"speech"

'thoughts'

THE ONLY ONES LEFT

Chapter 5

Sano was in the theme park with Ayame, buying ice cream and planning on riding the carousel.

"But Uncle Sano, I won't feel like I've visited the theme park at all without riding the cawousel!!" Ayame said, putting her hands on her waist like a matured woman.

"But Ayame, can you imagine what I will look like, the great Sanosuke Sagara, riding the carousel??" Sano said, just as childishly as the former.

"But Auntie Megumi doesn't compwain when she's with us!!" Ayame said, stomping her feet to the ticket booth.

Sano just waved his hands in the air and said defeatedly,

"Okay, okay, okay. I'll go with ya!"

Ayame didn't turn her back and smiled instead, thinking,

'That works everytime!'

---

Meanwhile...

It was only by twilight that Megumi and Suzume finally reached the place Dr. Gensai has described to them. The place was hidden at the back of the other houses in the village that's why it was hard to track.

The moment they saw the place, a gasp escaped their lips and their tiredness seemed to have floated elsewhere.

Suzume was the first to break the silence.

"Uhm.. Auntie Megumi, is this the place?"

Megumi shook her head and turned her head to the kid.

"Uhm.. 117 Avenue.. This is it, I guess.. At least the map says so."

To make sure, the latter lady approached the huge iron gates and pressed a button which seemed to be an intercom.

"Uhm.. Good evening.. I'm the doctor sent to check on little Akane.. I'm Takani Megumi, sent by Dr. Gensai.."

Someone on the other end of the line immediately answered as the gates opened.

"Okay, Miss Takani. You may now come in."

Megumi looked at the now opened gate first and answered absent-mindedly,

"Okay, thanks."

She then took Suzume's hand with her own and lead her to the house, or rather, mansion's garden.

The garden was pretty large and the field was beautifully landscaped. It stretched for about twenty meters from the gate to the entrance of the mansion.

While they were walking and taking in the scene, Megumi noticed a little girl sitting in a wheelchair in front of a fountain. She immediately changed her direction to the fountain and gestured for Suzume to follow her.

She stopped just at the back of the wheelchair and noticed that the girl didn't acknowledge her presence. The girl didn't even seem to notice that someone had already came near her. She was too busy staring at the rising and falling of the water in the fountain.

Megumi noticed this and so, she walked to the girl's side and knelt down, placing her hands in her lap.

She raised her head and placed her hand on the forearm of the child.

Upon feeling somebody else's body heat touch her arm, the child turned her gaze to the lady doctor.

Megumi smiled at her but the child just put her gaze back to the fountain.

The fox's smile faded and she said in a low voice,

"You must be Akane-chan."

The girl nodded.

Megumi stood up and placed her arm around the child's shoulders.

"I'm Megumi-sensei. I'm going to be your doctor."

The girl just nodded again.

Suzume, who has been watching the two, spoke up finally.

"Hey, there..!"

The girl looked at Suzume and stared at her quite too long for the other kid to handle. Suzume said,

"I'm Suzume. Can we be fwends?"

The girl just continued her staring game.

Suzume, irked by the girl's silence, told her,

"Can you at least say something?"

Megumi looked at Suzume with scolding eyes and curled her brows to the middle.

Suzume just raised her left brow and asked again.

"Well??"

The girl sighed and finally said,

"I'm glad."

Suzume just raised her right brow to join her left and answered.

"You don't look like that to me."

She walked closer to the child, who was just about her height and looked down at her, since she was sitting down. She said again,

"Is there a pwoblem? C'mon, you can tell me."

Akane said, "I'm glad, really. It's been long since I had a friend of the same age as mine came to play with me."

Suzume nodded her head and said, "We can pway if you want."

The child just stared sadly at her and said,

"I want to. But I can't."

Suzume innocently asked, "But why?"

The girl looked back at the fountain and said, "Because I'm sick."

Suzume said, "We can pway even if you're sick."

Akane's eyes brightened up a bit but after a while, it came back to its gloominess as realization hit her.

"How? If it's possible, I could've done it before."

Suzume put her pointer finger to her chin, as a sign that she was thinking and looked up at the skies. "Uhmm..."

Then she looked back at Akane and said, "I have an idea."

Akane smiled for the first time and said, "Really?"

Megumi just looked at the two kids, fazed. She decided to sit in a bench near them instead while hearing their conversation.

The kid talk went on.

About ten minutes later, a lady in maid's uniform, about in her middle twenties, approached them with a tray in her hands. She walked to Akane and placed the tray in her lap. She said, "Here's your snack."

She looked at Megumi and said, "Oh, you must be the doctor."

Megumi just smiled at her and nodded.

The maid held the handle of the wheelchair and pulled her back, adjusting the wheels. She said, "Please come with me. I'll show you around the place."

She pushed the wheelchair to the mansion's entrance and Megumi followed, with Suzume beside her.

The moment they entered the mansion, only one thing came their mind.

'Huge.'

The lobby was really that. Huge. It didn't have much furnitures but it was fully decorated. There were pictures frames around and chandeliers lined the place. The curtains were of red and gold. The place seemed like a receiving area for visitors when there are celebrations.

There was a red carpet leading to the stairs but they weren't lead there. At both sides of the place was an elevator, which was probably made for convenience when brining Akane up on her wheelchair.

They rode the elevator in silence to the second floor.

The second floor was like a hotel. The corridor was straight and rooms were situated beside each other.

As they walked, the maid talked.

"This will be your room."

She handed Megumi the key and walked on further.

At the end of the corridor was a door much bigger than the others.

"This is Akane's room."

She opened the door with a key and went on inside.

Megumi and Suzume followed her.

The maid stopped beside the bed and helped Akane climb it.

Then she walked to the door and turned, saying,

"I'll leave you here. You will meet the child's father tomorrow morning. You can call through the intercom if you need something."

She then left and a click was heard, signaling that the door was closed.

Megumi let out her breath and said, "That was... weird."

'She's like a machine. Her actions seemed numbered.. Oh well, at least she's gone.'

Suzume went near her new friend and immediately squealed,

"Let's pway!"

But another maid came in, this time, a younger one, interfering with their plan. She was pushing a steel stall with wheels about the height of Akane, with lots of food on it.

She smiled at Megumi and said,

"Dinner's ready."

Megumi thought, 'At least this one smiles.'

Then she said, "Thanks."

She turned to the kids and said, "Let's eat first, kids. You can play after."

The kids pouted a bit but soon, Suzume's stomach disobeyed her. Akane-chan giggled and said, "Maybe we should eat first."

Suzume was embarrassed but she managed to say, "Uhm.. Maybe we should."

Megumi served them the food and sliced the food into bite-sizes for the kids to eat.

Then she ate her own food but she ate only a few. Something was bugging her. She didn't feel like the place was safe.

Then she noticed that the maid was still there. Her curiosity got to her and she asked, "Err.. You want some? You can eat with us, you know."

The maid just smiled again and shook her head.

"Thanks, but I'm just waiting for you to finish your meal."

Megumi took a sip of her juice and said, "Okay.., but can I ask you something?"

The maid told her, "Sure. No prob."

Seeing that this one's a lot more approachable than the other, she continued.

"Does somebody else live with Akane-chan?"

The maid answered her. "The maids, for one. I heard her mom died when she was giving birth to Akane. Then, her father. But he only comes once in a while to finish some business matters in his office or to get something, then he leaves again."

Megumi looked at Akane, who was chatting happily with Suzume and became sad for her. "Oh, but he knows his daughter's sick, right?"

The maid looked down and said, "Yes, but don't tell anybody I told you, okay..? Uhmm.. You see, I'm just new here and that thought also came through my mind once so I asked him."

Megumi gulped and said, "You did? You're quite brave.."

The maid answered and said, "Well, I was curious so I asked him. Anyway, he said, "She's gonna die anyway so what good will it do if I stay with her? I have more important matters to focus on." It was really rude but he just walked away from a shocked me like he was just talking about somebody he doesn't know."

Megumi was glad at that moment that Akane and Suzume are busy with themselves to notice what the adults were talking about.

"That was.. obnoxious."

The maid just nodded.

Then they heard the two little girls say in unison, "We're done!!"

The excitement was seen in their voice as the thought of playing crossed their minds.

Suzume asked, "Can we pway now?? Can we? Can we?"

The maid rose and took the utensils. She placed them on the stall again and told the kids, "But you should wash up first. After that, you can play until you become tired enough to sleep, okay?"

The kids pouted but Akane soon smiled and said,

"Does that mean Suzume can sleep beside me?"

The maid said, "If you want to."

The kids chuckled cherubically and said, "Okay, okay!"

Megumi stood up and said, "Well then, I'll just go check my room."

She went to her room, which was only adequate. It was like a guestroom with a bed, a cabinet, and the likes.

She plopped herself on the bed and stared on the ceiling.

She stretched her arms wide as she thought.

'I'm so tired...'

'I wonder how long I'll be staying here..'

'I miss the clinic..'

'I wonder what Sano's doing now..'

'Now where did that come from??'

To shake the thought off her head, she went to the bathroom and washed up a bit. When she got out, she changed into a new kimono, because the one she's wearing seemed as tired as she was.

After cleaning herself, she went back to Akane's room.

Then, she noticed that the two were making origami. She didn't know where the paper came from but she didn't mind.

She approached them and watched them. She was really envy of the children's innocence and blitheness. But she also thought of what Akane was going through.

'Life must be tough on her.'

'She's a strong little girl, managing to survive life like this...'

She thought of lots of things until she fell asleep on the side of the bed.

---

She woke up probably an hour after.

'Oh, How long have I been sleeping???'

Then she remembered.

She looked at the two children she was supposed to look after.

Thankfully, they were asleep. And smiling. With pieces of paper folded into swans, dogs, frogs, pinwheels, boats, airplanes and others scattered in the bed.

Megumi picked them up and gathered them on top of the dresser near the bed.

She went back to the two angels slumbering peacefully and wrapped the blanket around them. Then she kissed them on the forehead, bidding them goodnight.

She was about to proceed to her room when her instincts told her to just sleep on the couch near the bed. There, she continued her disturbed sleep.

---