This is something I found one day on the compie. So…. Bye.
Disclaimer: Don't own See-Saw, nor their song A Stray Child.
Pride Within
"Go men, Go!"
"An accident! There's been an accident!"
"Let's leave!" I watched as the police left the building quickly. I just stared in awe.
"Oh my God, they are gonna be killed one day, I swear," my mama noted, wiping her hands on a towel. My dad and two other men ran right by, also heading out the door.
"Yeah, I know," I said, watching as everyone in the lobby was about to get up. They all settled down again, going back to whatever they were doing. Tameo stared in disbelief.
"Mama, where are they all going?" she asked, blinking. I rolled my eyes.
"Get your glasses on," Mama snapped. Tameo sighed and pulled them out.
"So? What happened?" I asked, also intrigued. Mama sighed.
"Oh, not you, too," she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Can't anyone be satisfied by 'confidential' anymore?"
"C'mon, Mama," Tameo pleaded, hanging on her every word.
"You're kidding, right?" I said. Mama just shook her head.
"It's an accident," she explained finally. Suddenly, thunder crashed. Rain started to pound the windows.
"Thank you!" Tameo said, smiling broadly. A nurse suddenly ran up to my mama.
"Doctor! Doctor Mazaki!" My mama turned. The nurse was panting.
"The ambulance with the crash victims is coming!" she reported.
"All right," my mama said, pulling her mask on. "Tameo, stay here and do your homework until your father gets home. And stay out of trouble." I stuck my tongue out at Tameo. She was always getting into to trouble. She was sixteen, but acted six.
"And you?" she pointed at me. I gulped. "Don't think you're off the hook yet for speeding yesterday. The only reason you got off so light was because your father is on the force." I turned red.
Oh God, I thought. I'm gonna kill him!
"Mazaki Anzu, watch her!" And then she was gone.
"Arrrrrgh!" I cried out.
"Ha, ha," Tameo said, sticking her tongue out at me. I sneered, and then looked ahead. I heard the whir of the ambulance. Tameo started to write on a piece of notebook paper.
"Anzu, do you think I'll get to talk to the crash victims for my report?" Tameo said, looking up.
"You know, Tameo, if they're victims, then they're usually dead," I told her. Tameo stopped.
"Oh."
"'Oh' is right." I looked out at the people in the lobby. I wasn't afraid for my friends; we shared a car, but I had it with me. They'd have to walk to get here.
"Anzu!" A nurse cried, running up to me. "Oh, Anzu, I.... You better come with me." Just then Tameo's phone rang. She spoke into it, giggled, and then hung up.
"Jonouchi's walking down to get the car," she said.
"Tell him to wait for me, 'cause I'm gonna kill him," I said, and then followed the nurse. We walked into the Intensive Care Unit.
"Well?" I asked, stopping. "Why are we here?" The nurse turned to me. My mama came walking up to me.
"Anzu, honey," she said slowly and softly. She said it as if she could break me if she said it faster.
"What, Mama? What?" I asked, anxious. I began to get nervous.
"The people in the crash.... It was Professor Bakura." I felt almost relieved; he was Bakura Ryou's father. I sighed a little in relief. Then I thought, Wait... She said 'people' meaning more then one.... Could ..... Could Ryou....
"He's alright," my mama told me, "However.... Ryou...."
"He's alright," I imagined her telling me. "Just some minor scratches, that's all."
Yeah, right.
"W-what about him?" I managed to stammer. Mama sighed.
"He.... he was......" I almost stopped breathing. I couldn't stand to hear the words that would come out of her mouth next. Mama seemed to falter, not knowing how to tell me.
"No....." I murmured softly at first. Then I backed away from her. I was scared to be near her, like I would become like she was, feeling sorry for me.
"NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE YOU!" I nearly screamed. I was so scared, so afraid, so terrified, that I ran right into the lobby and hit someone right in the head.
"Ow!" Jonouchi cried, rubbing his head. "Jesus, Anzu, you don't hafta slap me," he said, staring at me. I felt like curling up into a little ball and sitting on the floor. "Anzu....?" Jonouchi peered at me quizzically. "Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?" I practically screamed. So many thoughts were running through my head at once.
"Anzu, what happened?" Jonouchi asked, alarmed now. Tameo just stared at me as I stood there, shaking. I grabbed onto Jonouchi shoulders, shaking, and whispered,
"Ryou's dead." Jonouchi took a few seconds to process this information. Then, his eyes opened wide.
"Oh, my God...." he fell into a seat in the lobby. He seemed to be thinking this over in his mind. Running his fingers through his hair, he said,
"Anzu, are you sure about this?"
"I'm positive, Jonouchi!" I exclaimed, shaking. I was so busy making sure that Jonouchi understood this; I didn't notice Tameo sneak off down the hallway towards where Mama had just been. Jonouchi pushed me away, so I was no longer leaning on him for support. I slid into the seat next to him.
"Did the doctor tell you this? What happened, anyway? I feel really confused," he admitted, staring at me. I was shaking. "Can you understand that I want to know what happened? Can you tell me, please?" I nodded slowly. I swallowed hard.
"Okay, I was talking to my Mama about a car crash that had just happened in front of the Museum when the victims were brought in. It turns out the people in the crash were Professor Bakura and his son Ryou." Jonouchi nodded. I looked at him and noticed how he was taking this. Only two years ago he would have jumped up and started swearing or something. With news like this, he's done it before. Two years ago before, when we experienced a similar situation.
But it seems as if he's changed his actions. Either that or he's used to it, from what's happened before.
"Okay. And is Ryou....?" he didn't finish his thought. I nodded. I guess I was overreacting, but I couldn't help it. I still think it was too soon for this, too soon for another death. Ryou's was so close to another one that took place two years ago....
"Did the doctor ever tell you he was dead?" Jonouchi asked. I shook my head.
"S-she just said 'He was....' but I knew what she was talking about." Jonouchi managed to stand me up. I had slid to the floor. I felt like Jell-O.
"Okay, Anzu, pull yourself together," he told me. He was way too calm to be the Jonouchi I know, I thought. But I didn't dwell on it for long. He sat me down on a chair in the lobby.
"Why are you t-taking this so well?" I asked, somewhat envious. Jonouchi shrugged.
"I guess I just never really recovered from before, so I'm all stressed-out." That's when it hit me. The reason he wasn't getting all hysterical like last time was because he was still mourning the person that died two years ago. So the hysterics would come later.
Just then, Jonouchi looked up to see Tameo walking down the hallway with a half-smile on her lips.
"What are you sm-smiling at?" I asked.
"Well, you're half right about Ryou," she jumped in. I blinked.
"W-what?"
"He's still alive, but he's as good as dead." I never really made it past the 'He's still alive' part. I looked right at her.
"Really?"
"Yup," Tameo said. I smiled. A huge smile. But Jonouchi was still frowning.
"What do you mean by 'he's as good as dead'?" he asked.
"Well, it turns out little Ryou is unconscious from the accident," Tameo said.
"Really?"
"Yup. And he needs surgery on his forehead and his arms."
"How come?"
"The glass from the windows is embedded in his skin." I shivered. Jonouchi put his hands in his pockets.
"Listen, Anzu. I'll go tell the others, and you sit tight, okay?" he said. Tameo raised her eyebrows.
"Who else is there to tell?" she asked. "Honda?"
"And Yugi," we both said quickly. Tameo just sighed.
"Whatever you say." She set back to work on her homework. I just sat there, thinking about how crazy we must sound to her.
As I sat there, I remembered that day, nearly exactly two years ago.
* * *
I was walking down an empty corridor in my old school. I saw ahead of me double doors leading to the Western portion of the school. I walked a little ways, when I began to grow really hot. I just walked along more, until red flames danced on the walls around me. The double doors seemed to grow farter and farther away from me. Then, suddenly, I heard footsteps, and saw someone before me. I gasped.
"Yugi!" I called, trying to reach him. He didn't hear me. I tried to catch up with him, but he didn't stop. He pushed through the doors, hoping maybe they lead out.
"No!" I cried. "Don't go through those doors! Please!" But, no matter what I did, he kept walking. Soon, e broke into a run, leaving me behind. Then, a few seconds later, he screamed. It tore my heart. That scream bore into me like a knife.
"YUGI!" I cried, sitting up. I was breathing hard, and sweating. I was in my bed in my room, sweating to death in my bed, not in my old high school.
"Oh my God oh my God oh my God," I whispered, leaning over, holding my heart. I hadn't had any dreams like that since a few days after the fire.
I lay back and remember about it. The way it devoured out school like a hungry beast, trying to get every inch of it inside its stomach. I rocked back and forth, thinking. It was just so terrible to remember….
It happened two years ago. School was going to be let out in a few weeks, and everyone was antsy to get out. It was a very dry day, I remember exactly. The walls of the school were like paper. A class in the chemistry lab was experimenting with the fire temperatures on the mini stoves we used. One of the students turned the stove up to 400 degrees Celsius. It exploded. Luckily, no one was caught in the blast, as they scrambled out of the room quickly. But some things started catching on fire, and before you knew it, students were running for their lives.
Frankly, it wouldn't be first time this year that my life was in danger, but it was certainly one of the scariest times. I found my friends in the crowd outside. The only one who was hurt badly was Ryou, who had a tough form of asthma. That was when, of course, my dream comes into play.
As it turns out, Yugi was still inside with some kids from his class, trying to find a safe escape route. None was there, so they tried to crawl their way out. The last one who saw those four before they were out was a teacher who found an escape route out a window. He was the last to see them alive.
When they were found later that night, they seemed alive. But as soon as they reached the hospital, the doctors sadly pronounced them D.O.A…. Dead on Arrival……
That was the saddest two and a half weeks I've ever had at school. The death of four students seems much worse then you think. Especially when one of the students was a friend.
I think the funniest thing that had happened during that last week was the realization that all four students were well-respected duelists. This caused an uproar. People thought that the fire had been started and then the four of them trapped to kill them. To tell the truth, I laughed at this, and I wasn't the only one.
I sighed as I wrapped my arms around my legs. I thought about the surgery Ryou was undergoing right now. Then I shook my head, thinking about all the reactions to this new conspiracy once it was around the school.
I thought back to what Jonouchi had said at the hospital. What he meant was he'd go stand by the ocean, leaning on the rail and look out at the surrounding bay, while explaining to seemingly no one about the accident. What he was really doing was telling Yugi, whose ashes had been spread out in Domino Bay. I smiled at the thought.
I nearly screamed as the phone rang. Grabbing it roughly, I said to the phone
"Go away."
"I don't think you want me to," Tameo's voice said, sounding worried and scared.
"What is it?"
"Well, Ryou went through the surgery okay, but…."
"But what?"
"Well, afterwards they tried to wake him up, but they couldn't do it. Then, they realized that Ryou was…. was in a coma."
"WHAT?" I yelled. I dropped the phone.
How could this be happening? I stared at the phone, listening to Tameo say "Hello? Anzu? Are you there?" I kicked the phone off the bed, and lay down on my back.
This sucks, I thought. This sucks so much.
* * *
That was five months ago. It had been at the beginning of the school year. We hadn't even been in school a week when this happened. Now, I'm standing behind the reception desk at the hospital, checking people in and out. I was thinking about the coming week.
If Ryou didn't wake up in the next week and a half, then the doctors were going to take away all the machines helping him stay alive. This would mean he would most likely die a few days later. I leaned forward on the desk, thinking about Ryou. He's been in a coma since that accident. His older cousin was with him everyday. After he came back from his job, he'd sit with Ryou until he went to school at night. Then he'd come back if he had time to. It broke my heart to see him like this.
I watched the door, seeing the rain pounding the windows. I decided in my mind that nothing good ever happened on rainy days. Yugi had died on a rainy day, Ryou's accident had been on a rainy day, and my sister, Tameo, had discovered she was pregnant on a rainy day. I stretched my arms leisurely.
"Anzu," my mama said, walking up beside me. "How're you doing?"
"Pretty good, I guess," I said, tapping my fingers on the desk. Finally, I asked my mother what had been on my mind forever. "Mama, why are you going to get rid of all those machines if Ryou doesn't wake up soon?" Mama turned to me. "Anzu, in a week and a half, it would have been six months since the accident. That's half a year." I nodded. "If he's going to live in a coma for the rest of his life, why live at all?" I shrugged, honestly not knowing. "Exactly. Now, you wouldn't so mean as to let him live like that, would you?" I shook my head.
"No, I guess not."
"See?" Mama was about to speak to a patient when I stopped her.
"But what about his father?" I asked. Ryou's father had to go to the university he works at in America two months ago, and we haven't heard from him since. "I mean, if he dies before his father gets back, he would never be able to see him alive again." Mama smiled.
"I know, but that's kind of selfish, don't you think?"
"I guess." I didn't argue as she walked away, but I secretly wished I could get him here anyway. Just then, the door opened, and I hear someone swearing about the rain.
"Damn, this stuff is pouring like hell," I heard Jonouchi say, taking off his jacket and waving it around, sprinkling people with water.
"Yeah, I know," Honda agreed, wiping his face. I couldn't help but smile when I saw them.
"Hello," I said as they walked up to me. "What a grand entrance that was."
"Yeah, wasn't it?" Jonouchi agreed as I rolled my eyes.
"So, how's Ryou doing?" Honda asked. I shrugged.
"No idea," I said truthfully. "Actually he's exactly the same as he was before, not that he was good before."
"Okay," Jonouchi said, looking around. "When can we see him?"
"As soon as Maru gets here," I told him. "Family members are the only ones who can say who can visit coma patients."
"Okay that sucks," Jonouchi said, Honda nodding.
"Oh well, get used to it," I told him. "It's not my place to tell you what to do."
"Well, it should be," Honda said, sitting on the desk. I pushed him off. He fell with a loud thunk onto the linoleum floor.
"What the hell was that for?" he yelled.
"Shh, don't yell," I said, rummaging through papers on my desk. "Listen, you guys need to be quieter or you'll be kicked out."
"So we'll just come back in," Jonouchi said.
"No, because then you'll be banned," I added.
They shut up fast enough. The three of us waited restlessly for Titati Maru to get here. Finally, after like an hour of waiting, the door opened. A very tall man, who looked younger then he acted, walked in. He had red hair pulled into a ponytail, and annoying bangs in front of his brown eyes. The only way you would know he was related to Ryou was his eyes. They were just like Ryou's.
"Hello," I said, as Jonouchi and Honda jumped down from the desk. Maru smiled.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he admitted, signing his name on a sheet or paper. "It was hard to see in this rain." He finished signing, and looked around. I could tell he wanted information about Ryou from us.
"Ryou's in a different room today," I said.
"Why?" said Honda, Jonouchi and Maru.
"Because he's getting better," I said. "It's more often now that it seems he going to wake up, and he can breathe on his own." Maru seemed happier now. I directed him where to go.
"Oh, Maru! Wait!" Jonouchi called. Maru turned. "Can we go, too?" he said, gesturing to Honda, then himself.
"Yeah, you can come," Maru said, and the three of them walked away. I could hear Jonouchi all the way down the hallway.
"Chatterbox," I said to no one. I looked over at the door, and decided I needed a break. So I left, and walked out in the rain. I soon found myself at the edge of Domino Bay. I leaned on the rail, and stared out at the sea. The rain hit the water with such a force, that little waves jumped into the air.
"Hey," I called out. No one answered. I knew to expect that. I tapped my fingers rythmatically on the rail, just watching the water move. I knew that his ashes were long gone, but I still felt as if whenever I came near this place, that I could sense Yugi. Sort of.
"So...." I said, tapping my fingers faster. The rain seemed to get harder. "Well, Ryou's getting better, I guess. I mean, he's still asleep, but he should wake up soon." The water seemed to acknowledge my prescience by splashing me. I blinked several times to get the salt water out of my face.
"Well, I guess you're happy now," I said, smiling. I decided to test my faith, and said clearly. "He should wake up today, and I don't think he'd like to see rain on his first day awake in nearly five months." As if on cue, the rain pittered to a stop. The sun started peeking through the clouds. I gasped in surprise.
"Oh...." I moaned a little, surprised. "Well, that was unexpected." I looked up at the sky. It was clearing up, slowly and surely. I looked out at the bay.
"Well, thank you, Yugi-kun," I said softly, leaning forwards. I closed my eyes and imagined Yugi in my mind. I do this often, because I seems like he's right there with me, looking back at me.
I could hear Tameo's voice in the back of my mind. She was in a chorus competition, and she sang a song I taught to her. She sang it beautifully, too, and the song ran through my mind. It was by one of my favorite groups, and they did it beautifully. But… Tameo did it a different way, with just a soft piano accompaniment.
She sang it last summer, before her pregnancy… It's on CD, and I listen to it often…
If, you are lost in your way
Deep in an awesome story
Don't be in doubt and stray
Cling to your lonesome folly
The wind lifted my hair, and I could feel little driplets of water falling onto me from the tree. I knew I had to go back to the hospital, but I wanted to stand here and linger for just a little longer….
Now, you're too close to the pain
Let all the rain go further
Come back and kiss my in vain
Mother oh do not bother
"Anzu-chan," a stern voice said behind me. I turned slightly to see Jonouchi walking over. I smiled a little smile towards him.
"Hello, Jonouchi," I said, turning back to the water. Jonouchi looked out at the sea. "So… How's Ryou?" Jonouchi closed his eyes and looked down. My heart stopped.
"He's….. not doing as well as we'd hoped," he said slowly. "He's gotten worse. His blood isn't clotting for some reason, so his wounds haven't heeled completely, and now they've opened again. He's turning so pale and he's bleeding…." Jonouchi looked at me. "He's coughing up blood."
"Damn," I muttered. "Oh, wow, Jonouchi, he's… Oh my God…" The two of us stood there for the longest time.
Hear the chorus of pain
Taking you back to proper ways
It's so easy to find
If you could remind me….
"Your mom doesn't think that he's gonna live this time," Jonouchi said. "She even predicted his death…. June 1st." I closed my eyes. That was in a few days time….
Tears fell onto the railing. Jonouchi looked sideways at me, then put his arm around my shoulders.
"It'll be alright," he said softly as I cried. "I promise you, even if Ryou dies, we'll be okay. You, me, an' Honda…." He closed his eyes. "We'll be alright….. I promise."
Now you are lost in your way
Deep in an awesome story
So I will find you again
Kiss you for lonesome folly…
* * *
The waves slapped up against the tall cliffs. They spurted water into the air, the mist slowly falling back down onto the rocks. A small group of teens – three to be exact – were standing at the water's edge. All of them were dressed in black, staring out at the sea. One of them, a teenage girl, was crouching, her head in her hands, her elbows propped onto her thighs. The other two stood there, staring out blankly.
Two deaths… In two years…. Something…. Even the strongest cannot endure. Out there, somewhere, were two young children who were lost, and died. Now, though….
The girl stood, and, holding a small envelope, held the envelope open. A bunch of cards fell into her hands. She threw them, watching them flitter away in the wind. Following were three flowers.
Two of their friends had been taken by the sea.
It was only a matter of time before a third was taken, too….
* * *
well.. that's the end. Please R&R!!!!!
Shibby-One