Hello minna-san! I'm sorta back from my one-month long 'hiatus', or rather study plan! Yeah….yeah…some of you should be like…. "Dammit! Back so fast?!?!" or maybe "Yay! Back~!" sorta thing…so yup! I'm finally back, finished my finals. Didn't get that high…so I hope I stay at my class! Well anyway, I've been taking my time planning what's gonna happen soon as I studied, so getting a writer's block is a lil bit hard to get. So, er…once again, thanks to everyone who have supported me and kept me going on writing this weird fanfic, especially sakura2814, Jen-chan, and my good fren(Mel)'s sister, Lyn! So, well, thanks once again for reading my fanfic, and I hope you enjoy this!
Oh yeah, some things I forgotted to add earlier.
[1]-From the anime Rurouni Kenshin. Character song for Kachi Itsuko. She's the 'girlfriend' of this guy called Daigoro, and her seiyuu is Iwao Junko. The song's called Sono Mama, and I like it very much~!
[2]-The song 'Open Up Your Mind' by this Singaporean group Mirai. It's sometimes played at the end of Gensomaden Saiyuki before the song 'Alone'. I also like it sooooooo much!!
[3]-And finally, the song from FF X-2, 1000 Words, which is actually the title of this crazy fan fic ^-^ and there are still ppl reading this. Not bad. ^-^!
sakura2814 Not all the songs....only the last song, 1000 Words, and the other song, Real Emotion. ^-^!
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*flashback*
"I'll pick you up tomorrow, okay?"Tezuka's mother said, looking at the young boy. He nodded his head. He stood and read the sign outside the building. Tokyo General Hospital. Why was he here in the first place? Oh yeah, his arm. Tezuka looked at his left arm with blood still dripping on the floor. It had been bandaged, but his mother wasn't a doctor. He sighed and stepped into the huge building. People there looked scary and cold. Must be the aura of sick people making everyone feel tired, bored and emotionless. He stepped to the reception counter.
"May I help you?"said the receptionist. She didn't sound so welcoming anyway.
"I'm supposed to see Dr. Yamagata. Where would he be?"Tezuka asked, looking up to the receptionist.
"Dr. Yamagata? East Wing, 5th Floor, the children's floor."
"Thank you,"the young boy replied, turning to the east wing. The hospital seemed much bigger than how it was from the outside.
Finally, he reached the 5th floor. He was quite shocked to see the number of patients at that ward. Kids from young to teens were seated, either fiddling with the flimsy toys supplied or looking at the television, watching the Pokemon show on tv. Finally, Tezuka decided to ask the nurse where was Dr. Yamagata.
"Dr. Yamagata? He's currently seeing another patient, have a seat first,"the nurse replied coldly as she rushed to the dispensary.
Tezuka took a seat by the window overlooking the park for patients at the back of the hospital. Beside him, he saw a girl looking outside the window cluelessly as well.
"Doesn't it feel so strange here?"she said, turning to Tezuka. He just nodded his head.
"It feels like everyone's in some sort of charm.....a sad one, right? It's such a lonely and depressing here..ne?"she said even more mysteriously. Tezuka looked at the girl. She looked as mysterious as Fuji, the blue-eyed tennis tensai, the small child at school.
"So, why are you here for? Hardly anyone stays here for a long time...and it gets pretty quiet here at times,"the girl said.
"My arm."
"Oh, ok. Wish I could help you, though. I'm sure some doctor can help you. I don't think anyone can help me, though..."she said solemnly.
Before Tezuka could reply what the girl said, he got interrupted by a nurse who ran towards the girl frantically.
"Miss Kiritani! You're not allowed to be wandering outside like this! Back to your room, now!"exclaimed the stressful nurse as a couple of kids began shouting around. She tried calming those kids down, and nevertheless, failed.
"Whoopsie....I think I better get back to my room. Listen 'ere, I've got alot to tell you, so meet me at the lake outside the hospital, okay?"the girl said to Tezuka. He nodded his head, looking at the girl being dragged away by the nurse. Now, he began to be restless. He often wondered how people can stay in hospitals long-term. Even staying at one for about a few hours can bore a person to death.
"Tezuka, Tezuka Kunimitsu!"said another nurse. He presumed it was the time to see Dr.Yamagata, the hospital's only pediatician.
As the frail boy walked into the room, he could see a middle-aged man smiling as he held a file with him. Tezuka took a seat facing the doctor.
"So what's the injury this time, Tezuka-san?"the doctor said cheerily.
"My arm. Got it hurt."
"How?"
"Tennis."
"Oh. Ok."
After a short time of checking, Dr. Yamagata gazed at the wound on Tezuka's arm. He showed a frown, calling a nurse to come.
"Take this boy in for one night. Call his mother. Put antiseptic on it, and bandage it."
"Yes, doctor,"replied the nurse, rushing back into the dispensary.
After a while, Tezuka was led to his room. It was a big one, and it apparently was chosen by his mother. After all, his mother paid or it, so it didn't matter to him. All he wanted to do was go outside and play tennis. Damn the senpai for hurting him. What the hell did he do anyway? He just won the match fair and square anyway.
Finally, after his mother visited him and left, he was all alone in the creepy ward. He felt alone, helpless and wished for someone to be with him. As he flushed himself with thoughts, he drowned to sleep.
After that, it was about 9 PM when he arose from the bed. He suddenly recalled the meeting he had with the mysterious-looking girl.
Meet me at the lake, recalled Tezuka. He got up from the bed, wore his slippers and clambered to the door. It creaked silently, allowing Tezuka to get out of the hospital grounds for a short while. He tiptoed silently down the stairs and to the ground floor. When he got close to the sliding door, it opened. Tezuka continued walking out to the lake. He faintly saw a figure sitting by the lake, throwing rocks into the lake.
"Maaa, it took you quite some time to get here,"she said, beaming as she saw Tezuka.
"Yeah, sneaked out quietly just now,"Tezuka replied as he sat beside her.
"So, how's your arm? Doesn't seem good."
"Well, it's not that good, but I'll be discharged tomorrow. Just that the wound is slightly infected, and apparently my arm is dislocated, but they're not keeping me long term."
"Oh, ok. I have to stay here long term though. It has been four months since I left home. Dad and mom are too busy to see me, so they never visited me here. I kinda envy you. You don't need to stay here for long, as your arm can be healed. My sickness is pretty hard to cure, even Dr.Yamagata says it's best for me to depend on God whether I'll survive or not."
Tezuka just kept quiet. He must admit it was the most he must have spoken to another person.
"Hey, I'm sure I think someone will help and cure you. Someday, somewhere. I even have the feeling I can cure you, only if I have enough time. Well, hey, they're gonna give be a free day tomorrow, so I think I'll have enough time to get the medium to heal you. You're Tezuka, right? The nurse said so. I'll try to get to your medical reports and get your address and deliver this stuff to you, ok? Trust in me, I'll be sure to cure you."The girl said, turning back and smiling to Tezuka. She scrambled back into the hospital building, leaving Tezuka to gaze at the stars.
God, let me be able to play tennis again.
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Time passes quickly. It's another day at the hospital for Tezuka. Just as the girl said, it's her free day tomorrow, so she was found nowhere in the hospital grounds. He kind of pitied her for staying for so long with no one to see. No relative, no parent. Just her alone with a couple of patients. The patients here stayed short-term, so when she made a friend, it would be time for him or her to leave already. Tezuka hated being alone, especially being away from school, tennis, and Fuji. As he looked out to the lake, he once again wondered of that girl. Where on earth would she be? Would whatever she said be true?
Meanwhile...
It was very quiet in the library. Only the sound of pages flipping could be heard. In this place, silence was golden.
Yatta! Found it! Yuko said to herself, taking out a book from the shelves. She tiptoed, reaching out for the hardcover book. It read 'Mountain Herbs and Mushrooms'. She silently placed it on a table, sitting down to browse through the book.
After an hour of browsing, Yuko came to an abrupt stop.
Eucantuma glyratos
Used to heal arm dislocations.
Found in mountain tops.
Pounded finely into small bits. Boil in water, and then mix with
another herb cantermari rasperatos(mashed) and wipe it on the
wound. Do that once a day to cure.
Yes! That was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Yapari~! Now time to go to Mika nee-san's herb store! She should know where to look for these herbs!
The young girl checked the book out and placed it into her backpack. She ran quickly to the other side of town, closer to Fuji-yama. She stormed into a small hut close to the mountain, beaming at its occupants.
"Mika nee-san! How are you?"Yuko said, rushing to her close friend. Mika ran a herb store with her mother, and had tried healing Yuko with herbs. Nevertheless, it didn't work at all.
"Ah, Yuko, long time no see! Anything you need me for?"
"Hey, do you know where to find these herbs?"Yuko said, taking out the 'Mountain Herbs and Mushrooms' book. She pointed to the herbs that she needed. Mika looked at it cluelessly, and then scratched her head.
"Aw...man. I remember having them a week ago...but then I sold that one off. And the other one, I saw it at the mountain last week, but I didn't pick it because I never use it. Do you need me to follow you to pick it?" Mika offered.
"Never mind...I'll go myself. After all, your ankle is not well yet,"Yuko said, looking at the bandage on the older girl's leg. 17-year-old Mika wasn't exactly the most careful girl on earth, even though she is careful. Being 5 years Yuko's senior, she needed to set a good example to Yuko to be mature and well-mannered, like how Mika currently is.
"Sure, and be careful! It rained last night, so I have the feeling that the rocks are gonna be slippery and soft as well, ok?"Mika said, smiling to Yuko. Yuko beamed a grin, and left the shop.
I have a feeling....a strange feeling...something IS going to happen to Yuko... Mika thought, wincing.
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Gah...I wrote pretty long...^-^ And here's a chappie for all of you out there! Hehe...well SOMETHING is going to happen to Yuko...nothing sick....mind you...ehe ^-^ but it HURTS. Hehe...so watch out!
PREVIEW for the next chappie : Mika's predictions are correct, something does happen to Yuko. Yuko almost sacrifices her life ; just for Tezuka? Read on, to find out!