Disclaimer : Look at the cover sheet...geez
Forgiveness
Chapter one
Immortality
Keitaro sat in his room looking over his practice tests, with disgust once again, as his scores were getting lower each time he took them. Becoming more and more upset he began to flip the pages of the test booklet more aggressively.
"OUCH," his finger had a cut on it from one the pages, but something was different this time as the pain stayed and lingered, he stared at the red line that was slashed across one of his fingers. He remained fixated on it as a small droplet of blood appeared and trailed towards his palm. He clinched his hand into a fist, standing and proceeded towards the bathroom for a band-aid.
By the time he reached the bathroom, a few drops of blood had landed on the wood floor of the hallway, leaving a ghoulish trail. He washed his hand and applied some antibiotic ointment to the wound and wrapped it. The sharp pain had turned into a dull throb, 'I must be stressed out. I'll go and do some chores and it'll be alright.' he thought.
When Keitaro feels the pressure of life he usually will do one of three things, sit in his spot and reflect, sketch something in his notebook, or find some grueling physical activity. He had opted for the latter, grabbing his bucket and mop he headed towards the out door springs.
He paused before going, wondering if anyone would be in there. It was late at night, and from the past he remembered that most if not all would be in bed. He reached for the door, when it opened and Mitsune came strolling out.
"Oh..sorry Mitsune, I was about to go clean. Is anyone else in there?" Keitaro asked.
Mitsune's mind became a well oiled spinning machine of mischievousness, 'Well only Naru is in there, and it has been a few days since she has sent him flying...' her mind raced at the possible scenarios. "Nope I was the last, its all yours ...lover boy", she said with a teasing voice.
"Thanks Mitsune," Keitaro said, nodding and walking into the changing room, not noticing the basket that sat next to the wall filled with clothes. It was a particularly cool night, and the rising vapor created a dense fog, that limited vision. He sat the bucket down, feeling an eery calm about him, and started to work on scrubbing the rock surface.
Behind him he heard the sound of sloshing water, the little hairs on the back of his rose to attention as the danger sense sounded to sound. Two battles were raging in his head, one to stand perfectly still, since he was further away from the door, there was a chance that whoever it was would not notice him. The other was to turn and apologize to the would be the person he was transgressing upon. Being who he was the second choice seemed the most honorable.
"Uh..hello? Is someone out there?" He questioned into the thick fog surrounding the pool. The sloshing stopped, a voice shot out of the mist sending fingers of terror down his spine as the voice was recognized immediately.
"YOU PERVER!...WHERE ARE YOU?...PEEPING ON ME...ITS BAD ENOUGH YOU STICK YOU HEAD INTO MY ROOM!" Naru's voice filled with hatred and she stormed out of the water looking for the peeping tom manager.
Keitaro's luck held for a few seconds as he was about to make a mad dash for the changing room door, but the light inside illuminated the form of Naru, standing in front of it. He started to move around to the edge of the hot springs hoping that he could hide in the mists for a few seconds so he could explain.
Up above from his own bath, Mitsune positioned herself so she could watch the melee. She was giggling to herself and thinking, 'This is better than the Apprentice.' She watched as the form of Keitaro moved towards the water backing away from Naru, who had blocked his only exit.
"Now ...Naru...Kitsune told me there was no one in here..." he was stammering to get out, as he watched her shadowed form move towards his pleas.
Up above Mitsune chuckled to herself, 'Yep, she's got a lock on him."
"YOU VILE DEVIANT!" she screamed as she launched herself towards Keitaro.
A sounding realization came to Keitaro, the pain from his finger hadn't left. He looked up to she Naru's rushing form, his mind raced '1.3 seconds til impact!' He shot both arms straight out yelling, "NARU NO!"
Pain exploded into Keitaro, as the punch landed on his jaw. Sheering hot and never ending, the hurt was sending ripples across his nervous system, as they began to shut down. His brain released endorphins into his bloodstream, as consciously he started to black out. The punch instead of hurling him out of the springs, sent him rocketing towards a several rocks, as his now unconscious body crashed into them.
"BAKA!" Naru spat as she turned to enter the changing room, not noticing that her entire torso was now covered in blood.
Mitsune watched the scene from above, her giggling stopped when she notice from a gap in the mist that the water in the hot springs was taking on a pinkish quality. She gasped and ran downstairs towards the spring yelling. She hurled past Naru who was wiping off some of Keitaro's blood that had gotten on her, and leaping into the pool of water she found Keitaro face down in the water, no bubbles were raising to the surface. She carefully spun him in the water and a horrified look struck her features.
"HELP! OH PLEASE GOD SOMEONE HELP ME!" Her shouts cried out, as Naru reentered the springs with the sound of several footfalls behind her. Naru froze dead in spot, as she saw Mitsune with the still body of Keitaro, Motoko rushed passed her and ran into the water, letting her blade drop on the rocky edge.
Even though Motoko was a trained warrior, the sight of Keitaro's face alone sickened her. She held back the urge to loose her stomach, as she looked upon his face. His entire jaw was black and huge lazily to the side of face, blood was apparently spilling from what one might call his mouth. Motoko, yelled at the Shinobu to call an ambulance, and to Su to grab all the towels from the changing room and bring them to her. When Motoko turned back to the mangled body, she now noticed that the water was too red for this wound. She told the shocked Mitsune to hold him still. She found a slight pulse on his neck, and there was still breathing however shallow coming from his nose. She started to check him for other wounds, touching his body slowly. When none was found, she wenched as her hand slipped under his neck and she felt the tear in his skin and moving it up she closed her eyes when her fingers touched the bare bone of the base of his skull.
Su was standing at the edge of the springs with every towel she could find, tossing them towards Motoko, as she took the folded towel and placed it behind his head.
Naru's shock was being to fade as she timidly asked, "sh..shouldn't we bring him up here?" As she walked towards the waters edge attempting to grab a hold of Keitaro.
Mitsune was looking into Motoko's face wondering about the answer, when Motoko answered. "The waters temperature is dangerous I agree, but he has a neck injury I think, and moving him might cause more damage. All we can do is hold him here and hold he doesn't bleed out."
Luckily Motoko was able to complete this before Shinobu came running back into the springs with Haruka in tow. The older woman didn't even stop as she went directly into the water and up to the pair holding him. She quickly turned her head and started to cough violently. In the distance sounds of sirens could be heard approaching.
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The paramedics were in the water, placing a neck brace and putting Keitaro onto a flat board, in the distance the sound of a helicopter was growing closer. The two men in the water had, already started two I. V.s with the bags on their shoulders, and had placed a traq tube in his throat and was bagging air into his lungs. Two other medics were tending to the girl's shock giving each a mild sedative. One of the medics looked at the other and nodded and jerked his head behind him, giving a signal that he was going to step away. The other nodded back and put a towel around Motoko.
Into his microphone the medic was whispering, "This is Medivac 5, we are on the scene and waiting extraction of the patient, over"
"We copy Medi-5 helio in route..."
"Copy that, patient is stable currently, but we need a code 4 here." The medic using the cryptic language calling for police and an investigation unit."
"We copy Medi-5, code 4 en route."
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As the helicopter lifted off, heading towards Tokyo University Hospital the girls and Haruka were escorted towards a waiting van, that was going to take them also. Inside they found a serious looking man, wearing a casual suit, and not speaking to anyone.
After arriving at the hospital, the group of girls were all in the emergency waiting room, when the same man entered and approached Haruka.
"You are Haruka Urashima?" He asked. She replied with a nod. "Come with me, I can direct you to a phone so you can call any relatives." She jerked at his words as he led her away from the others. A few moments after they exited the room, a uniformed police officer entered with some paper and pencils, handing them out to each of the girls then saying, "If we could get statements from all of you, about what happened tonight..."
The man led Haruka into a side office, and they sat down. "My name is Kanaye Ishio", he produced a wallet opening it up and showing her a badge, "Inspector Ishio to be exact. We were called to the scene by the paramedics and we are currently starting an investigation into the events of tonight." He offered Haruka a cigarette, "You seem like the type that likes things straight forward, not sugar coated, am I right?" She took a nervous drag off the cigarette and nodded. "Your nephew isn't doing so good, I will have the attending doctor come in here, when he can, but ...it looks grave." He reached around to a phone and placed it in front of her. "If he has any family, besides yourself, I would suggest calling them now." He stood up and left the pack on the table, and walked out.
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It had been two hours since the phone calls were made to Keitaro's parents and to Hina-san. Haruka and Keitaro's parents sat in a private waiting room, a member of the clergy was with them. Hina-san was luckily in Hong Kong, and her and Kanako were chartering a private plane and would be there in about six hours. The door opened and an elder looking man in a white coat and green scrubs came into the room.
"Urashima's?" he asked politely. Kenjo Urashima stood and answered yes, his wife and Keitaro's mother started to cry again as Haruka and the priest held her in a hug. He rolled an office chair from a desk and sat down in front of them.
"Your son Keitaro, was brought in about two hours ago, he is still in surgery at the moment. What I have to say is not good, and its times like this I hate my job, but you will know what's going on." He paused letting this sink into them. "First Keitaro jaw was broken in 4 places", Using his own finger he pointed to spots on his own jaw, "The worst of it is that the force of impact tore the left hinge from its socket, and crushed the right hinge as well. We have wired and secured his jaw, but that is not why I'm here." He opened his jacket to pull out a form, still folded in his hands. "Your son has received injuries to his spinal column in the number 3,4,and 5 vertebra, and the lower part of his skull was crushed placing bone fragments into the lower part of his brain."
The three had different reactions to this news, Kenjo's head fell into hands, Haruka held onto Akina tighter, and Akina sobs become more powerful. The doctor waited for a few minutes, until Kenjo spoke up through his hands. "Tell me what this means."
"Simply if your son survives the next forty eight hours, he will be paralyzed from the neck down, and there is no idea what kind of permanent brain damage he might have." Kenjo starts to sob loudly, as the doctor realizes the next part is the hardest. "There is something we have to discuss, and I will have a nurse come in and give you something." He placed the folded piece of paper into Kenjo's lap. "This is a release for the family. If you sign this, you will give us consent NOT to attempt revive him if he ..." He couldn't finish the sentence. The doctor stood and was leaving the room when Kenjo spoke up.
"Just what are his chances?" The doctor turned and said, "With the consent form, two days max. Without it, we can keep him alive for years, but he would only be the physical body, his spirit would have left long ago." With that the doctor left the room, leaving the three Urashima's to contemplate the unthinkable.
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Three hours have passed since Keitaro was dragged from the hot springs, when a female police officer, a nurse, and the Inspector entered the waiting room. The girls that had thought he was a doctor of some kind, quickly found out otherwise, when he flashed his badge. They all asked questions about Keitaro's condition, but he told them that he would send a doctor to speak to them in a few moments. There was silence for a minute, then he spoke.
"Which one of you is Naru Narusegawa?" All eyes went to Naru, she was standing nearest to the man. She looked like hell, and the man really didn't care.
"If you would please accompany the nurse and the officer, Miss Narusegawa." She looked puzzled and asked, "Why?"
"It is my duty to inform you Naru Narusegawa, that you are currently under arrest."
end chapter 1
