Hideki made his way back to Ueda's Bakery. Surly it was open by now. Of course he couldn't care less. He was beginning to lose track of all time. Time seemed to be nothing more than a liability. Sure, time was important for people who had somewhere to go, somewhere where they had meaning. Hideki didn't have that anymore.
He passed the familiar steps. Steps he used to pass every time he would leave home and come back, whether it is for work or school. This was also…this was also where he apologized to her. That night she was killed, saved by her. Why had she saved him? She didn't want him to end up like Pantsu…
For no real reason, Hideki fell to his knees. He cried holding himself tightly.
He tried pretending for a moment he had never known Chi. He was pretty sure if he had his gun, he would of finally found the strength to pull the trigger. However, he just couldn't bring himself to ever forget her. Chi was always on his mind, no matter what. Even during the smallest or most important situation she was there.
"Hideki…"
He heard his name called again. He shot up, covered in darkness. He ran and ran but could not find an exit. There was nothing. This was the darkness that had been plaguing him since Chi's death. He heard his name called for yet again. He screamed out asking for the presence to show itself.
It never did, it just kept calling his name. The voice, where had he heard it before? It sounded sad, it sounded happy, and it sounded most of all, familiar. Then he saw Yumi crying, a light surrounded her. Hideki looked at the light, he couldn't make out what it was. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had to go to her and this unknown presence.
He didn't know if this entity was good or bad, he only knew this light gave off the feeling he'd been getting lately. It was a feeling he would get every time he would even think of suicide, and this feeling only made him think of Chi more and more.
Yumi stared up at Hideki. She smiled at him. She didn't seem to notice the glowing entity but yet…
"Hideki? Isn't it wonderful?" Yumi spoke.
Hideki looked down at her. He was speechless, what was he supposed to say. Then without warning the entity removed itself from Yumi and wrapped itself around Hideki. "Who…what are you?" However he could no longer move. The presence was too strong, it's hands, and if that's what they were slowly touched his cheeks.
"Hideki…"
Hideki, Hideki…it sounded just like the voice he'd been hearing lately. Rather it was more of a feeling that spoke to him. It was hard to explain, but he felt at peace with this entity. Yumi got up and looked at them. She was crying…
"Please find me…"
Hideki awoke on his couch and groggily looked around. He was confused for a moment, the last thing he remembered before being enveloped by darkness was being at those damn steps. He yawned and realized there was something on his lap. It was that same book, the one that had fallen from the shelf titled "Please find me…"
He looked at the clock. It was evening, around four or five he guessed. Confused he decided to get a shower. After which he would give Paul a call. Once up he looked back down at the book now placed on the table.
"Please find me, huh?" He spoke.
Yumi saw her senpai. She had been saved, found by him. However, he faded just as fast as he had come. She yelled out for him. "Please find me…" She whispered before returning to reality.
Yumi awoke as she heard the tires screech to a halt. It was just a dream…but she could have sworn Hideki was there. Though she couldn't think about it any further. She was awake. She heard a siren beep. Had he been pulled over? Yes, all she had to do was make enough noise and…the man had however pushed some kind of curtain to keep her out of view. This wasn't going to be easy to get the person's attention.
She heard the driver speak calmly to the cop; apparently his taillight had gone out or something like that. She tried moving but couldn't. Then finally the cop asked to look in the back of his van but the man insisted he wasn't hiding anything.
Then she heard a whirling noise. She couldn't figure out what it was. "Hey, what's with those eyes-ugh…" she heard him choked to death.
Then the body was thrown back there with her. She quickly looked up at the feminine monster that now had glowing red eyes. They slowly faded back to normal.
"Sorry you had to see that girly…"
Yumi was frightened and only backed away slowly. She didn't know what to think of this. "Your…not human?"
He smiled calmly at her. "Heh, the fear in your eyes pleases me," he closed the door. "Before I kill you, I guess there'd be no harm in telling you everything. All that matters now is this disc and how to rid the world of you pathetic humans…" He raised a shiny disc to her.
-
"I'm glad you came," Paul Richards motioned Hideki to follow him. "Here's some coffee, it looks like you really need some sleep, man." He said.
Hideki laughed. They made their way to the evidence room. "So, what's so mysterious about the drag and gag slasher?" Hideki had heard news reports on him time and time again, though no one was sure what he looked like, if he was even a he.
Paul stopped cold. "A crafty bastard, hell he's so crafty that we can't even be sure if he's human," Paul started. He gave a long sigh of anger. "This bastard, he goes around kidnapping young maidens, and doing some pretty gruesome stuff to them."
Hideki winced as they finally entered the evidence room. Paul led him to a box full of reports and photos. It had big red letters in bold across it. Confidential it read. "Not even sure he's human…?" Hideki asked seemingly amazed.
Paul turned to Hideki. "There's not a single piece of evidence that these young women were even touched by anything physical. You see, no matter how many times we go over the crime scenes and evidence, we can't find a hair, blood, anything…nothing."
Hideki's eyes twitched. He was handed some of the photos to see what some of the things he had done, it was pretty clear why he was called the drag and gag slasher. Blood trailed from each of the victim's body indicating some kind of dragging, and all of them had been gagged.
All died with a look of fear in their eyes.
"Maybe it's…" Hideki started.
Paul gave a look of insight. "Maybe it's…?" Curious to know what Mr. Motosuwa was about to suggest.
Hideki shook his head. "No, never mind. Forget I said anything…they don't have feelings after all," he said. He looked down at the mobile Persacom he held. "I just hope I'm able to find Yumi, I really hope she's all right." He finished.
"I'm sure she's all right." He reassured him. Still, he couldn't help feeling curious about Hideki's suggestion.
-
The shadowy lovers were awakened by the sound of beeping from Zima's radar. He quickly tried to get a lock on the signal but to no avail. It quickly faded just as fast as it had made itself known.
The two dark figures embraced each other, looking on at the sky. Zima smiled at her, knowing that he'd soon tell her how he felt exactly. He petted Dita's hair smiling. He knew she already had feelings for him but he wasn't in any rush to let her know that he knew quite yet. There was still the important matter of locating the disc. "Do you think it's him?" She asked.
Zima took his glasses off, staring off into the distance. He frowned at the thought of it being possible. "That Persacom was deactivated a year ago, there's no way it's him…" He comforted her. Dita closed her eyes to return to her slumber. Zima kissed her lightly on the forehead. "If it is him, I fear all humans are going to cease to exist…" He put his glasses back on to keep track of any other mysterious signals. "Even so, that would be nice to be able to bypass that annoying protective system the humans put on us…that I'll salute you for."
-
Hideki entered the Bakery to find Ueda sulking in the back. He had wanted to come here much earlier but because of whatever had happened, he never made it. He had awakened in his own apartment. Ueda was about to close up shop and smiled at Hideki. He smiled back feeling uneasy. "Hey man, I'm sorry I haven't found her yet…but I did find this." He showed Ueda the mobile Persacom.
Ueda frowned but then smiled again. "I'm sure she's all right, I'll be helping you search for her all day tomorrow."
Hideki frowned at him. "Ueda, how…how do you go on like this? Didn't you miss Yumi, the persacom when she died?" He scoffed. "I mean, how did you…"
Ueda smiled calmly at him. "Hideki…I miss her too." He stated.
Hideki looked at him quizzically. Ueda always managed to warm his heart when able. "What do you mean?"
Ueda looked at him. "Chi…Yumi…they were wonderful girls, they always managed to warm my heart. I will always remember Yumi the persacom and believe me, it's better to remember and hurt than it is to forget them. It's like that old saying, it is better to have loved and lost than to have ever loved." He paused.
"Chi…I miss her so much, Ueda. I don't know about you but I can never fall in love again, she was my one and only true love," he turned to hide his forming tears.
Ueda jumped up on a table to put himself in a more comfortable position. He looked away from Hideki. "You know Hideki, you'll never forget her. In fact your memories of her will only strengthen."
Hideki winced. "Do you…think you'll ever see her again?" He asked with his eyes clenched tight. Ueda looked at him trying to figure out the best way to handle this.
"Hideki, it doesn't matter because she saved you. What's important is what do you think she wanted? What did she want for you? I think she wanted you to live, she saved you man…just like Yumi saved me. Chi would wanted you to be happy…live your life for her."
"Yeah…" Hideki disappointingly agreed. "Please excuse me…" He left to go to the rest room. He splattered water on his face. He stared into the mirror blinking at the man who he didn't recognize any more.
"Chi…I love you." There was a sudden ache in his heart. He spoke into the empty rest room confessing his love for her but no reply ever came.
---
Chobits owned by Clamp, not me!