((::Don't Ever Start Thinking I'm Not Yearning::))
D.(elightful) R.(ejects) E.(rase) A.(ll) M.(emories)
---------------
He could remember it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Back when everything was so clean and delicate. Back when the greatest thing in life was doing absolutely nothing. No, that wasn't right. They had always done something. They were heroes; or so they were told. He had lapped up every minute of it, every foolish word of it. How was he to know that it was all going to come crashing to the ground in only a moment longer?
The things he thought would hurt just didn't. He no longer cared about his losses. Except for one thing. Her.
Raven hair; creamy, pale skin; beautiful sapphire eyes; thin arms, and a smile that could warm the heart of anyone.
He wasn't sad that he lost her. No, that wasn't it. He was sad because he knew that he had lost his place in her memory. She would never recognize him on the streets. She would still be clueless even after he had introduced himself. She wouldn't remember even as he wrapped his dying arms around her and wished with all his heart that she would hold him, too.
It didn't matter anyway. Seven years is a long time. He was alone now. He had always been alone. He told himself these facts time and time again, but it never stopped him from calling her name out, night after night.
Kuki...Kuki...Ku...ki...
---
"This is going to be the biggest mission of your entire lives, do not even think about screwing it up! Otherwise you idiots will be sentenced to banishment from the Kids Next Door. Of course even that punishment will not compare with the incomprehensible amount of guilt you will feel at realizing that you have ruined the lives of millions of child generations to come. This mission is bigger than all of us and - would you look at me when I'm talking to you Numbah 4?!" With all the angry yelling and stress the Kids Next Door were finally beginning to understand why Fanny's hair had so many frizzy split ends.
"Err...Sorry..." Wally mumbled softly. He had been looking at her again. Just watching her as she sat near him focused on what Fanny had to say to them. He wasn't sure why he kept doing it. In fact he found that it was getting downright creepy in a stalker kind of way. He couldn't stop, though and he didn't know why. Her long black hair cradled her shoulders softly and her beautiful blue eyes were turned to the red haired girl pacing in front of them. Wally sighed to himself.
At the same time there was a rage going through the red-haired Fanny that looked like it was about to erupt at any moment. The others could see her growing as red as her hair and they braced themselves. They thought she was mad that Wally wasn't paying attention, but what they didn't know was that the red head had seen the looks that Wallabee Beetle had been giving the lovely Kuki Sanban and was now feeling the quite brutal raw emotion of jealousy.
"Honestly! This is the most important mission that you've ever done or will ever do again and your wasting your time sending loving glances to one of your own team mates!-" Wally opened his mouth to protest, but Fanny wasn't done yet, "You're a waste of space, Numbah 4! We can decommission you right now if that's what you want. We do not have time for you to slide into your fantasy land." She stopped and then turned away to compose herself, "Typical loser boy..." She added quietly.
"Ya cruddy girl! I 'eard that! And ya can't just decommission me whenever ya feel like it!" Wally yelled pounding a fist on her desk. He sat down again only to stand up a moment later, "And I was not sendin' lovin' glances to Numbah 3! I was uh...juss staring off while listening to ya, is all...." He shoved his hands and took his seat, praying to whatever God was out there that he wasn't blushing.
Fanny was about to lose her temper again and just start shouting at the top of her voice, but she managed to control herself. Deep down she really was just your typical fiery red head.
"Could we...err...actually get to the mission?" Hoagie asked. He was often unsure of himself around Fanny. He hated getting yelled at by her and being on the butt end of her jokes, but it always seemed to happen that way. He could never understand how he was supposed to be the stupid one over Wally. It was really quite unfair.
"I was getting to that!" Fanny snapped angrily. Hoagie Gilligan. She enjoyed taking her frustrations out on him at every chance she got. She didn't know why, but something about him just irked her. She couldn't stand when he tried being nice to her or even just talked to her. He had all these dumb dreams and ideas that seemed so far away and yet he would probably accomplish them. Fanny on the other hand would be decommissioned and then what? She'd be dull, plain, teenage Fanny. He would be Hoagie; ace pilot, private eye, hero to the downtrodden. No wonder she hated him.
"You don't have to get so snappy. Numbah 2 was just trying to ask a question." Hoagie smiled. Of course it was Abigail Lincoln to the rescue. Abby always made everything better. She never got flustered or embarrassed and she could usually keep her cool no matter what happened. Hoagie absolutely adored her sometimes. Not that he'd ever admit it.
Fanny hated Abby too. In fact she hated most of them. She hated Wally too in some ways. But she was too infatuated by him to actually say that she loathed him. She really didn't know what she felt in those days. It didn't matter anyway. The last day was getting closer. She wouldn't remember her feelings in the long run. None of them would. It was enough to make someone cry. Not Fanny though. She was supposed to be the bitch. Bitches don't cry. Ice queens don't have emotions.
"Fine, enough arguing already. The Delightful Children have managed to get in touch with ex-Numbah 274 and have used his help to create their very own version of our Memory Eraser. You must go in with extreme caution. To be caught means that you will forget. You will forget the Kids Next Door, you will forget where you are, and-" She paused as if for effect, "You will forget each other."
---
She was cold again. No, she wasn't really cold. She just fooled herself into believing that she was cold so that she'd have an excuse for trembling like she was. She was the tough one, wasn't she? She was the peacemaker; the only one with enough cool to know how to handle extreme situations. She didn't know how to handle this. She had never known how to handle this. She knew no more now than she had then.
"You're quiet again. Should we beat the information out of you or would a kiss suffice?"
"You're such a sick bastard."
"What a big bad word for such a little girl."
"I'm seventeen."
"You're still a child."
"You're still an ass."
"Touché, my pet. Don't worry. You'll be mine in the end."
"Don't count on it."
Sometimes she would imagine that he was there. A smirk on his face, his sunglasses sitting across the bridge of his nose just right. She would freeze then. Praying that it was real. Hoping against hope that he had come to rescue her from her Hell. He never came. He didn't come, because he didn't even know she existed. She would shiver again.
It had to be the cold. She didn't get scared.
She didn't.
---
They were mostly silent on the ride back to the Tree house. Fanny was supposed to meet them tomorrow, first thing in the morning. She had taken it upon herself to accompany them to partly to be sure that they brought back Numbah 274, but mainly to make sure they didn't screw it up. They had all groaned inwardly. Like it wouldn't be hard enough without Fanny's 'help'.
"Okay team...I think we should all get to bed right away when we reach the tree house. We'll need to be well rested for tomorrow's mission." What else was there to say? Nigel was stuck. He knew he should say something uplifting, but he didn't know if he'd be able to. This was something he didn't know how to deal with. What if the Delightful Children managed to drain even just one person's memory? They didn't know if it would be the same as last time and they could just put it back. "I think...Good luck to all of you." He bowed his head toward them. He felt someone place pressure around his shoulders. He looked up to see Kuki hugging him tightly. She was grinning widely.
"Don't worry Numbah 1! Everything will be okay." She exclaimed joyfully.
"Yeah," Abby said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "We'll all be fine."
"Nobody messes with the Kids Next Door!" Wally cried as he pumped a fist in the air and then blushed furiously as Kuki let go of Nigel to wrap her arms around Wally.
"We've been through worse." Hoagie stated. The others nodded and agreed though none of them really believed it. It was so much easier to pretend that things were okay. To say it aloud made it more real, even if they all knew that they would probably never truly believe the lies. They cheered and chanted, proclaiming themselves to be invincible, indestructible. The yells died down soon enough and all that was left was an awkward silence and a terrible cold. It was enough to drive a person out of their mind.
"All right," Nigel said taking charge once again, "Time to get some sleep. Like I said earlier, we'll need our strength. If we're all at our fullest potential then the Delightful Children will never know what hit them. Good night, team." He turned around to head towards his bedroom. The others watched him until he disappeared from sight. Abby turned to look at the others.
"Ya'll heard what Numbah 1 said! To bed!" She cried, clapping her hands together. The other's saluted and then quickly shuffled to their separate rooms.
An hour later and Wally lay in his room staring into the space above his head. He sighed loudly and then rolled onto his side. No matter which way he laid he could not bring himself to fall asleep. Of course it had nothing to do with nerves, though. Wally was never nervous or frightened. Not like -
"Wally?"
"Kuki?" He mumbled softly and then lifted his head to look at the young girl looking at him from the foot of his bed. He yawned, "What are you doing in 'ere?" He asked her gently.
He watched in silent anguish as tears began streaming down her pale cheeks. She wrapped her too thin arms tighter around the Rainbow Monkey she had been holding.
"I'm scared." She whispered and then threw herself at him. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed into his chest and began to grasp the front of his pajamas. Her sobs made her whole body shake and suddenly she seemed so much smaller than he was used to. He awkwardly patted her back.
"Don't worry, Numbah 3. It's...err...okay." Wally had never been good at compassion. He was so used to reacting with his fists. It was difficult to be trying to comfort someone. He swallowed hard, for suddenly his throat had become terribly dry at the thought of what he was going to say next, "Y-you could sleep in h-here w-w-wi-with me if ya w-want."
Tremble. Oh dread. He hadn't really asked that, had he?
He felt himself sweating profusely as Kuki gently pulled out of his uncomfortable embrace to look at him. He felt the color rush back into his face as she smiled the happy smile he knew so well and nodded.
They didn't speak as she settled down next to him. They were back to back, not even touching. Wally trembled slightly. Kuki could feel it. She giggled to herself. Wally heard it. Wally shifted backwards a bit. Kuki shifted back to meet him. Kuki rolled onto her back. Wally did the same. Wally placed his hand between them. Kuki grabbed it. Kuki wondered what life without knowing who Wally was would be like. Wally was wondering the exact same thing about Kuki. Wally was scared. Kuki was almost bed wettingly frightened.
They both quietly cried themselves to sleep.
---
Where had his childhood gone? It had been stolen from him along with everything else. He had no more pride, no more dignity. He was a mere shell of the person he used to be. He didn't even remember what flying was like anymore. He could barely remember the others. It had been so long since he had seen any of them. Not even the loud, stupid one and the beautiful goddess who were locked up just as he was.
Oh God, it hurt. He had both emotional pain and physical pain. He had confessed everything that he had ever known to them and yet they still beat him. They still let him know all of his shortcomings. They had managed to weasel out his feelings for the beautiful goddess and they would often hold it above his head and mock him.
He would never be good enough for her.
"Good for nothing, boy."
A fiery red head. She would say things like that to him all the time. Who was she? It didn't matter.
Nothing mattered anymore.
---
"All right, team. Here's the plan for the-"
"Ahem."
Nigel Uno scowled darkly at the red head that had waltzed into the Tree house only moments before. So far she had just been walking around and inspecting the condition of the Tree house and criticizing its upkeep. The team was about ready to tie her up and do the mission without her. It was already pretty obvious that she was more of a hindrance than a help.
"The plan is simple." Fanny said, "We'll split into two groups. Numbah's 2,4 and 5 will be together." In order to keep the two I hate most and the one I care for most out of my hair, she thought to herself, "Numbah's 1 and 3 will be on a team with me."
"Are you sure that splitting up is such a good idea? I mean we don't want one group to have their memories destroyed and the rest knowing everything." Nigel said hesitantly.
"Of course we would rather have that! At least if one group is oblivious than the other will be able to still go on." Fanny groaned. She slapped a hand to her forehead. These kids could be so stupid.
"I suppose it's for the good of all children..." Nigel trailed off. Abby gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't like it. I don't want to forget you and Numbah 3. I certainly don't want to remember you two and then you won't remember me..." Abby's voice was shaking. Was memory loss really all that terribly frightening? Of course it was, imagine how easy it would be to manipulate and take advantage of a person who has no idea who they really are.
"It doesn't matter. You're loyalty is supposed to lie with the Kids Next Door, not your teammates!" Fanny was seething with fury. They were wrong. Every single one of them was just wrong. They knew not whom they were supposed to rely on and they put too much trust in each other. Even the girls were stupid enough to put belief in their "friends". How utterly naive they all were.
"The Delightful Children are currently located at a warehouse down by the wharf. Remember to use extreme caution and be sure to watch where you walk. Our goal is to find their Memory loss technology and destroy it. Are there any questions? No? Good. Let's go." Fanny sped towards the airship, already prepared to go. The other five operatives stayed where they were and looked at each other.
"Well team, you heard the girl. We need to move out. I want you all to use extreme caution. This...is bigger than we may know. Be brave. Everything will be perfectly fine." Nigel assured them all with a comforting smile. He looked around at his team that he had come to love so very much. His gaze lingered on Abby for a few seconds. Abby nodded to him and he nodded back. He felt a drop in his stomach and he felt like he needed to say something to her and her alone, but he didn't know what. The moment passed and he shook it off as he walked rather silently to the airship alongside of his other teammates. He decided to think about it later.
He had never even considered the possibility that he would lose his memory.
---
He often felt as if there was something missing. Something warm and important and he didn't really understand it, but he knew it had something to do with that bright red hat he found in that big warehouse back when he was just a kid. The hat made him smile a lot. Even on the worst days of his life. He'd pull out the hat and just smile at it. He even kissed it gently once. He never wore it. It didn't feel right to him.
He remembered the guilt the day after he kissed that hat. He was with Lizzie, wasn't he? Why then did he have these feelings that he didn't understand every time he looked at the hat? Who had worn that hat? He didn't understand. So many things were fuzzy.
Who are you, my darling?
He would probably never know.
---
They had all entered the warehouse together. After walking for a few minutes the route split. The two teams headed in different directions to go down separate halls. About ten minutes into the missions and everything was still fairly quiet and they were suddenly worried. It was really much too calm.
Bang.
Nigel and Kuki watched in terrified horror as a beam of a strange light blue substance hit Fanny. She was flung back against the wall. She slumped sideways, obviously unconscious. Kuki and Nigel were both paralyzed for a few moments before they realized what was going on. By that time the man carrying the blue beam gun was already preparing to fire again.
"RUN!" Nigel yelled at the top of his lungs. Kuki sped off down the right, while Nigel (in a rush of fright dropped his weapon) and then went left.
Meanwhile the other three heard the shot and Nigel's frantic scream. In an instant they were all turned around and running towards the horrible screams. Hoagie rammed right into Nigel only a few minutes later. Nigel was rambling on and on without making any actual sense at all.
"Numbah 1! Calm down! Come on now! Calm!" Abby was yelling at her friend, trying to get him to form actual sentences.
"The beam...I and... Numbah 3 ran...86 was just...and..." Nigel was flailing and pointing, trying to break free of his friend's grip to run from the beam. After minutes of Abby trying her hardest to reason with their leader, Wally erupted. He grabbed Nigel by the shoulders and shook him roughly.
"Where is Kuki?!" He asked fiercely. Nigel pointed back down the way he came from and Wally handed over his gun and then sped off down the hall to find his friend. Abby and Hoagie held onto Nigel as they watched Wally's retreating back until he was too far gone to be seen.
"Mm mm mm. That boy's got it bad." Abby stated. Hoagie nodded and grunted in agreement, but refused to look at Abby. You think he's got it bad, Hoagie thought to himself, then you have no idea how terrible it can really be. Especially when you know it's a hopeless cause.
"Are you even listening?!" Abby complained exasperatedly. Hoagie lifted his head to meet her questioning gaze.
"Huh?"
"I said we've got to move. Whatever attacked Numbah 1 is bound to come lookin' for us." She slid her hand down from Nigel's shoulder until it touched his hand. She looked at him softly and then kneeled down beside the shaking boy. "Look Numbah 1. We're gonna run for it. We can't stop either. I know you feel bad and you're scared for not being able to help Numbah 86, but you can't stop. If you stop then they'll make you forget everything. This is too big for just the five of us. We need to run and we need to run now. Numbah 2, grab his other hand."
After a moment of fumbling so that they were all connected to one another the three Kids Next Door in the left wing began to run. They were heading right to reach the split that they had first separated at when they had entered earlier. Abby was yanking Nigel forward as fast as she could. They would have to find Fanny and take her back with them and then abort the mission. It was too dangerous. They'd have to come back with more operatives and stop the Delightful Children some other way.
The three operatives from Sector V were surprised as a large man with some type of gun-like weapon in his hand rounded the corner. Hoagie was the first one to react. He stopped quickly and pointed his index finger towards the man.
"Look out!"
Abby flinched and held up an arm as the man pulled the trigger on his beam gun. The blue light once again shot out of it and raced towards Abigail.
"Abby!"
In the brief instant before she was hit she opened her eyes and was surprised to see Nigel standing in front of her with his arms open to protect her. She reached out to shove him aside, but it was already too late. The beam hit him with a loud splat and the force sent him backwards into Abby who fell over and lay on her back staring into space for a few dazed seconds. Her weapon had been blown out of her hand and was now lying a few feet away.
"...No..." Abby whimpered. She slowly sat up and looked down at the small baldhead that lay on her lap. She reached up to take her hat off and held it in her hands as if she were mourning. "Good-bye Nigel. I'll try to remember you even if you have no idea who I am."
"Abby! Get up!" Hoagie screamed to her. In her grieving she had not noticed that the man carrying the large beam gun had put it away and was now coming towards her with his hands outstretched. Abby looked up and let out a strangled yell as she struggled to get out from under Nigel.
"Don't move. You're coming with me." The man's voice was low and menacing, but held within it a sliver of ignorance and stupidity. He was nothing more than a thug. Sent to do other's bidding.
"No!" Abby cried out, "Numbah 5's gotta keep her memories so that she can help the other's remember. I can't forget..." The man didn't seem to listen to a word she said, or he just didn't care. He drew closer to her, slowly as if he didn't want to scare her away. Abby knew it was hopeless. She let her hat fall from her hands and bent her head over Nigel. "I give up..."
"Leave her alone!" Hoagie yelled angrily. He completely forgot his gun and instead launched himself towards the much larger man and wrapped his arms around his neck. The man growled and threw Hoagie off of him. Hoagie landed violently a few feet away.
"Numbah 2!" Abby screeched. Nigel was still unconscious in her arms and it looked as if Hoagie was out too. A voice in the back of her head was nagging her. Why hadn't the man just shot them both with the blue beam?
"Okay, now let's see..." The man mumbled to himself. Erase the Irish girl's memory. Check. Erase the bald one's memory. Check. Subdue the pilot. Check. Subdue the girl with the hat. Getting to that...All right!" He turned to Abby, "After stopping you all I have to do is catch two more. Erase one memory and just subdue the other. Shouldn't be too hard."
"Wh-what?" Abby was confused, "Why aren't you erasing all of our memories?"
"Obviously the Delightful Children need some of you for information and hostages in case something goes wrong. They've already promised me that I'll be able to beat some of you. Sorry, kid. I'd wish you luck, but then I'd be setting you up for a let down." He smirked wickedly, "Sorry, girl, but this is the end for you."
Abby squeaked in fear and in one quick jerk, pulled herself from underneath Nigel. She leapt to her feet and began dashing down the hall.
I'll come back for all of them later, she thought to herself wildly, but first I need to get out of here and get some back up.
She was dashing down the hall so fast that she didn't even notice the string cleverly placed from one wall to the other. She hardly even realized that she was tripping over it. She didn't even put her arms out to brace herself. She lay there for a few seconds with her eyes closed tightly to stunned to even move.
"Now, now Abigail." So they were there too. She hadn't been sure. She probably should have known. The Delightful Children could be stupid, but no one was dumb enough to let a common thug take care of everything. She would have been able to escape. They would never allow that. "You should know better than that. Try as you might you'll never be able to escape us. You can't outrun your fears. And-" She briefly wondered how they always managed to speak together. It was actually kind of annoying. Didn't they ever grow tired of each other? "We know what you fear most." She almost snorted. They knew nothing about her. "You're not afraid of losing your memories, are you? No, that may even be a welcome relief." Abby's eyes fluttered open. They couldn't know... "You're afraid of being forgotten. That's what you really fear. You hate the idea of waking up one day to find the people you've known you whole life looking at you, but not really sure who you were."
"How did you-?" Abby began, but they cut her off.
"We know everything." They were all grinning at her and she knew that they still had one more card to play. It was the one card that could bring her down. She heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. The thug was coming towards her. She closed her eyes again. It really was over. "Just like we know about you feelings."
Why were they doing this? It wasn't fair.
"Your tender feelings about someone that you consider to be very special."
They couldn't know. It was impossible. No one knew.
"We know all about your feelings for Nigel Uno."
The footsteps stopped right by her head. She braced herself. She heard the whoosh as something large cut through the air. Felt the pain as it erupted through her skull. Sighed thankfully as the blackness came. It was such a welcome relief. Feelings gone. Everything gone.
The whole time that Abby, Hoagie and Nigel had fought for their lives and their memories Wallabee Beetles was desperately searching for Kuki Sanban. He had always had a very bad sense of direction. At the moment he was walking down one hallway after another in search of his friend.
"Numbah 3?" He whispered quietly. After a few minutes spent wandering the truth of his position dawned on him. He was all alone walking down halls that he didn't know anything about along with a crazed man with some kind of weapon that had apparently spooked both Nigel and Kuki. From what he had gathered Fanny was in bad shape somewhere too.
"Come on, Kuki, ya cruddy girl. Come out...I need ter know if yer okay." He mumbled softly to himself. He was suddenly aware of someone groaning softly from somewhere nearby. He yelped in fear and then looked around frantically. He had no idea what it was.
"Uhh...agh..."
He slowly tiptoed forward. There was a small table against the one side of the wall. He shivered and then looked around the corner of the table. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Fanny sitting there holding her head and moaning softly.
"My...ugh...head..." She mumbled in pain. She looked up and squeaked as she saw a young boy looking at her. She backed up and pressed herself against the wall. For some odd reason her frightened her.
"Err...ya okay, Numbah 86?" He asked his voice sounding a little concerned.
"W-whose Number 86?" She asked softly.
"Uhh...it's Numbah 86, not Number 86 and yer Numbah 86." She hadn't? She couldn't...Was her memory really gone?
"Am I?" She wondered aloud.
"Hey, you kids!"
Wally felt a terrible sense of dread as he spun around. Only a little ways down the hall was a large man carrying a gun and dragging behind him what looked (to Wally's horror) Abby and Hoagie. In an instant he was speeding down the hall in the opposite direction not even realizing that Fanny was still back beside the table.
"Not again. Don't you kids ever just give up?!"
The chase was on. Wallabee Beetles versus the nameless thug who had a gun that could erase memories. Wally had the advantage of child-like reflexes, speed and one helluva punch, but the thug had the greater advantage of being huge and carrying a gun.
He could hear the man running behind him as fast as he could. Wally pushed himself harder and rounded a corner. He let out a cry as someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into a room. The room was completely dark and he struggled to break free of the other person's grip. He was making a lot of noise and flailing his limbs around.
"Be quiet, Numbah 4." Came a soft voice, "Otherwise the big meanie will hear you!"
"Kuki?!" He whispered softly. Was it really her? It had to be. At least he hoped it was.
"Of course, silly. Who else would it be? Don't you recognize my voice?" He could almost see her. Her long raven hair was probably mussed and her pale cheeks flushed red from excitement and fear combined.
"Are ya all right, Numbah 3? No one knew what 'appened to ya." He was so completely relieved. Now that he wasn't alone he felt a rush of strength and bravery. His chances of making it out seemed a lot better. Could seeing her, being near her, really make him feel that way? It was as if everything was perfectly all right as long as she was near him.
"I'm okay, Numbah 4. Were you worried?"
Say yes. Please say yes.
"Of course not. I juss wanted everyone else ter stop being all flustered over ya."
"Oh."
"But, ya know," Why was he always afraid to say what he was thinking, "I am kinda glad that yer okay." He could feel her brighten immediately. He could even see her smiling. His eyes were becoming accustomed to the dark room.
"Yay!" Kuki screamed loudly. In an instant Wally had put a hand over her mouth.
"Cruddy girl..." He hissed at her. He could hear footsteps drawing closer to their hiding space and felt his heart rise into his throat. "Look what you've done..." He muttered angrily to her. He was startled when he felt something wet fall onto the top of his hand. He looked at her and faintly saw tears falling down her cheeks. He removed his hand from her mouth and rubbed his neck. "Kuki...I didn't mean...I don't...Its fin-"
"Ah ha!" The door was flung open and a large hand reached in and wrapped around his small frame. He yelled out of fear and anger and began trying to wiggle free. In a moment he felt the large man's grip lessening. He looked down to see Kuki with her weapon pointed at the man and firing away.
"Let go of Wally you big meanie!" She screeched. The man staggered back a bit, but then reached behind his back to grab his gun. Wally panicked and began struggling harder.
"Kuki! RUN!!!"
"So you must be the 'pretty and naive little Japanese girl'? Sorry, sweetheart, but its time for decommissioning." Kuki stopped shooting and looked up. Wally could see the look of absolute terror on her face. The large man was steadying the gun and taking aim. Kuki didn't move. She was paralyzed by fear.
"Kuki! I love-"
Bang.
"NOO!" Wally growled fiercely. He let out a strange animal cry and bit the hand of the man. The man yelped and dropped Wally who made a mad dash for Kuki who had been blown backwards by the force of the blow. She was obviously unconscious and she was looking pretty terrible. He bent down beside her and shook her gently.
"Kuki...Wake up, Numbah 3...We have to save the on Kuki...I promise to play tea party with ya when we get back to the tree house...I'll even get dressed up and be real nice to yer cruddy dolls...Kuki?...."
"Touching." That voice. Wally began to shake. He knew that voice. He felt a rage that was unlike any anger her had ever known before. He whirled around quickly and felt his eyes forming a scowl.
"You!" He snarled. In front of him stood the self-proclaimed King Sandy smirking down at Wally in a way that made Wally want to hit him so hard that his nose came out the other side of his head. "I'll kill you!"
"I'm so sorry, Master Beetles, but I have an agreement with the Delightful Children that doesn't include you. So I'll leave you in there care. I hope they don't beat you too much. I'm sure the lovely princess would be most distressed. Oh wait. It doesn't matter. She won't remember you. Looks like you lose, Wally boy." Wally had his fists clenched tightly and was about to strangle the other boy when he suddenly felt something hard smack him across the back of his head. He stayed standing for a few moments before crumpling to the ground beside Kuki.
"Uhhh...argh...Oww...." Sandy's smirk turned to a concerned smile as he looked over at his beloved who was slowly waking up and clutching her head. She looked around in a confused manner. "Where am I? I'm scared."
"Kuki? Are you all right, darling?" He asked softly rushing to her. She was about to answer when she noticed a boy lying on the ground beside her, clearly unconscious.
"Are you all right?" She asked the boy softly, but got no answer from the blond boy.
"Come, love. Let me walk you home." Sandy said, taking her hand in his.
"But who are you? And who am I? And what about him?" She refused to turn her attention to the poor kid on the floor beside her. She pulled out of Sandy's grip and reached down to pull a hand through his hair. "Is he all right?"
"He'll be fine. He just fainted, but this gentleman," He nodded towards the thug, "has already agreed to make sure he's okay. Now if you come with me, I'll explain everything as I walk you home."
Kuki was reluctant to leave, but didn't know why. She shook her head. He looked at Sandy who had his arm reached out to her and smiled dazedly.
"I would really appreciate that."
---
Stupid kid. Why did she still remember him? She couldn't remember anything else from that day. So why him?
She should have stayed. She should have made sure that he was okay. What was she thinking? Of course he was okay. Sandy had said he'd be all right and so he must have been.
He was a cute kid, though. Brave too. Wait...why did she just think that he was brave. She didn't even know the kid.
Or did she?
She would close her eyes again and go to sleep. Her dreams were always filled with strange things and almost familiar faces. His face was always there. Either smiling at her or yelling at her, but no matter what she'd always wake up in a cold sweat and cry until morning. She wished that she knew why. She felt robbed. Something precious had been stolen from her, but she didn't know what.
But she'd get up and get dressed and put on pretty clothes and smile to her boyfriend, Sandy (who she'd been dating forever and everyone knew that they'd get married eventually) as he picked her up for school and try everything to forget his face. She came close many times.
But eventually she'd find a time to sleep and there he'd be again. And nothing would change and she was still alone and cold and she wished he was there, but he was only a dream. And she was real.
Sometimes.
---
A/N: Gawd. What on earth possessed me to write almost twenty pages for my first chapter? I really am insane.
Before you all start asking questions I will let you know that more will be explained like the reason Sandy left Mushi for Kuki again, what happened to those who lost their memories and those who were just knocked out, what has changed in the last seven years and what on earth are the pairings exactly?
Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!