This chapter has a tiny bit of Star Wars III spoilers. I never really liked SW before, but the third movie was cool! Poor Anakin!
I have three things to say today.
Number One: I've noticed that the number of reviews per chapter is sort of decreasing. If you read, please, please review! It's no fun writing for an invisible audience...Please!
But thanks to the faithful reviewers! You rock!
Number Two: Does anyone know Garland's last name? I know it was on the dub, but I forgot what it was...
Number Three: I need an OC character for Bryan. Please send in anyone you think would be good for him. I'm thinking mainly about someone who's very cheerful, or very shy. But please send anyone you think fits. Please include a full description, last names, origin, stuff like that.
Reviewers!
Crying Chocolat- Wah, thanks! -happy- This one has some fluff too! Yeah! I'll definitely take a look at your story. When I have time.-sigh-
Torri-Chiobie- Very evil! Die! And the pairing, well, we will see...-shifty eyes-
jadestar123- Hey! Are you new, or did you review last time too? I can't remember! I've reread these things so much that I get confused! Thanks for reviewing though!
Hippochick- Muhaha! About Kei, I never thought of it that way...but I guess he does look a bit like Voltaire. Just his bangs cover one eye and go down to his shoulder. Also, you have to remember that Kei's only 27 and very handsome. After, he's one of the Namasaki's!
cry of the wolf- Loved your review! It was so touching! Wahhhh!
Inoure- I'm sorry, it had to be done...-bows head- I get your name now! Hahahaha...yeah. Thanks about the compliment!
personne du monde- Totally. Heehee!
connie- Ahh! A new reviewer! -glomps- Ahem. Yeah. Thanks for reviewing! -smile-
Remember what I said in the important notes! Send in those OC's! Yeah!
Enjoy!
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The movie theatre was dark, rapt faces illuminated only by the flickering screen.
Aya looked over at Yuri. The light cast shadows on his face, making him look older, more mature. The front of his hair glowed a golden-crimson, while the back remained a dark garnet. Aya could feel her heartbeat quicken. Yuri was so handsome!
The Russian boy sensed her eyes on him, and turned around. Seeing Aya's gaze on him, he smiled shyly. Aya smiled back, resting her head on Yuri's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and returned to the movie, where Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker battled it out on the silver screen.
When the film was over, Aya and Yuri slowly filed out of the theatre, blinking at the sudden change in lighting.
" That was a surprisingly good movie." Aya admitted. She had never really been very interested in Star Wars, but she saw this one because she had a soft spot for Anakin Skywalker.
" I know. Star Wars has just taken on a whole new meaning for me." Yuri agreed, tying his hair into a low ponytail with a black ribbon.
" To think I used to laugh at the Star Wars fans." Aya sighed, pretending to be ashamed.
" You big hypocrite." Yuri nudged Aya, threading his fingers with hers. Aya giggled and drew closer to him.
" Sad to think that the whole thing was pointless though. He turned evil to stop her dying, she dies because he turns evil." Aya sighed for real this time. " Such a waste. And poor Anakin is so disfigured!"
" Shallow! All this time you liked him for his looks! For some reason, I feel incredibly jealous." Yuri clutched at his heart dramatically.
" You should." Aya joked. The pair dissolved into giggles before lapsing into a comfortable silence.
The sun was setting, and as they turned the corner, it cast long shadows and darkened everything. However, Yuri was less than preoccupied with the creepy atmosphere. His mind kept straying back to when Darth Sidious fitted new arms and legs for Darth Vader. Darth Vader was a cyborg. For some unknown reason, this idea both intrigued and repulsed him. A cyborg, Yuri wondered, unconsciously running his fingers across his bare forearm. He recalled his dream.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that it took a few minutes to register Aya's words.
" Oh my god, Yuri! Is – is that a body?" She pointed straight ahead.
Yuri looked, and saw a long figure sprawled in an alley a few feet away. Aya might have missed the body altogether if it were not for a thin, bloodstained arm, white against the grey of the sidewalk. The face couldn't be seen in the shadow of the alley, but it was pretty obvious the person was unconscious. Their raspy, shallow breathing could hardly be heard.
Yuri rushed forward, but Aya remained rooted to the spot. Something about those ring-bedecked fingers was oddly, horribly familiar. She began to take slow steps forward, fighting her dawning realization. It couldn't be, please, don't let it be…
" Kirei." She breathed, bending down on her knees. The man's hair was matted, and his whole body was wet, including his face. What kind of disgusting sewer gunk was he laying –
" Ahh!" Aya gasped, falling back. She had wiped some of the fluid off Kirei's cheek, and had seen in the dying light, her wet, red fingers.
It was blood that darkened Kirei's hair and clothes, blood that coated his smooth, once flawless skin. Even worse, judging from the growing puddle that soaked Aya's skirt, it was draining from his body quickly. Too quickly.
Yuri fumbled for his cell phone with one hand while the other searched through the man's pockets for identification. He pulled out a wallet and flipped through it, finally locating a driver's licence. " Kireshii Namasaki, twenty-five…hey, isn't Aira's last name Namasaki?" Yuri had been absent the day Kirei came in.
Aya nodded. " That's because this is his older brother."
" What?" Yuri was about to say more, but the line he had dialled on his cell phone picked up. " Uh…hello. I've found an extremely injured person. Please come quickly! I think he's dying! Yes, I'm on the corner of Elmm and Walkley. Please hurry!" Yuri ended the call and put his phone away, searching through Kirei's pockets again. He finally found a metallic lavender cell phone, and flipped it open, pressing several buttons.
" What're you doing?" Aya asked, pushing Kirei's bangs back with a trembling hand.
" Calling Aira." He pressed a final button and handed the phone to Aya. " Maybe you should talk to him."
Aya nodded, holding the phone to her ear.
" Hello?" A sleepy voice picked up.
" Aira?" Aya's voice shook.
" What? Aya? How do you have my number?"
" Aira, listen. I found Kirei, and he's seriously hurt." Aya began.
" What?" Aira was wide-awake now. " Where is he?"
" We've called an ambulance. We're at the corner of Elmm and Walkley."
Aira instantly hung up. Aya gave Yuri the phone back. " I'll stand out to flag down the ambulance." She said, standing up and walking outside the alley. Soon she could hear sirens, and before long, a car pulled up, bathing her in its powerful headlights. Several others followed it. Aya knew how she must've looked. Her fringed pink shirt was soaked with blood from the knees down, and blood covered her hands and forearms.
The police and medics ran up to her.
" He's in there!" Aya cried, pointing. They quickly passed her and carefully lifted Kirei onto a stretcher.
Yuri came up to Aya. " I'll go with him. You stay here and wait for Aira, alright?" His eyes never left hers.
Aya nodded numbly, and Yuri kissed her hard before jumping into the ambulance.
A few minutes later a convertible pulled up and Aira jumped out. " Where is he?"
" They took him to the hospital." Aya spoke quickly.
Aira grabbed her arm and pulled her into his car. He started up the engine, not bothering to put on his seatbelt.
There was an anxious silence as Aira drove. He gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white.
" You know, you'll never get the blood out." Aya stroked the white leather seat, attempting conversation.
" I don't care." Aira said shortly. Aya didn't blame him for being agitated, but now she felt very stupid and callous for making the comment.
The silence was almost unbearable for Aya. She glanced over at Aira nervously. Aira was extremely tense. He stared straight ahead, hunched over the steering wheel, not blinking. Aya fidgeted, but couldn't think of anything to say.
Finally they pulled up in front of the hospital. Aira leapt out and ran inside without even turning off the ignition. Aya leaned over and pulled the key out, and as she got out she locked the doors. Then, she ran in after Aira.
She found him urgently talking with the receptionist.
" I need to see my brother! Kireshii Namasaki!" He half-shouted.
" Kireshii Namasaki is in ICU. You won't be able to see him for a while. I can direct you to his waiting room. There's already another young man there." The receptionist informed Aira, checking information on her computer.
Aira sighed impatiently. " Fine."
" It's in the E wing, room 84." The receptionist said.
" Thanks." Aira set off at a brisk pace.
Aya trotted after him, waving bye to the receptionist. She followed Aira down many hallways, through several doors, and on a couple elevators. The entire place was very clean and smelt like a combination of Windex and medicine. The only people Aya saw were the white-clad doctors and nurses.
They went through the last pastel door and entered a very plain room. The walls were white, and had a few landscape paintings on them. Plastic orange chairs were neatly lined up against the walls, with the odd round table here and there. A television was hanging from a corner in the ceiling, playing something about preventing heart disease.
Yuri was already there. As soon as he saw Aya his eyes lit up, and he bounded over, hugging her tightly, not caring about the blood that stained her arms.
Aira allowed him a few minutes to express his emotion before tapping Yuri on the shoulder. " What did they say about Kirei?"
Yuri pulled away from Aya, blushing a bit in embarrassment. His teacher caught him making out! But he composed himself and answered quite calmly. " The doctor didn't say much, but judging by his expression…I don't think it's so good."
Aira groaned at this and sank into a chair, burying his face in his hands. Yuri and Aya exchanged worried looks. They sat down on either side of him.
" I'm sure they'll be able to help him." Aya comforted.
" With modern technology, they can do anything!" Yuri added, smiling cheerfully.
" Thank you." Aira lifted his head, tears spilling out of his large silver eyes. He wiped them away, sniffing.
The three lapsed into silence. Aira stared unseeing at his hands, deep in thought. Aya flipped through a couple of the magazines that were on the tables, but they were all out-of-date and boring. She began to feel quite sleepy after an hour had passed. Yuri noticed her stifled yawns and walked over, sitting down and pulling Aya into his lap. Aya smiled sleepily at him and snuggled closer to his warmth. Soon her breathing became regular and she was fast asleep. The only sound in the whole room was the incessant ticking of the clock. Yuri was also beginning to doze off when the doctor appeared. Aira instantly leapt up. The young man hadn't slept at all. Yuri carefully nudged Aya, waking her up. She yawned and then slowly focused her gaze on Aira and the doctor.
" Mr. Namasaki?" The doctor asked Aira. Aira nodded expectantly.
" How is my brother?" He asked.
" He's out of the critical zone, but those were quite violent injuries. He will be sore for some time. He should also refrain from strenuous activity. He has a broken leg, and a couple of broken fingers. He pulled several muscles, and cracked quite a few ribs. The muscle of his left thigh was torn, and he almost broke his back. He nearly lost all movement in his body." The doctor gave Aira a stern look from behind his glasses. " And there is something else, but your brother requested to tell you that himself."
" May we go in?" Aira referred to Yuri and Aya as well.
" For a short time, yes." The doctor nodded.
Aira gestured to Yuri and Aya before disappearing through the green surgery doors. The two students quickly followed.
The first thing they noticed was a soft weeping. Kirei had his face covered by his sheets, and his shoulders shook slightly.
" Kirei? What's the matter?" Aira asked softly, resting a hand on his brother's shoulder.
The weeping intensified.
" Kirei?" Aya whispered, almost afraid. What was the matter?
" Kirei, please. What's wrong?" Aira pleaded.
Kirei took a deep, shuddering breath, as if to steel himself for what came next. He slowly removed the sheets from his face, his bangs hiding the upper half. Aira gently tilted his brother's chin up, and then gasped loudly. Aya smothered a cry, and Yuri held her closer.
On Kirei's face was a long diagonal scar. But that wasn't what had shocked everyone. No, it was because although they were rimmed with red, Kirei's eyes were dull and pale, as if there was a shroud over them.
Kireshii Namasaki was blind.
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