Chapter 5: Funbari Hospital
"Hello… cousin." Damon replied, taking Rose from Ren, and gesturing to where her brother lay, underneath a large tree. "You'd better help both of them… get a doctor," He added, carrying Rose inside and laying her down on a bed before coming back out for Len.
Inside, Kino And Keiko Asakura were bandaging Rose's wounds, but they had moved her to the Forbidden Room.
Curiosity aroused inside Yoh, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why is it called 'The Forbidden Room'?"
"Because your cousin gave it that name before she left!" Kino Asakura snapped at him, went back to wrapping what looked like a cast around Rose's leg.
"Yoh, your cousin will need to be hospitalized. She has a broken leg, and we can't get it to set properly. And even though we have a doctor, we don't have the right equipment. Also, we can't seem to be able to stop the bleeding of her wound.
Rose, however, will probably sleep for a few days, or even weeks.
But all her brother needs is a fresh supply of furioku and a good night's sleep and he'll be fine." Keiko Asakura explained in a sorrowful voice.
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have believed it all. God, if I knew Rose was going to react like this, then I wouldn't have done it at all. But…" Twenty-nine hours later, with a fresh supply of furioku, Len Asakura Death was good as new, and he was telling his story of how he came to Japan.
"But what?" Yoh asked, feeling a pang of pity.
"What I want to know is why she even protected the dojo. It was a pretty stupid thing to do. I mean, we don't know her, she's giving us the cold shoulder and icy looks, and then she protects the dojo! I mean, what's up with that?" Ren and Horohoro burst out in unison, sweat-dropping.
"Because she has honor. Stupid or not, she qualifies as a perfect eighth-degree black belt, and one's duty is to protect the weak and helpless, even though you may not like them, or do not know who they are.
Rose may give those looks, but she really is an honest and decent person. You just have to get to know her. Besides, we own a whole forest in Washington, and Rose trains there all the time. All the animals love and appreciate her for who she is, and even bring her food!
And besides, she's an expert hacker. She can create viruses in ten minutes that'll take other hackers three days to create.
So, is she going to be all right? If she doesn't recover, it'll be all my fault! I'm Rose's only weakness. She may not act like it, but Rose and I have a really close brother-sister bond. Hao must have known that." Len explained.
"Hey, guys! Kino and Keiko are at the hospital with Rose. They say you guys can come… if you want. But they say that Len, Damon, and Yoh will need to come. The rest of you can come along, but Anna and I are going. You three had better come, or else Kino's going to have a fit." Pirka came through the door with Anna, and they both left, with Len, Damon, and Yoh at their heels.
"The patient is still unconscious. What did she do? Run her head into a wall? Anyways, she has a broken wrist, broken leg, very sore side, and eye damage." The doctor told the group.
"Eye damage?" Everyone (Kino, Keiko, Yoh, Len, Damon, Pirka, and Anna) exclaimed/questioned, sweat-dropping.
"Yes. It appears that she somehow got a large quantity of dust and sand in her eyes.
Anyways, we have performed an operation on her, and she will make a full recovery. So until three weeks later, she cannot do what she was doing before.
And she'd better stay inside, because she'll have to keep the bandages on her eyes until two weeks later.
You lot can come inside and talk to her, but she won't stir. Currently, she is still in coma." The doctor told them, leading them inside and then leaving them with an unconscious Rose and a few nurses.
"Doctor! Patient's pulse is returning to normal! She's trying to breath by herself! It's a miracle!" One of the nurses cried out.
All at once, the doctor burst into the room again, and exclaimed, "Well, then, let her!"
Another one of the nurses stopped the life support system, and cut off the oxygen mask from Rose's face, and read the computer.
"Patient's pulse is normal. Shall we proceed to leave her alone with her family?" The nurses strode out of the room, pulling the doctor with them, and firmly closed the door.
"Oh Rose, I knew you could do it, but next time, don't fight Hao. He's out of your league. Next time, you could die." It was almost a plead. Len held Rose's hand gently, as if to comfort her.
"Damon? Ren? Where is anybody? Where am I? Who am I?" Rose was standing at the edge of a mountain.
"Why are you here, young maiden?" A gentle voice asked, and she followed the voice to a maiden, older than her, and beautiful.
"Why am I here? Where am I and who am I? Are you Artemis?" Rose asked politely.
"Why, yes! I am Artemis. You are at the foot of Mount Olympus, and your name is Rose Rei Asakura Death. You are here because you have been severely wounded.
You must remember who you are, and why you are here. I must go now, for there is someone who has been waiting for you." Artemis waved, and vanished into the woods.
"Hello, Rose." It was Athena. No sooner had Artemis vanished had Athena appeared.
"A-A-Athena?" Rose asked. The name sounded so familiar. If only she could remember…
"Yes. You were hit pretty hard by Hao. That much I can tell you. I can tell you no more. I shall see you soon, little one," Athena said, and no sooner had she said it that she, too, disappeared.
"Hao… hit pretty hard… OHMIGOD!" Suddenly, Rose remembered everything: The portal, Yoh and his friends, the Asakura dojo, sparring with Mikihisa, Hao, everything.
Now, Rose felt like she was being lifted into another portal, one that would take her back home. She was traveling through space, and she heard voices.
Someone was crying. Someone was sobbing. Someone was pleading, praying, begging.
"Oh, Rose, stay strong! You have the will, damn you! Live!" It was Ren. Or was it Damon?
"Len? Damon? Is that you?" Rose thought faintly.
"Rose! Wake up! You're dreaming!" Someone shook her, and she felt pain.
"Ow! I don't want to come this way. I don't want to go home anymore. Stop the pain! I want to go back to Mount Olympus!" Rose silently pleaded.
"Ow! I don't want to come this way. I don't want to go home anymore. Stop the pain! I want to go back to Mount Olympus!" Rose's face was filled with pain.
"Rose!" All at once, Damon stopped shaking her. He calmed down and sat down, one hand still grasping Rose's.
You are almost home, little one. All you need to do is step through that portal. It was Athena's and Artemis' voices, telling Rose to step through the portal, so she did.
All at once, she felt pain, then she was back, in a body, and she couldn't see anything. Only darkness.
"Is it nighttime already?" Rose mumbled. She tried to see into the darkness… and saw nothing but darkness. "Hey! I can't see anything!" Rose said, clearer and louder, and tried to sit up.
"Rose! You're awake! The doctor said that you probably wouldn't wake up for two more days!
Oh, you have a broken right wrist, broken right leg, a very sore right side, and eye damage. You can't take off your bandages for two weeks and your casts for three weeks. And you're in a hospital." It was Damon, but Rose sensed more people around her.
"Okay, who's there? I can sense about seven people, me excluded and Damon included. So who's there?" Rose demanded sharply.
"It's us, Kino, Keiko, Yoh, Len, Damon, Anna, and me, Pirka." Pirka replied softly.
"Let's see. I will ask everybody to leave except Kino and Keiko. Please." Rose said, and everyone left, leaving Rose to ask Kino and Keiko something.
"I don't mean to be rude, but could you bring me rice balls next time? The really big ones, if you don't mind. I'm terribly fond of them." Rose asked politely.
"Of course! If that's what you like…" Keiko replied softly, then leaned over to plant a kiss on Rose's forehead, and left with Kino.
Rose stared into darkness for a while, and went to sleep.
"Wow… I can't believe it. Rose… hospitalized. It's never been worse than a few scratches and bruises, but this is a major biggie. Mom's going to kill us." Len sighed as he, Damon, Yoh, Anna, and Pirka walked back to Funbari Hill.
"Yeah. That is, if she finds out, and comes over here. But that's not likely, right?" Damon replied uncertainly.
"Eye damage? You've got to be kidding me!" Anna said.
"Hao's going into Rose's room!" Pirka gave a small shriek.
True enough, a Hao 'flew' right into the room where Rose was, climbing through the window.
Without a moment's hesitation, the five of them ran simultaneously back towards the hospital.
"Hello… Rose." A voice –male, and familiar- said.
"Hao?" Rose asked into the darkness, boltedly sitting up, and heard a smirk in reply.
"Okay, what do you want?" Rose demanded fiercely.
"Nothing much. Only to see if you've reconsidered my offer." Hao said in reply, this time, using a silkily, persuasive voice.
"What-offer?" Rose got out in a whisper.
"To see if you've come to your senses and decided to join me." Hao said in reply.
"My answer is the same. No." Rose said simply, facing darkness.
An arm grabbed her.
She quickly used an Elbow Strike, and her attacker yelped in pain and released her. Next, she used a left Knee Strike and a right Elbow Strike, then tried for a left Round House Kick, but someone pinned her arms behind her, and pushed her on the bed.
"What-?" Rose tried to fight back, but struggling got her nowhere. She then realized that Hao was the only one there besides herself.
"A little stubborn, are we?" Hao said in a sardonic voice, and flipped her over.
"You…!" Rose was about to call for someone, when his lips found hers, and he held on that way, kissing her at the same time and kept her arms pinned to her side. She tried to break the kiss, but that did her no good anyways.
She felt a warmth spreading inside her, going on and on, stretching for miles and miles. She could just let go and relax, enjoying the kiss.
Then- "What the hell is going on?" It was Len's voice, and she felt Hao break the kiss.
Yoh and the others ran up the stairs to Rose's room as fast as they could. But when Damon kicked open the door, they could only make out Hao and Rose… kissing.
"What the hell is going on?" Len asked angrily, and Hao broke the kiss.
He faced them, smirk on his lips and said in a persuasive and ironical voice, "Well, Miss Rose and I were discussing what choices she could make. She gives the most delightful kisses, if you know what I mean.
Well, I'll be off now. Next time, Yoh, it will be for reals." With that, he vanished, leaving no trace of him behind.
"Rose… did he really…?" Len asked, obviously furious.
"Yes… he did." Rose replied quietly.
"I will so totally kill Hao!" Len exclaimed.
"You don't need to. I summon thee… Earth Dragoness!" Rose called softly.
"Wha-?"Everyone shouted in shock.
A sweet gust of wind surrounded Rose, and lifted her a few feet off the ground, and it seemed to flow into her wounds and heal them.
When the wind set Rose back down, she was completely healed.
"Thank you, Earth Goddess." Rose gave a small smile.
"WHAT the hell is going on?" The doctor bust into the room, but Rose walked past him, and indicate the others to do the same.