week had been hectic, no doubt. The incident on Monday, (surprisingly the school was still open on Tuesday), and the announcement of Tai's accident. By the end of Tuesday, the whole school was talking about the three potential suspects of the incident of Monday who had disappeared, claiming to have been in a car accident. Maybe it was true, maybe false. No one knew the truth.
Rumors had been floating around the school, everywhere. Someone had said that the three were runaway criminals who posed as students to get inside the school for the sole purpose of perhaps, assassinating the principal. Another rumor was that Tai and Mimi were on lover's escape, how TK fit in the picture, they didn't know, or that they could possibly be a threesome. Kari was a bit concerned about these rumors. She didn't like people talking about Tai that way and knew that it was wrong to talk about the others that way as well. They were their friends. None of the rumors could be true could they? This was one of the reasons for Kari's visit. To clarify the misunderstanding of what really happened and of course, because she was worried about her brother, and the others. That was what brought her here, and she wasn't about to turn back.
The door finally opened, interrupting her thoughts and bringing Kari back to reality. Noticing that she was staring blankly at the ground, she lifted her head to face the opener of the door who she had expected to be her brother. What she saw had caught her off guard, she wasn't expecting to see Mimi at the door of her brother's apartment. Maybe the rumors had been true. Maybe Mimi and Tai were indeed 'lovers.' The thought made Kari quite uneasy, the thought of her brother having a potential 'lover.'
"Kari?" Mimi said, the surprise apparent on her face. "What are you doing here?"
"Um…" Kari shifted uncomfortably. "Is my brother here?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah…"
After a period of silence, Mimi realized how rude she was being and finally invited Kari inside the apartment.
"Why don't you come in, Tai's in the shower right now, but he should be out soon." Mimi smiled at her, opening the door.
Oh Lord! She thought. What was Tai doing in the shower when he had a guest over? Could it really be that He and Mimi… She didn't even dare to think that. She was already blushing and could feel the heat in her cheeks as she thought of the possibilities. Luckily for her, Mimi hadn't noticed because Kari's head was hung low enough to conceal her face.
Mimi led Kari to the couch and sat her down. She offered to get some drinks, an offer that Kari gladly accepted. It would give her some time to shake off her thoughts and calm down.
As she waited for Mimi's return, she finally took a look around the apartment. She had been too preoccupied with hiding her face before, she wasn't able to look around properly.
As she looked at her surroundings, she sat there deeply impressed. She wondered how Tai got all the money for this incredible apartment, a mere high school student.
When she first came onto the top floor, she noticed that Tai's apartment was the only one at the top, explaining the huge amount of space he had. Compared to her and her mom's tiny box of an apartment, this was a house, a house with everything and anything that anyone could possibly ever want.
"You like it?" A deep and familiar voice from behind her said. Kari dumbly nodded in response, not realizing who was taking to her until he came around from the back of the couch to sit next to her.
"Tai!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What should I do, what should I do!?" Mimi paced back and forth in the kitchen, thinking of any possible excuse she could use, any logical reason for why she would be here at Tai's apartment.
She knew that it was nothing special, and was willing to tell Kari, but would Kari really believe that this was just a casual visit between friends? She could only imagine what kinds of rumors were going around the school. The slight surprise on Kari's face when she first saw her at the door had made it all clear to Mimi. Kari had been thinking of countless possibilities, and not the right kind of possibilities.
She had been gone for five minutes already, and knew that she could prolong no longer. She decided that she would try her best not to talk, and perhaps let Tai do all of the talking, if he was out by the time the question came up at least. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, then proceeded to where Kari was waiting.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You took me by surprise, I didn't think that you would come visit."
"You think so lowly of your family? Of course I would come visit, I was worried!"
"Sorry," Tai slightly chuckled lightly at his sister's reaction. Kari didn't look happy about his lack of seriousness concerning his situation. She, her mother, even their friends at school were all worried. She had all the right to be mad when she was being taken so lightly. But she knew that it was Tai's nature as well. Tai never took her seriously. Some old habits would never change. No matter the circumstances.
"Well, are you alright? The whole schools talking about what happened on Monday, and about your car accident."
"No worries, I'm fine. No broken bones." He didn't exactly lie to her, he just didn't mention the other wounds that he had.
"That's a relief." Kari sighed. "What about TK? I assume that Mimi's okay…seeing that she's here and all" She muttered the ending quietly. Tai went quiet and looked away from his sister and stared at the Blank TV screen.
"Tai, you okay?"
"Yeah. TK's fine…Sort of…"
"What do you mean?"
Tai couldn't lie to his sister [example above]. No matter how hard he ever tried, he never could lie to her. He always was a terrible liar, in certain situations. This was one of those situations.
"You want to see for yourself?" He asked quietly. Kari was extremely worried by now. What had happened to cause Tai to feel this way, to look this way. She slowly nodded her head, and he led her to a door which she assumed, was where TK was.
Although she didn't know TK well, she knew that he was still a friend, and when any of her friends were seriously hurt, be it physically, or emotionally, she would always suffer with them in some way.
Tai opened the door and turned on the lights. She couldn't see him too well with him covered by the blankets, so she moved closer. What she saw had made enough impact to bring her hand to her mouth.
Bandages. His arm that was over the covers was covered in bandages, His cheek and neck was also covered with a few bandages. Only his handsome face (except his cheek), and his messy blond hair stood untouched.
His face expression was a hard one to read. Loneliness and tragedy, sorrow and pain. These were a few things that were displayed on his face. Only one had suffered the same effects would be able to read when a person was going through the same experiences as they had. She could tell that his pain was not of the physical, but that of the mind. Maybe they had more in common then she had thought.
Her first impression of TK made her think that he was just your average nice kid. The kid that was nice to everyone. The one who smiled at everyone. The one who had no worries, no problems. The kind that she envied. One of the reasons why she hadn't gotten so close to him. She feared her envy would turn to hate, so she thought it better to stay distant friends then a person she had come to hate.
She felt ashamed of how she thought. Just because she didn't have the ideal life, she shouldn't hate other's who had one. She knew that she was too quick to judge, and made a promise then and there, that she wouldn't judge a person so quickly anymore.
She had finally pieced it together. Mimi was here because she was helping out with TK. She was a longtime friend with he and Tai, and naturally, it would be okay for her to roam the house unattended to.
Kari smiled in triumph at her excellent detective abilities, but quickly masked it up with her serious look.
"Is it really okay for him to be here?" She asked her older brother, looking at the sleeping boy on the bed.
"Yeah, he's stable so they let him come home, since his Mom's out of town, he's staying here." Tai lied to her. This lie was necessary lie, and an acception to the rule of not being able to lie to her. When it came to be as serious as this, he had no choice but to lie to her.
"Did you tell Matt?"
"No"
"You should tell him."
"I know"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mimi saw that the two were talking so nicely that she didn't want to intrude on the moment. She set the drinks on the coffee table, incase the two decided to come out and talk some more.
Maybe she would go to the mall. It had been ages since she had last gone. She took her coat, car keys and gracefully left the apartment quietly. She wouldn't return until she had her fill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So Sorry!!! I haven't updated in ages and I really am sorry for that, but then again I'm not.
Explanation:
If I had updated earlier, I would have screwed up the story even more than it already is. Today (rather tonight), I finally had a better alternative idea to the one I was originally going to use for this chapter. If I used the first one…ug I have trouble just thinking about what would happen, so now I am content enough with this chapter and therefor have uploaded it for you guys/gals. The other reason was because I was fooling around with other ideas for my next fict, or ficts. I'm still deciding which one to work on, so hang tight for that too.
I think this was my longest chapter yet! I never realized how hard it is to lengthen chapters. An art I have not yet perfected (and something that is very far from perfection).I don't know how much longer this story will be. Not much longer though. Things will come to the climax soon and then I'll most likely end it.
Thank you so much for all of your incredibly supportive reviews. Your comments really help me out. Every single one of them, so please continue to right them and thx for reading!
