Italics = Japanese
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Chapter 12 - Headaches
"The mistake is thinking that there can be an antidote to the uncertainty."
― David Levithan
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I opened my eyes with a start as my pupils adjusted themselves to the low light before I sensed the very hard unyielding surface I laid upon. Huh. Even without the lack of a strong light source, I was still able to make out the coloring of the floor, gray in color as was the wall my eyes took in. Quickly, I sat up and perhaps a bit too quick.
"Shit," I muttered as I pressed the palms of my hands against my temples.
Headache, I thought to myself as I gently rubbed the sides to ease the feeling and as I did, I realized something.
My wrists were free.
So it was that I made another discovery after I realized my wrists were no longer bound – I was no longer wearing the dastardly cloak as well. As I gazed down at my dirty clothes that I had worn throughout this strange but frightening nightmare, I realized I was no longer in the outdoors either.
Unlike the day where I woke up in the small wooden room in the middle of a forest, I was now inside a partially lit, dark, concrete cell. I turned around from where I sat and saw a door with a small opening covered in what I assumed to be metal bars and from where a little of the light source was entering through. Quickly, I moved on my knees towards the door and felt the cold steel against my palms as I used it to steady myself up. Now standing on my full height, the barred opening was a foot higher from where I stood. As I took a step back, I got a better look of the only light source I had – that of a naked light bulb.
"Hey!" I called out, aware that my voice had quivered. Clearing my throat, I called out again only to receive no answer. Stepping up to the door, I reached up and grasped the metals bars with both hands and tried to push myself up but to no avail. I was weak in strength. Dropping my arms in resignation, I turned and faced the room. There was nothing of interest other than a strange looking bowl at the farthest corner from where I stood.
How the hell did I end up here? Why was I even here to begin with? What was up with this headache?!
It was then that I heard what sounded like the opening of a door on the other side, that I quickly stepped back to the farthest corner from the only entrance into the cell. Instinctively, as if I were in hiding, I slowly breathed in and exhaled, afraid that my breath could be heard from the other side. Attentively, I listened to footsteps descending from what sounded like stairs.
Okay, I was clearly in a cell and likely in a dungeon for that matter. A cell that equaled a prison. I was a prisoner. The person, likely a guard, was perhaps making a round – could there be more people like myself here? Perhaps not in the same situation as I was...
My breathing hitched up when I heard a scraping metal sound coming from the door and only when I heard something sliding did I realize it wasn't the door itself that was being opened. At the bottom of the metal stronghold, light spilled in as a small box was pushed into the room only to have the light quickly be cut off by the closing of the small window.
"Eat," was the only voice I heard from the other side of the door and before I could say anything, the footsteps retreated.
It wasn't until I heard the door open and closed that I eyed the dimly lit small box that was pushed through the recently closed opening. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what it really was. Clearly it wasn't a tray with small compartments and a cup like you'd see in those prison movies, because this just so happened to be a small, slim, box. So, I was to eat what again?
Snatching up the box and retreating to the corner I claimed safer than the other three in the room, did I realize there was some food within. Instantly, I recognized the white rice that was packed into a small compartment and which I quickly devoured without hesitation. Despite having no flavor, I moved on to the second compartment that held what appeared to be string beans and which was soon devoured after I had inspected it. Just as it was with the rice, it also bore no flavor. When I finally came to the last compartment, I wasn't exactly sure what it was. Perhaps due to the lack of light, it was nothing more than a small, dark pungent piece of meat or fish. Whatever it was, the smell alone was enough to keep me away from consuming it.
With a small amount of food finally occupying my stomach, I slid myself down into a seated position before I settled to curl myself against the floor.
Regrettably, I was starting to miss the cloak.
This wasn't good, especially when I couldn't do absolutely nothing at all.
I never had migraines in my life, why start now?
I groaned as I held my head between my hands, using the tabletop to support my elbows as I slowly rubbed my temples. Fuck, how long was I going to be in this room?! Pushing myself from the table in frustration, I slouched into the metal chair.
My body had gone through hell; I was going through hell. I had not had a decent sleep since I arrived. The only food I had eaten was what Sakura had offered me and the small box that was slid into my cell; plus, the only water I had drank from had come from Sakura's water bottle. Whoever these people were, they had been kind enough to have given me food but leave out the one necessity – water. Then there was the cell – why the hell was my cloak taken away from me in the first place? The cell was freaking cold; I could not sleep curled in the corner as the cold temperature did not allow me that little piece of luxury. Then there was that freaking headache – or migraine – that would not go away. I stood up forcefully from the chair, toppling it over as I walked towards the closed door. With only a small window that was of the same height from the one I had in the cell, there was no way to see the hall outside and much less if someone was walking towards my direction.
I had been brought to this room by a different person, not the same one who appeared with the woman a day or so ago and someone else entirely ill mannered. Not only had he startled me when he banged something against the cell's door, but had personally come in, roughly picked me up by my upper arm and forced me to walk when I was barely functioning. As I struggled against his hold, I kept telling him how I'll peacefully follow him along with a handful chosen colorful words. Naturally, I had been ignored until we reached the room I was currently in.
Since then I had no clue where I was.
The room was not a cell as it looked much... professional than the one I had been held in. With only a small table and chair, the only difference was the naked light bulb that hung from the ceiling. With my headache increasing and decreasing with pressure, I slowly came to the realization I was finally going to be able to communicate with someone. Clearly, these people believed I was a criminal of some sort and clearly they saw the language barrier. Surely, in Japan, they will get an interpreter before – I didn't know – the interrogation happened? Because it couldn't be the whole cop-and-criminal routine, right? I would have been strapped in or something if that had been the case.
I slammed a closed fist against the door, "hey!"
Strangely enough, I had not seen anyone as I was being pushed to this room. In this prison-like setting, shouldn't there have been people, guards, etc? Where was everyone? Dropping my arms, I turned and righted the chair before setting myself for the waiting game.
Hours... it had to have been hours since I last was brought into this room and with no way to tell time, it truly felt like an eternity.
I slumped over the table, letting the coolness of the metal surface cool down the side of my face; I had no idea whether it was the room or myself that had caused my flushed appearance, but it had become too warm for my taste. If it was the room that caused this sensation, I should have already been used to this kind of temperature; after all, I lived in Southern California. I let out an audible scoff at this mundane fact.
I needed something to drink.
How long had it been since I last drank anything?
I closed my eyes and draped an arm over my head to shield myself from the strong luminescence that radiated from the light bulb above. I was being tortured and only by these people who had seemed to have forgotten I was in the room.
This damned headache.
An audible groan escaped from my throat as I forced to close my eyes knowing full well sleep was impossible here.
My legs felt funny.
I tapped out my heel and felt that familiar feeling you get when your foot falls "asleep." Funny. I tapped out my other heel and felt the same exact feeling – tingly and numb-like. This was something new. I pushed myself from the table and looked down at my legs, eyeing them carefully. What did I expect to see? I had no idea but knew something was wrong, something shouldn't be happening. Other than the scrapes, cuts and smudges of dirt I accumulated through my short adventure in the wilderness, there was nothing out of the ordinary about them. Oh sure, I would not have minded them being longer just to be a couple of inches taller than what I already was. I let out a sarcastic laugh as I stood up from my seat.
No.
There was definitely something wrong going on with my legs and just as quick as I stood up, I slumped back down on the chair. Okay, it was only natural – it was to be expected after all. Not only had I walked and ran a lot in the last couple of days, but I had done so without any proper feet protection. Plus, sitting down and pacing around the room for god-knows how long, I was just now feeling the effects of it. That really made perfect sense.
Except for the damned headache that seemed to be increasing in intensity the more I stayed in this room.
I was startled by the sudden noise from the other side of the door; quickly I sat up straight on my seat before I turned to face the metal door. My reaction was clearly an automatic response on my part, a remnant from my elementary years when children – really, just me – were afraid to be caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. Being in the present, my own action made me realize that I was, in fact, scared.
Well, hello Miss Obvious!
"Good Morning," a rough male voice spoke and it belonged to the man that first entered the room. With an imposing figure and wearing a dark overcoat over gray clothes, similar to the style of the man I had seen back in the forest. Unlike that previous person, he wore a dark piece of material over his head. Following after him, a blonde-haired woman whose demeanor matched that of the man; wearing what appeared to be an olive-green coat and fairly simple looking clothes, I couldn't help but get a feeling the well-endowed woman was some kind of authority figure. Soon after her walked in another man dressed in a similar style as the first, unlike him, his long ash-blonde hair was tied into a ponytail.
So it began once the door closed behind that third man.
"Who are you?" The woman started and I couldn't help but stare up at the woman who stood across the table. "With what has been relayed to me, I can't help but wonder how are you connected to the Akatsuki whose cloak you so foolishly wore within our borders."
Add to the fact I – as I had previously voiced so many times – could not understand a word the woman had said, the headache was not helping either. With the sudden stabbing pressure seeming to be coming from behind my eyes, I winced.
"So you do acknowledge the fact, huh?" The woman crossed her arms, which only enforced her demeanor. "Then the-"
"I have no idea what you're saying," I uttered as I pinched the bridge of my nose; my eyes closed as I tried to ease the pain. "I will NOT be able to understand a word any of you will say. So if you want me to talk, you best find an interpreter." Two of them traded glances with one another, except for the first man who stood on the woman's right side.
"We got word of your act and while the others could fall under the illusion that you're nothing but a victim in this charade, I suggest you start disclosing the information you were asked about." The first man said, his tone as firm as you'd expect from an authority figure. "From the looks of it, if you thought staying in this room overnight was not a pleasant experience, we have other ways of physically extracting what we seek."
"We might as well kill you and get this over with, no use dealing with an idiot." The woman said in a flippant manner, seeming to gaze down at me.
The pain was not abating behind my eyes, which only added to my frustration that neither of the three people who stood before me were paying me any real attention. Rolling my eyes, I slowly breathed in through my nose before slowly and firmly said, "I can tell you three are not idiots, so you must know that I cannot speak a word in Japanese nor can any of you speak in English. Now I'm normally a patient person and willing to cooperate but my patience is really wearing thin. So find me an interpreter and I'll answer whatever questions you have."
"She's truly an idiot," the woman said, flipping her hand towards me. "Can't understand a word we're saying."
"Whether she understands us or not, Hokage-sama," the pony-tailed man spoke, "is clear despite her reactions saying otherwise. There's still one way we can extract the information we need from her. We can use a clone and put Sakura's theory to the test?"
"We could but this is not the place to test the theory," she replied. "I have a feeling we will have enough time to figure out where she came from and who she works for. Though, by the looks of it – she could very well be an experiment. Wouldn't surprise me."
I continued to watch the three exchange words, clearly not taking my request for an interpreter seriously. It was then the woman dropped an arm to her side, before pulling it upwards and raising an object before my face. Dangling between her fingers was the necklace I had – or was it the orange clad guy? – found.
"Now I'm no jeweler, but I can tell this one holds a high price tag and for a girl like yourself to be carrying it around. This is some—...."
I had no way of explaining it but seeing the pendant dangling from the silver chain the blonde haired woman held, swaying back and forth between her fingers. It called me to stare as it was quite hypnotizing. No sooner did a second necklace seem to materialize , while not in the same 3D dimension, it was fainter and it was there. Strange. I tried to follow the second that appeared out of the original, but my eyes couldn't concentrate on just one as I kept glancing between the two.
What the...
I quickly rubbed my eyes with my fist before I looked back up to the necklace only to see the piece of jewelry placed on the surface of the table in front of me. Instead of the two I had previously seen, there was only one. Made perfect sense which only meant I was getting double vision now. As if to back-up my realization, I suddenly felt another headache coming. I winced when the light-bulb that hung above me had suddenly brightened causing me to cover my eyes with the palm of my hands.
Shit, shit, shit...
"Just to let you know, your actions are speaking for you, so I sugg-"
I slammed my arms flat against the surface of the table, frustrated that none of the three people were making an effort to help me. I squinted my eyes up to her only to meet her unfazed expression. "Are. You. People. Stupid." I emphasized as I pulled my arms back to my body, becoming aware of the tingling sensation that ran through my arms. Startled by these feelings, I looked down at my hands before I looked up to the woman. Not saying a word, I tried to push myself up with the help of the table, only then I suddenly felt lightheaded and before I could utter another word, a darkness enveloped my senses
A/N: Hello there! As you can clearly see, things are happening here and no, I'm not purposely torturing her because I want to. With two situations ganging up on her (physically and emotionally), this girl definitely needs a break from the bad luck she's running into.
Thanks for reading!
