A/N: Italicized words R stuff in that are occurring Kaede's dream.
Chapter 6
(Sendoh)
I thought and processed the info I got for five days. One thing was clear, the unknown leader behind NP, must be someone my action affected most. I thought long and hard about who it could but came up blank. Jin couldn't find out this person's identity either.
.
(Ayako)
"Have you noticed?" Koshino asked.
"Rukawa-sama's acting odd," Jin said.
"Sleep deprived," I said, "I haven't seen him sleep or take a nap for three days. Not at school, not in his car, not here. I think it has to do with his nightmares…"
"Really?" Hikoichi asked.
Jin frowned, "It's true…he does look paler, impatient, and he looks really ill."
"Due to lack of energy and sleep," I said, "but he shouldn't refuse to sleep because of a couple of nightmares."
"Nightmares? Can it be…" Hikoichi began and changed his mind, "it can only be…"
"Him," Koshino finished.
"Then I better get to work," Jin said.
.
(Rukawa)
I felt so sleepy and exhausted, 'No, I can't sleep. I can't…'
I ran to the washroom and splash water on my face, 'Stay awake. Don't sleep…'
I looked at the mirror. My eyes…they were golden. I shut my eyes and shook my head, 'I can't be like this. I got to be stronger…'
.
(Koshino)
"What happened?" Ayako asked.
"I think he finally couldn't stand it and fell sleep," I said, "found him asleep on the ground. He might have fainted…"
"He's not having any nightmares or…at least he appears not to be," Hikoichi said, "what do we do?"
Ayako frowned, "We got no choice. Carry him to his room and let him sleep. His body needs the rest."
I nodded, "I got his arms, Hikoichi grab his legs."
"Hai!"
.
(Rukawa)
I looked around, 'Where am I? Why does it look so familiar?'
Then I spotted two boys crouching at the door eavesdropping, 'That's me and ani…'
"No, don't listen," I said trying to pull the four year old me away, but my hands went right through him, 'no, not these dreams again.'
"Did you see? He's doing it again," otousan said.
"You mean how he pretended the broom was Goku's nyoibo, broke the window and almost caused the wall to come down?" okaasan said, "I saw."
"That's boy's trouble. We can't hide him any longer, he's drawing too much attention. The gigantic serpent made of water at the lake, the trees suddenly looking like pencils, the fog taking ghost form…"
"So what do you think we should do?" okaasan asked.
"What we should've done 4 years ago, hand him over to the government."
'I didn't mean any harm by what I did. Those were just things I did unintentionally. I-'
"Painful isn't it?" Fujima asked as the image disappeared and only him and I were left.
'So it is him.'
He smiled, "I guess your parents were wise. They were smart to want to get rid of you. Your brother tried to help you, didn't he? He begged you to save him, to help him, right? But what did you do? Nothing. Because you didn't want them to have actual confirmation that you're a mutant. Because you're selfish."
"That's not true," I said softly.
"Trying to convince yourself?" Fujima asked, "lets see what your memory tells us, shall we? And see what is true."
'No, no!'
.
(Fujima)
"Fujima leave him alone. Do you know who you are and what you're doing?" Akagi asked.
I looked at him, "I know precisely who I am and what I'm doing."
'An angry boyfriend, seeking revenge,' I thought and said, "I think it's you that's confused. You're with NP now. Rukawa is our enemy, so stay out of my way."
I got up and went to my room, 'I wonder how long it'll take for him to break. Should be near the verge of it…especially after those previous memories I provoked.'
.
(Rukawa)
"Kaede, help me!!" my ani cried.
The four year old me watched, stunned.
"Do something!! I don't-"
They used a stun gun on him and dragged him away.
'Ani…sumimasen, I…'
"Do you know how much torment he went through before dying? The government isn't too lenient on people who hide and protect mutants," Fujima said, "he suffered for 5 years, before dying. Thanks to you."
"Shut up," I warned him.
He smirked, "Ok, I'll shut up."
A bloody, zombie version of my brother appeared, "Why didn't you save me, Kaede? Why did you watch them take me away? Why didn't you protect me like how I protected you?! Why didn't you try to help me?!"
The accusation in his voice and eyes were overwhelming. I looked away, "It wasn't like that. I wanted to…I…"
"Excuses!" he cried and attacked me.
"I didn't want it to happen. I'm so sorry," I said making no effort to stop his punches, "I'm so sor-"
"Pathetic," Fujima said harshly and my brother was gone, "don't act all remorseful. Remember Haruko? Nice, sweet Haruko? She cared about you. She trusted you and you used that trust to lead her into a trap. You left her in the hands of NP. Why? Because you wanted to be leader. You purposely let NP capture her, knowing Akagi loves his sister so much that he'll give in to NP's blackmail. With him gone, who better to be Dawn's new leader than you, right? And now you got your wish, you're their leader."
"That's not how it happened."
"Oh, isn't it?" he asked.
"Get lost!" I cried making a stone wall grow between us.
He walked right through and grinned maliciously, "How does it feel to be helpless…powerless? Your powers don't work in my world. In the dream world, I'm all powerful. I'm not done with you yet. Remember all your other sins? You know as well as I do that I'm not making anything of these thing up, all these scenes you've been seeing are real. It's what you dream about. After all, I only have access to your dreams…"
I felt really scared. I don't want to see the people I was helpless to save. I tried to create an earthquake, a hole, anyway to get rid of him. But nothing happened instead I felt a steel chain curled around me, 'No! I got to wake up! Set me free!'
Fujima grinned, "Don't struggle, you can't escape me. I told you, I control everything here. Lets continue shall we?"
.
(Sendoh)
I frowned, 'Because of me millions of mutants around the world are suffering? Not to mention their families…I've turned them all against each other. Did I do the wrong thing…going back to kill Sawakita? In my world, most humans were oblivious to mutants, sure we had to hide our powers, but wasn't everyone happier? Here…everyone hates and fears each other…
'Should I have left things as they were? At least that way, Ryota and the others would still be alive. But Kaede… Kaede won't agree with what I've done, either. All this for him…I shouldn't be so selfish, I should-'
The ground began to shake, and debris was falling from the roof but I was protected by the force shield.
'What's happening?!'
.
(Jin)
'What the heck?! What's going on?!' I wondered looking up from my work at the screens, 'all this activity is originating from Rukawa's room. What happened to the cameras in there?'
The ground shook.
'Earthquake? No, there would've been a warning,' I decided and it hit me, 'Rukawa!'
I ran to the mic, "Attention all personnel, leave whatever you were doing and evaluate the premises. This is not a drill. Please remember to exit in an orderly manner, but quickly."
"What's going on?!" Koshino demanded running in.
"Don't know but this is coming from Rukawa-sama's room. Where's Hikoichi? He can detect what's happening."
"I'll tell you what's happening, Fujima began his assault," Ayako said appearing at the door, "how's what you're working on coming along?"
"Not done yet."
"We got to wake him," Ayako said, "you continue to work on it."
"Hai."
I grabbed the equipment and heard a crash as something hit the floor, 'I can't work in such an unstable environment.'
The sound of the mental being squish together and pulled apart was hurting my ears.
"Jin! What's going on?"
"Sendoh? Rukawa…he's having a nightmare."
"Where is he now?"
"Follow me," I said.
.
(Sendoh)
'A nightmare is the cause of all this?' I wondered looking at the chaos around me.
Jin was running in front of me but there was something wrong with him. His hand…
"Rukawa-sama's room is right there! Ayako, Koshino why are you-" Jin stopped in mid-sentence looking at the wall in the middle of the room.
'What is going on? Why is there a wall in the centre of the room and holes appearing all over the ground?'
"Careful," Jin said shielding Ayako, the bit of falling ceiling hit Jin on the shoulder making a nasty crack sound but he seem oblivious to it.
"What direction is that?" I asked pointing at the wall, "and how close to his bed is the wall?"
"His bed should be just beyond the wall," Ayako said.
"Direction," I demanded.
"Northeast," Jin replied.
I formed a time bomb, "Destination: 19 feet, northeast. Time: Present."
I dropped it onto the ground and stuck my hand through, 'Air, no wall.'
I walked through and slapped down on the alarm.
I was shock at the sight of him. Kaede was in his mutant form, he was bruised, and had his arms tightly against his side. His face was one of pain. There was also a long, thin indentation that circled from his legs up to his shoulders, it looked like the doing of an invisible rope. I gently pat him, "Wake up, Kaede…"
.
(Rukawa)
"Stop it! Stop it!" I shouted, "I had no choice. I had to kill them, it was them or us!"
"You think that justifies your killings? Don't tell me your excuses. Tell it to your victims," Fujima said coldly as all those I've killed appeared behind him, looking like zombies.
"No…"
"Make no mistake Rukawa. You are a monster, despite however hard you try to hide it, you are a monster. You know it as well as I do. Is that not why you refuse to face the world in your true form? Why you hide behind that false human façade? But you're not human, you'll never be human."
"I am…"
"You're a murder," Fujima stated, "just look at your blood stained…claws."
I was freed from the chain. I looked down at my crimson hand, 'Blood…'
"There's only one way to redeem yourself now," Fujima said and held out a gun to me.
I reached for it…
I opened my eyes and saw Sendoh hovering above me, 'I…I'm in my room…'
"Are you ok?" he asked.
I sat up and looked at my hands.
.
(Sendoh)
I frowned, 'He looks traumatized. What should I do?! What should I do?!'
I began blabbing pointlessly, "I'm sorry I slapped you so hard. I wanted to kiss you to wake you, but you were screaming so…"
I stopped realizing he wasn't listening to me, he couldn't hear me.
"Am I a monster?"
"No! Why would you think such a thing?!" I exclaimed grabbing him by the shoulders and softened my voice, "you're an angel."
"Angels don't kill people," he said softly his eyes filled with pain, sorrow and regret.
I didn't know what to say, so I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled him close and told him, "No matter what, you're my angel."
At that moment, as I held him I my arms, I knew the answer to my dilemma. I haven't chosen wrong, and I won't regret what I did because…Kaede needs me…what more was, I need him. I can't bear being separated from him, and definitely not again. I can't lose him again. I hugged him closer, 'Never again.'
.
(Rukawa)
It was the second time I got this feeling, this comforting, safe feeling.
"Why…why are you so kind to me?" I asked.
He was gently stroking my hair and whispered, "Because you're Kaede. Because I love you."
"Love?" I wondered aloud, 'no one ever said that to me before. No one…'
"Yes. Love. Do you believe me?"
As I listened to his steady soothing heart beat, I had no choice but to believe him.
"Even if you don't believe me, when I say I love you, that's ok. I'll prove it to you. I'll prove I'm worthy of your trust, your love…I don't mind waiting until you're ready…"
I shut my eyes, he has a very calming presence, 'No!'
I pulled away from him, not because I didn't want to be held by him, but because I knew if I continued to stay in his arms, I'll start feeling safe again and I'll sleep, 'I must stay away from him.'
I turn away and concentrated on a dirty spot on the bed sheets, "Don't let me sleep."
"How would you like me to keep you awake?" he asked and though I wasn't looking at him I could feel his teasing smile.
"Slap me," I stated.
I could feel his fingers to play with my hair, as he said, "You know, I got a better method-"
"Rukawa-sama! Sendoh-san! Are you guys ok?!"
'Hikoichi!' I thought looking up and pulled away from him, "I guess I don't need you to keep me awake."
I willed the wall down, 'Why? Why am I feeling so thankful and resentful of Hikoichi at the same time?'
.
(Fujima)
'Who woke up Rukawa and interfered with me? Just when it was time for the grand finale?' I wondered, 'oh well, I guess I'll have more fun with him later. I wonder how long he could last this time. Last time he went on for 76 hours and 43 minutes. But this time he's wounded, and drained emotionally and physically. I should be able to finish the job soon.'
I laid back onto the bed, 'I should get some sleep. I've overexerted myself.'
~TBC
A/N: I should explain Fujima's mutant powers, ne?
In reality Fujima doesn't have any powers. But in the dream world, he has complete control over everything. Anything he desires goes. All physical harm done in the dream world, becomes real. He can't go into people's minds and extract info, but he does have access to all of one's dreams/nightmares.
That was a pretty long description.