31
Last Alarm
Chapter Thirty-One
"Sanctuary"
Part Three
"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." ― Mark Twain
Location: Tokonosu City
Estate of Soichiro and Yuriko Takagi
Time: Morning
Spring 2013
Z-Day Plus Three
The semi-deranged woman with the spiky hair that had seemed to be the most convinced that the presence of the wounded American amongst the crowd of refugees seeking shelter at Takagi Manor would truly end in their subsequent demise by an invading American force, had caught Yuriko Takagi completely off guard when she had brazenly pushed her way past Kukugari and had stepped up to Yuriko and violently shoved her hard in the chest.
The unexpected attack from the now nearly psychotic woman had knocked the Matriarch of the Takagi Household completely off balance and sent her crashing to the ground as the rest of the panicked onlooker's standing behind her, also fearing an American retaliatory attack and encouraged by the crazed woman's actions, suddenly surged forward, each of them determined to forcibly remove the American from their midst.
The newly formed mob now whipped into a hysterical frenzy, then began pushing some of the other Takagi guards to the ground as well, with each of the guards now desperately fighting hand-to-hand with the panicked civilians that ironically just yesterday, had been crying out for refuge from the onslaught of the Infected as Yuriko and her men were now desperately trying to defend themselves from the frenzied hands clutching at them.
Upon impact with the ground, Yuriko's fighting instincts immediately took over and she instinctively reached for the butt of her pistol as the crazed woman that had shoved her to the ground stood over her with wild eyes and screaming over and over like a woman possessed, "KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"
And then just as quickly the woman's eyes seemed to lose their hate-filled look and were replaced with a look of sheer terror as Yuriko finally managed to draw her pistol from its holster and level the muzzle at the woman's chest as she thumbed off the safety.
"BLAM!"
The sound of the gunshot coming from directly behind her startled Yuriko into nearly causing her to squeeze the trigger of her pistol and accidentally discharging her own weapon into the woman's chest, as Yuriko reflexively relaxed her finger off the trigger as her female attacker suddenly dropped to the ground screaming.
Yuriko quickly glanced over at the woman as she fell, for a split second believing that one of her own men had seen her dangerous predicament and had opened fire on her attacker in her defense. But just as quickly Yuriko quickly realized that was truly not the case at all, when she noticed there were no visible wounds anywhere on the crazed woman as she lay cowering on the ground.
It was obvious then to Yuriko that the woman had merely dropped to the ground instinctively out of fear just like every other man, woman, and child in the mob all had, each of them screaming and yelling in panic at the sound of the gunshot.
"She wasn't hit,…" Yuriko thought to herself as her mind raced with thoughts of what had just actually occured.
"Then who,…?" Yuriko thought as a sudden horrifying thought that someone had possibly stolen a weapon from one of her men and had opened fire entered her mind just at the exact moment she felt the presence of someone standing behind her.
Reacting quickly to defend herself against another possible threat, Yuriko then quickly rolled over on her stomach and leveled her pistol at a blurry figure she saw standing behind her, a mere few feet away.
And then Yuriko's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sight of Takashi Komuro standing almost directly behind her, his eyes glaring at the crowd with a piercing look as he held a titanium-colored pistol in his hand pointed towards the sky, smoke drifting lazily from the muzzle.
As surprised as she was to see the teen standing almost directly behind her, it was not the pistol in his hand that now frightened Yuriko as she gazed up at him.
It was in fact, the look in his eyes that now frightened her the most.
Unlike the young teenage girl Saeko Busujima who had attacked her and Yoshioka at the condo earlier that morning, this boy's eyes were not at all the same as the young girl who had held her and her men off from dispatching the American.
Saeko Busujima's eyes had been cold,….. emotionless,… the eyes of a killer.
It was those very eyes that had seemed to pierce into Yuriko's very soul and hold her spellbound, as if Yuriko's very own thoughts would be enough to trigger the young woman to strike.
Saeko Busujima however, had been in complete control of her emotions, and thus, she had been in complete control of herself.
And Yuriko had realized then that she would kill only if she were provoked any further.
This situation however, was much different.
Because the eyes of this boy standing before her were full of barely controlled anger.
"Which makes him even more dangerous than the girl," Yuriko thought apprehensively as she looked into his eyes. "There's no telling what this boy will do if he loses control."
Yuriko gazed up at the young man glaring angrily at the now cowered mob on the lawn behind her and her mind raced with thoughts on how to handle the volatile situation before the situation grew any worse.
"Worse,…." Yuriko swore under her breath.
"How much worse can this day become?" She thought completely frustrated as her eyes moved from the angry teen in front of her to the two other teens that were standing heavily armed and poised for action at the entrance of the medical tent.
"Oh yes, that's how it can get worse,…." Yuriko groaned audibly.
Earlier, Yuriko had already noticed that the other two teens were still standing where she had last seen them, and she had been incensed at their stubbornness.
Now with the volatile situation before her still a mere heartbeat away from becoming even more disastrous, Yuriko's hope's that the situation could now be handled without any bloodshed sunk as she realized that she and her men were now in a more precarious situation than before.
Because with these three teens standing heavily armed before her, Yuriko realized that more than likely the rest of the teens were now surely carrying weapons as well.
And from all appearances the teenagers seemed more than willing to take on the unruly mob all by themselves from the looks of fierce determination that was visible on their faces,
And based on what she and her men had just experienced with the stubborn teens earlier that morning, Yuriko had no doubt in her mind they would fight to the death to protect the man they believed to be their friend and guardian.
And Yuriko's motherly instincts then suddenly went into overdrive with the thought of her own daughter also somewhere in the tent lying in wait for the crowd to breach the entrance of the medical tent and stubbornly putting her own life in danger along with the rest of the teens for a man that from anyone's guess, was more a menace to everyone than a friend.
"Stupid, stubborn, little brats!" Yuriko thought, barely keeping her emotions in control. "Dammit, I really am going to strangle those kids when this is all over!"
While the crowd's onslaught had indeed been halted by the shot that Takashi had fired into the air, Yuriko's assessment that the situation was still very far from being completely under control was only confirmed as she looked over at the young Busujima girl still attired only in a man's tee shirt, standing near the tent entrance with a wooden bokken that she held in both hands, while the chubby teen standing on her right next to her, pointed the muzzle of his very high-tech looking sniper rifle directly at the crowd scanning everyone through his scope, ready to open fire the instant anyone made a wrong move.
"Oh just perfect, a psychotic mob in front of us, a bunch of trigger-happy teenagers behind us, and me and my men stuck right in the middle." Yuriko grumbled under her breath. "And if I make one wrong move or say the wrong thing, we're all dead."
"Yoshioka, where the hell are you?!" Yuriko screamed inwardly.
"Takagi-san, are you alright?" Takashi suddenly asked Yuriko in a very calm voice, snapping her out of her thoughts as everyone, including Yuriko and her men, remained frozen in place.
"Hai, Takashi-chan." Yuriko replied calmly as she carefully lowered the hammer of her pistol and holstered it, still looking directly into his face and noticing that the anger in his eyes seemed to have abated slightly of which she was truly grateful.
By some miracle it seemed much to Yuriko's relief, that the boy seemed to gotten in control of himself now that the crowd had ceased taking any more hostile actions towards her and her men.
But as she started to get up off the ground Yuriko froze suddenly, as she noticed something very different about the boy's demeanor all of a sudden as he turned his face away from her and gazed over again at the crowd, and the hate-filled look Yuriko had noticed earlier once again began to reappear on his face.
And then to her horror, Yuriko realized just how unstable the situation really was as Takashi suddenly leveled his pistol at the crowd.
"Takashi-chan!" Yuriko said in shocked surprise.
"Is this how you repay kindness and mercy, by calling the people who let you into their home traitors, and threatening to kill them?!" Takashi said his eyes blazing with fury as he looked over the faces of the crowd. "Is this how you treat the people who let all of you and your families into their home, fed you, sheltered you and kept you safe?!"
"They're protecting an enemy soldier!" The self-proclaimed leader of the group who had pushed Yuriko to the ground said in a panicked voice. "If he stays here, his comrades will come and kill us all!"
"Don't you understand boy?!" The woman continued hysterically. "America did this to our country! They've brought war on us again!"
"She's right!" Someone else shouted. "The Americans will know he's here, and they'll kill the rest of us when they come looking for him!"
"PLEASE! Some of us really don't want to hurt anyone!" A young woman holding a crying baby in her arms said in near panic. "Please just get the American out of here before they find him and us!"
"Screw that! He's an enemy soldier!" A young boy's voice shouted from somewhere behind the crowd. "We need to kill him, and then hide his body away from here!"
"Don't you see!" The semi-psychotic woman said as she looked back at Takashi haughtily. "Everyone agrees with me, he's a threat and we need to get rid of him!"
"And they're right; we should just kill him and hide his body away from here!" The woman said looking over at the tent. "Then the Americans will leave us alone!
"What is your name?" Takashi said looking down at the woman still lying on the ground, a look of utter disgust on his face.
"Homura, Maiko!" The spiky-haired woman replied still staring at the tent.
"Homura, Maiko,…..you are a fool." Takashi said in a voice that chilled the air around him as the spiky-haired woman turned her head around and glared back at him angrily.
"And your hair looks like shit." Takashi spat as he looked away from her.
"The injured American inside the tent is not a soldier!" Takashi said in a barely controlled voice, ignoring her angry look as he gazed over the frightened faces of the crowd, all of them still crouching in fear and staring with frightened eyes directly at the pistol in his hand. "And he has done nothing to hurt anyone!"
"In fact he has saved the lives of my friends and I more than once since this "Outbreak" began!" Takashi added.
"And he is also our friend." Takashi said in a voice that seemed to chill the air as he glared angrily at the crowd. "And we will defend him even if it costs us our lives."
"So you and your friends are traitor to your own country then too." Maiko Homura spat, a twisted sneer forming on her face. "You'd be willing to watch your own people die so that gaijin can live?'
"TRAITOR!" Maiko Homura screamed at the teen in defiance.
"Takashi enough, don't listen to her!" Yuriko said seeing the fury about to overcome the boy as he ignored Yuriko and the Homura woman and turned to address the crowd once more.
"I'm warning all of you now, that if any of you try to harm him or any of my friends, I promise you this,….!" Takashi continued, his eyes coldly fixed on the faces of the onlookers.
"Most of you will be dead before you even get near him." Takashi said in a deadly calm voice as he looked directly at the Homura woman who was staring at him with eyes filled with a mixture of fear and anger. "And those of you that survive will be sorry that any of you even thought about hurting him."
"Leave here now, or so help me I'll shoot the next person who even speaks about doing anything towards him!" Takashi said as he slowly swept the crowd with the muzzle of his pistol.
"Takashi-chan, that's enough." Yuriko said interrupting, seeing that the boy was almost near the brink of opening fire and trying not to antagonize the teen any further as she slowly got back to her feet and looked directly at him.
"Please let this work,…" Yuriko thought to herself as she made one last gamble to reach through to the enraged teenager.
"Takashi, I know you're angry, and I know you just want to protect your friend, but you need to stop." Yuriko said as she held her hand out to Takashi.
"You and your friends have done everything you can to help your friend Takashi, but son, this has to stop." Yuriko said in a pleading voice.
"Listen to me Takashi-chan, from what I've come to know about your friend, Jimu-san would not want you and your friends to get hurt trying to help him." Yuriko said using one of the last weapons in her arsenal to reach the enraged teen's heart.
"And I know that he wouldn't want you to hurt anyone trying to help him either, Takashi-chan."
"Takashi, please lower your weapon,…. son." Yuriko said in a voice so gentle Takashi almost thought it was his own mother speaking to him as he hesitated a moment, her gentle words breaking through his rage.
And then as he looked over at Yuriko, Takashi noticed that unlike before when she had appeared so stern and all business like before, now Yuriko's face was the exact opposite from what he had seen all morning.
Now her face was softened and she was also calmly smiling and holding out her hand to him, speaking to him the same way she always had before when he was still a child.
And then as he gazed into her eyes, Takashi's heart was moved by the almost motherly way Yuriko was looking and acting towards him as he began to feel as if she were indeed his own mother there with him.
And then those same thoughts of his own mother looking at him the same way as Yuriko was entered Takashi's mind and he felt a deep shame come over him as he let the muzzle of his pistol drop.
"I knew it, he's bluffing!" Someone in the far back of the crowd suddenly shouted almost tauntingly as the rage that had been slowly dissolving in Takashi suddenly began to flare up again.
"ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!" Yuriko shouted angrily as some in the crowd flinched at her outburst. "All of you be silent or I'll kill you myself!"
"Takashi-chan, please son, just ignore them." Yuriko said desperately as she held out her hand. "Please son, you don't want to do this. Just give me the weapon, please."
"Why are you begging the kid?" Yuriko heard someone say. "You should just reach out and take it before he hurts someone."
"Yeah, he's just a stupid punk kid," Someone else scoffed. "Who does he think he is, waving a gun and ordering us around?"
"I TOLD ALL OF YOU TO BE SILENT!" Yuriko snapped as some others in the back of the crowd furthest away from danger began to speak tauntingly at the boy with the pistol.
And then just as quickly as before, a chorus of shaky, yet loud comments from the crowd of onlookers helped to encourage others to find what courage they had left as they also began to shout out in open defiance to the teenage boy standing with the pistol in his hand.
And then as the crowd began to once again began voicing their opinions loudly, Kouta placed his finger on the trigger of his rifle as Saeko also tightened her grip on her bokken, both of them steeling themselves for what was sure to come.
"S-so, yo!" The woman Maiko Homura screeched, also regaining her courage as she glared angrily at Takashi. "You wouldn't dare shoot! It would be murder!"
"They're right, you don't have it in you. You've just been playing way too many video games, you stupid boy!" The crazed woman said not realizing she had just sealed her own fate with her remark.
"If I'm just a stupid kid who's played too many video games, then your obviously forgetting just how easy squeezing the trigger on this pistol would be then." Takashi said coldly, gritting his teeth in rage as he leveled the H&K P7 at the wild-haired woman and squeezed the safety lever on the grip with a loud click as the woman's eyes went wide.
"DON'T F_CK WITH ME." Takashi said in a voice like ice.
"TAKASHI! PUT THAT GUN DOWN, NOW!" Yuriko shouted, realizing that despite her best efforts, it was already too late.
"Y-You won't shoot." The woman stammered as she stared into Takashi's hate-filled eyes and saw his finger tighten on the trigger as the realization she was about to die finally hit her, causing her to lose control of her bodily functions as her bladder emptied.
"TAKASHI-CHAN, YAMERO!" Yuriko yelled as Takashi began to apply pressure on the trigger.
"WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HERE?!" A voice thundered over the crowd as everyone turned their heads in the direction the voice had come from.
Location : Inside the Medical Tent
Inside the hushed interior of the medical tent, everyone both patient and medical professional alike, had gone dead silent after the sound of the gunshot, each of them panic-stricken, most of them too afraid to even breathe.
Each individual inside the tent was intensely listening for the slightest indication that a battle was commencing outside, all of them knowing that it was only a matter of time before the defenders outside would be overwhelmed and slaughtered.
And then the thin cloth covering the entrance of the tent would be pushed aside and the interior of the tent would be breached by members of the blood-thirsty mob bursting into the tent in a mad rush for the wounded American and then pushing everyone aside, would drag him away to be killed outside.
And after several agonizingly tense minutes with nothing occurring, everyone was suddenly startled by the loud roar of a man shouting in anger outside.
"Papa!" Saya suddenly cried out as everyone in the tent jumped at her voice, the atmosphere inside the tent so tense that everyone reacted to the sound of Saya's voice as if another gunshot had been fired.
Rei Miyamoto had been closely watching the closed flap of the tent over the barrel of her shotgun, tensely awaiting the expected rush of the crazed mob attempting to burst in and set themselves upon the helpless American firefighter inside.
But the many moments that passed with nothing happening followed by the horrible silence that had followed after the gunshot, along the fear of not knowing what was happening to her friends outside had left Rei's nerves a jangled mess.
And so understandably, Saya's sudden outburst right next to her ear startled her immensely, causing her to scream and nearly squeeze the trigger of her shotgun and discharge a load of buckshot through the tent flap.
"DAMMIT SAYA, I COULD HAVE ACCIDENTALLY KILLED SOMEONE!" Rei screamed angrily over at Saya as the girl suddenly broke away from Shizuka's grasp and ran hurriedly towards the entrance of the tent oblivious to the inherent danger outside.
"SAYA-CHAN, NO!" Shizuka shouted as Saya ran for the entrance, knocking away Rei's desperate grab for her arm as she ran towards the tent flap and then sweeping the cloth aside, disappeared outside.
"Baka!" Rei swore as she also ran for the tent flap, followed closely by Shizuka.
"ARISU-CHAN, STAY HERE!" Shizuka shouted as she ran towards the now open flap of the tent.
"OBA-CHAN!" Alice screamed as Shizuka and Rei disappeared through the entrance.
"It's alright, child." The old doctor said as he reached for Alice's hand and then held her close to him.
"OBA-CHAN!" Alice screamed once again, afraid of being left behind in the company of strangers.
"Easy little one, do not worry child, they'll be fine." The doctor said to her as Alice began to cry.
The doctor looked at the small girl crying at his feet and then bending down on one knee, reached into his pocket and fished out a lemon candy, giving it to the frightened child.
"I always keep some of these, just in case I get scared." The doctor said as he offered a candy to Alice who cautiously accepted it from him and then removed the plastic wrapper.
"Ojii-chan, you get scared too?" Alice said as she popped the candy in her mouth as the doctor fished into his lab coat and pulled out a kerchief and wiped away her tears with it.
"All the time child, all the time." The doctor replied looking towards the entrance of the tent, as he patted Alice on the top of her head and then scratched the puppy the young girl was holding in her arms underneath its chin.
"That's why I always make sure I keep plenty of these." The old doctor said as he gave Alice another lemon drop along with a comforting smile.
"What is your name, little one?" The doctor said in a friendly manner.
"Morisato, Arisu." Alice replied as she accepted the second candy and put it in her pocket.
"Morisato, Arisu." The doctor repeated and then looked at Alice thoughtfully, his attention turning towards his own daughter standing nearby smiling at him, as she watched her father interacting with the little girl.
"A very cute name, for a very cute girl." The doctor said smiling at the young girl as another young nurse walked from the other side of the tent and stepping in front of the doctor and the little girl and bowed slightly.
"Sensei," The nurse said to the doctor as she gestured towards the young girl. "Shall I take the child away with me for a while?"
"Hai, please do." The doctor replied as he looked over at the unconscious American and then stood up and leaned closer to the young nurse and whispered into her ear, discreetly pressing a couple more candies into the nurse's palm for the child.
"Take young Arisu-chan to the back of the tent and keep her hidden would you please, Ayumi-san?" The doctor said to the nurse in a hushed tone so that Alice couldn't overhear.
"The situation may still not be quite safe just yet, and I really do want her out of harm's way as much as possible." He added as he glanced over at the entrance of the tent.
"Hai, sensei." The young nurse said as she nervously glanced over at the entrance to the tent as well.
"And if the situation does indeed get worse Ayumi-san, then I also want you to prevent her from seeing what happens if those people do barge in here for him." The doctor said gesturing at the American lying on the stainless steel exam table.
"Hai, Sensei." The nurse said wide-eyed as she nodded and gently took Alice by the hand.
"Ojiichan?" Alice said as she looked back at the Chief Physician. "What's your name?"
"My name is Kyohei, Arisu-chan." The doctor replied as he smiled at the small child still holding the puppy in her arms who was now no longer crying.
"Dr. Kyohei Yamane." Dr. Yamane said with a wink.
"Arigato gozaimasu, Yamane-sensei." Alice said as the nurse walked her towards the back of the tent, trying to keep the little girl calm by talking sweetly to her.
"Do itashimashite, Arisu-chan." Dr. Yamane replied as his eyes followed the girl for a moment and then he gazed upon the many other faces in the tent all staring at him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please." The doctor said as all eyes completely focused on him. "Just as I instructed all of you earlier, I need all of you to continue to remain calm and listen to the instructions of my staff until the all clear is given by Security."
"But I believe,….." The doctor added as a few low murmurs were heard from some of the patients lying in their cots, "That the situation outside is being dealt with and that very soon there will be nothing left to fear any further."
"However, just to be safe please remain calm and do not attempt anything if the situation is indeed, not over yet."
"I apologize for the "drama" all of you have had to deal with this morning, everyone." The doctor said as he turned to his staff and gestured for them to get back to work.
"But please bear with us in the meantime. Hopefully, the worst is over." Dr. Yamane said as he looked over the frightened faces of everyone once more and gave them a small smile of reassurance.
"Please, for the sake of all these people here, let it be over." The doctor thought to himself as he then turned his attention back towards his patients.
Location: Outside the Medical tent
In her mad dash to see her father at last, Saya had practically exploded through the tent entrance, angrily sweeping the heavy cloth flap of the tent away as she emerged from the tent and nearly crashed into Saeko and Kouta, who were standing just outside the entrance.
And as she suddenly came to a halt, the scene before her made her gasp as she spotted her mother standing near Takashi who was holding the American's compact pistol in his right hand, the muzzle leveled at some woman cowering from him on the ground.
Saya could see that her mother had obviously been trying to get Takashi to hand over the weapon that he was using to hold off the crowd to no avail apparently, when the leader of the group of men steadily walking towards them had yelled out something to the teen, causing him to hesitate from shooting the woman on the ground.
And as Saya watched the group of men approaching, it was the leader of the group that caused her heart to start beating rapidly at the sight of him.
Becoming overcome with emotion at the sight of her father so close by, Saya was about to bound towards him when Kouta suddenly raised his arm in front of her blocking her path, as Rei and Shizuka then emerged from the tent and also froze at the sight before them.
"Do not step in front of me." Kouta said in warning as he placed his hand back on the stock of his rifle and continued to scan over the crowd, his eye never leaving the scope.
Quickly becoming livid at being halted and snapped at by the chubby teen, Saya was about to unleash her wrath at Kouta when Saeko placed her hand on Saya's shoulder.
"We understand your feelings, Takagi-san." Saeko said her voice sympathetic, although extremely tense.
"However, the situation is not under control just yet." Saeko finished, as she and everyone else watched the drama unfolding in front of them involving Takashi, the mob, and the small party of new arrivals that had just arrived.
The sound of the man's angry roar had indeed startled Takashi, but it was not the anger in the man's voice that had caused him to hesitate so much as it was who the voice belonged to, that sent a familiar chill down his spine.
Without taking his finger off the trigger, Takashi turned his head and saw the very familiar face of the man he had known as a child, a man now in his early 40's dressed in a dark blue business suit and carrying a very, long-bladed and ornate katana in his left hand as he slowly walked up towards the front of the crowd.
A man he had always greatly feared ever since childhood, who's presence, now sent that same familiar chill running down Takashi's spine.
The Lord of Takagi Manor moved with fluid confidence towards the front of the crowd, obviously not intimidated at all by the crowd of people gathered around as many of the once nearly out-of-control mob began to instinctively back away from him.
Soichiro Takagi then stopped directly in front of the crowd and glared angrily first at the cowering mob, and then back towards Takashi, sending another cold chill running through him as Takashi met his eyes.
"Lower your weapon, boy." The man said in a voice like the low rumble of thunder as Takashi hesitated at first, and then quickly complied, the terrifying look in the man's eyes chilling Takashi down to the bone despite his own anger.
There was not a sound from the crowd as the man calmly turned away and extended his hand towards Yuriko as she grasped it as he then gently guided her towards Takashi, and then turned to stare once more at the crowd, who shrank back from his piercing glare.
"Yuriko," The man said in a voice that continued to sound like thunder. "Have these children relinquish their weapons immediately, and remove those children from my sight."
"Hai." Yuriko responded immediately as she turned to face Takashi and stepped in front of him, holding out her hand.
"You don't understand, they were about to,…" Takashi began to explain, but was immediately cut off by Saya's father.
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" The Master of the Takagi family roared as Takashi flinched at his outburst. "Follow my wife's instructions, until I wishto speak with all of you!"
"Until then, do as you're instructed and be silent!" Soichiro snapped.
"All of you have caused enough trouble for one day." The Lord of Takagi Manor said bitterly as Takashi gritted his teeth in anger.
"Yuriko, move now." Soichiro ordered as Yuriko bowed to her husband and then stepped over in front of Takashi and held out her hand to him.
"Hand me the pistol Takashi-chan, now." Yuriko said sternly as Takashi gripped the pistol defiantly at first, and then reluctantly handed the pistol over to her.
"Come with me." Yuriko said as she grabbed Takashi's arm and then pulled him along like a delinquent child followed by two of her men, and then paused for a moment to meet up with Yoshioka who had just come running up.
Shizuka watched as Yuriko stopped and then handed the American's leather badge case to the Security Chief Yoshioka, who upon opening it, stared at the contents within with a look of shock, as he then looked up at Yuriko who held her hand up before he could say anything and then spoke briefly to him.
After Yuriko had finished speaking, the Security Chief nodded in understanding and then walked towards Yuriko's husband, as Yuriko once again dragged Takashi away by the arm and headed towards the rest of the group.
"Everyone, hand over your weapons, all of them." Yuriko ordered as both of her men walked up and one of them unceremoniously, grabbed Kouta's rifle as well as Saeko's bokken and Rei's shotgun as Yuriko glared at the teens stiffly.
"Search them too." Yuriko ordered the other guard as he began to pat down Takashi and Kouta who remained quiet despite their anger at being roughly searched for any other concealed weapons as Yuriko began patting down the girls, removing the folding knives that they had tried to conceal, with Saeko's knife being the easiest for Yuriko to find considering her current attire.
After searching Shizuka, Yuriko then motioned for everyone to move away from the tent as she turned to give her men some final orders.
"Secure these weapons in the armory and do not let anyone near them, including our own personnel." Yuriko ordered.
"These weapons may be used as State's evidence against our "guest", so remember to keep them separate from the rest of our other weapons, understood?" Yuriko added as her men nodded in understanding and then headed towards the house with the confiscated weapons as Yuriko stood in front of the teens and hands on hips, glared angrily at them.
"I can't believe anyone could have ever done anything as reckless and as STUPID as what all of you have done today over that man!" Yuriko said scolding the teens who looked back at her unapologetically, irritating her all the more.
"You could have been hurt or killed!" Yuriko said continuing to speak in a scolding tone as she held up her hand and pointed toward the direction of the house as the teens began to open their mouths to speak in protest.
"NOT,….ANOTHER,….WORD!" Yuriko hissed angrily shutting them up as she began to not-so-gently push the teens towards the mansion.
"I don't know what has possessed all of you to be so unswervingly loyal to that man that you would do something so STUPID as what all of you did today,….!" Yuriko began her voice seething with rage.
"But so help me if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will beat that loyalty out of you!" Yuriko said as she reached up and smacked Takashi in the back of the head as he yelped and turned around and looked at her angrily.
"Especially you Takashi-chan!" Yuriko snapped. "What were you thinking pointing that pistol at everyone and threatening to shoot them?!"
"And don't you DARE look at me that way, young man!" Yuriko said as she reached up and pinched Takashi hard in his arm causing him to yelp again in pain.
"If you think for one second that just because you prevented that woman from attacking me was a good excuse for almost shooting her, you have another thing coming young man!" Yuriko now in complete "angry mama" mode snapped at the teen.
"I cannot believe that you almost shot that woman Takashi-chan! What would your mother think if she saw you do that?!"
"You wait until I get all of you into the house!" Yuriko hissed. "You have no idea the trouble all of you are in!"
"Now get moving,…. all of you! MARCH!" Yuriko snapped as Shizuka suddenly interrupted her.
"Ano,….Takagi-dono? Arisu-chan is still in the tent with Jimu-san." Shizuka said fearfully as Yuriko glanced angrily over at her.
"Would you give me a moment to get her and check on Jimu-san's condition?" Shizuka asked timidly as Yuriko nodded her head as the school nurse immediately turned around and quickly ducked back into the tent.
And after a few moments, Shizuka then re-emerged from the tent with a very bewildered Alice in tow, and then without a word, began briskly walking towards the mansion, grateful to not be the focus of the wrath of the Matriarch of the Takagi Household.
"Alright, let's go,… all of you. Now!" Yuriko said curtly as she then began to push the rest of the teens towards the direction of the house, not realizing that one of her delinquent brood had not budged an inch from where she had been standing the whole time.
Kouta however, had noticed the solitary figure, and he managed to slip past unseen as Yuriko pushed Rei, Saeko, and Takashi forward as he looked at Saya standing like a statue behind them.
Saya seemed from all appearances, to be frozen in place, staring intensely at the back of her father who was facing the now thoroughly quieted mob and was speaking sharply at the crowd of people as they stood with their heads held low.
And as Yuriko was busily engaged in pushing a thoroughly pissed off Takashi, Rei, and Saeko forward towards the mansion, Kouta quickly leaned over to whisper into Saya's ear as Soichiro Takagi continued to speak in an angry undertone to the crowd.
"Takagi-san, is he,….?" Kouta asked nervously.
"Hai," Saya replied, scowling angrily at the man.
"Takagi, Soichiro, watashi no Papa." Saya said in a voice filled with fury as everyone, including Yuriko, suddenly stopped and looked back, finally noticing that the two teens were not following behind them after all.
But it was the sudden change in Saya's demeanor that alarmed everyone, especially Saya's mother.
Each of the teens had already grown used to the scowl that seemed to be permanently etched on Saya Takagi's face, although the even angrier look Saya had given her mother during their standoff in the street earlier had been even more impressive.
But the overall appearance of Saya at this particular moment, shocked them even more as Saya glared angrily at her father, her face twisted in fury, tears running down her cheeks as her whole body shook with rage.
"Oh no, Saya-chan!" Yuriko thought to herself in frustration. "Not now!"
"It's been three days since the last time we saw each other, and now that I'm here, he won't even look at me!" Saya said under her breath, staring at the back of her father's head.
"Takagi-san?" Kouta said timidly, deeply afraid of incurring the girl's wrath towards him.
"Saya-chan, let's go!" Yuriko snapped, not wishing to go through another ordeal as she had with her daughter earlier that morning especially in front of the crowd of onlookers.
Saya however appeared to not have heard Kouta or her mother as she continued to glare angrily at her father as if believing her angry stare would somehow be felt by him.
"Saya-chan!" Yuriko hissed as she stepped towards Saya.
Overhearing his wife's warnings going unheeded by his daughter, Soichiro Takagi's angry scowl deepened as he diverted his attention away from the crowd and directed his next words towards his daughter.
"What are you waiting for child?! You heard your mother,..GO!" The man thundered as everyone around him flinched at the sound of his voice.
Everyone that is, except Saya, who stood her ground and continued to glare with unbridled rage at her father.
"Where were you, Papa?" Saya said in an accusing tone, much to everyone's shock.
"Saya,… CHAN!" Souichiro said warningly, his voice a low rumble. "Go with your mother, now. I will deal with you later."
"I waited for you and you never came." Saya said ignoring her father's words as Yuriko stared in shock at her daughter speaking to her father so disrespectfully in front of everyone.
"Saya-chan, stop it! What is wrong with you?" Yuriko hissed as Saya continued to ignore her mother's warnings.
"I prayed every day that you'd suddenly appear and take me home." Saya continued taking a few steps forward towards her father despite her mother's warning.
"But you never came." Saya said accusingly. "Instead a gaijin came and rescued me, father!"
"The same man these people are trying to kill, the same person you're holding as a prisoner,…. FATHER!" Saya spat angrily.
"Saya!" Yuriko shouted out loud as she reached for Saya's arm and then gasped in surprise as Saya slapped her mother's hand away.
"You never came, and now that I'm finally here, you won't even look at me!" Saya said, her words filled with venom as she clenched her fists.
"Saya, enough!" Yuriko shouted as Saya's father continued to stand completely still, not reacting to the bitter words being spat at him from his enraged daughter as a few low murmurs could be heard from the crowd.
"I'm right here and you won't even turn your head even a little bit." Saya continued, ignoring her mother as everyone could see the muscles in her father's neck and shoulder's tensing up.
"Why won't you look at me, father?!" Saya said, her voice seething with rage as she glared at the back of her father's head.
"ENOUGH!" Soichiro finally roared at his daughter in frustration. "Do as you are told Saya,… NOW!"
"WHY WON'T YOU LOOK AT ME, DAMN YOU!" Saya suddenly screamed as hot bitter tears ran down her face as she began to step forward.
"SAYA!" Yuriko shouted in horror as Kouta suddenly darted past her and grabbed Saya around the waist and lifted her off the ground throwing her over his shoulder kicking and screaming as he carried her away from her father's presence.
"Takagi-dono!" Kouta shouted, facing Yuriko as he tried to hold Saya still as she bucked and screamed obscenities at her father as she lay draped over his left shoulder. "Please hurry and lead the way! I'll take your daughter and follow you!"
"H-hai." Yuriko replied more than a little shocked and slightly impressed as well, at seeing the portly teenager's boldness in the way he was man-handling her daughter right in front of her.
"All of you come with me and NO more arguments!" Yuriko ordered, her nerves completely fried by everything that had happened that morning as she grabbed Takashi and Saeko by the arm and quickly led the teens away towards the house where Shizuka and Alice were already waiting for them, safely out of the line of fire.
"I HATE YOU!" Saya screamed as her enraged voice echoed over the grounds of Takagi Manor as she was carried off by Kouta who was still struggling to maintain his hold on her, and growing more frustrated at her violent wriggling as he struggled to keep up with the others.
"SAYA, WILL YOU SHUT UP!" Kouta suddenly roared in frustration, and without thinking, gave the unruly teenager a hard slap on her rump.
The shock of the sudden sting on her butt silenced the infuriated teen her for a brief moment before the realization of exactly who had struck her, then caused Saya to begin unleashing her rage on Kouta.
"JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON ME?!" Saya shrieked as she hammered away at Kouta's back. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME THIS WAY!"
"PUT ME DOWN YOU FAT APE!" Saya screamed enraged and then yelped as she felt another sharp smack on her butt.
"Ara, ara." Yuriko said laughing to herself despite everything, as she heard the sound of her daughter's rump being smacked and then Saya screaming in rage all over again behind her.
"I certainly never expected that boy to be the macho-type." Yuriko thought as she dragged Takashi and Saeko forward with Rei shaking her head in embarrassment behind her.
"Yoshioka-san,…" Soichiro Takagi said trying to keep his voice even as Saya's screams of rage echoed across the manor grounds.
"Hai, Takagi-dono." Yoshioka replied clearing his throat, in an obvious attempt at trying not to laugh at the departing teens.
"I need you to get these people to disperse and return to their shelters,…" Soichiro began. "Increase security around the evacuation area, I do not want a repeat of this incident again, understood?"
"Hai, dono." Yoshioka replied as he scanned over the many scowling faces watching them in the crowd.
"I also want tight security to be placed on the medical tent until the American can be moved to a more secure location." Soichiro added. "And from now on, no more unauthorized personnel inside the mansion, whatsoever. The safety of my family is paramount."
"Hai, Takagi-dono." Yoshioka replied, trying to hide the broad grin that threatened to appear on his face as the sound of a third smack on Saya's bottom echoed across the grounds, finally silencing her angry shouts as Yuriko and the teens neared the house.
"Bravo kid, but your ass is going to be in so much trouble when Saya-sama gets her hands on you later." Yoshioka thought to himself as his respect for the chubby teen went up a few notches.
"Although I don't blame him one bit for losing it with her. I can't begin to think of all the times I wanted to do that to Saya-sama myself." Yoshioka thought as well.
"What's that boy's name?" Soichiro asked suddenly, the scowl on his face lessening somewhat.
"I do not know, Takagi-dono." Yoshioka replied, suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. "Apparently he attends the same school as Saya-sama."
"I see." Soichiro replied as he watched the small group walking up the steps into the house, with his daughter still draped over the teenage boy's shoulder, her face beet-red from a mixture of both anger and embarrassment.
Yoshioka was also watching the teen carrying Saya up the stairs when he heard a sound he rarely ever heard in all the years he had served under the Takagi Household.
The sound of Soichiro Takagi actually chuckling to himself.
"I suppose I really should be grateful to that boy for stepping up and taking charge of the situation neh, Yoshioka-san?" Soichiro said as a smile momentarily escaped his lips. "Although I can't say that I necessarily approve him of him man-handling Saya-chan that way."
"Hai." Yoshioka replied, trying hard not to laugh at the sight of his boss's daughter being taken down a peg by the pudgy teen.
"As soon as the doctors are able to stabilize the American, Yoshioka-san," Soichiro said suddenly turning serious. "I want our prisoner moved to the most secure room we have in our house and placed under heavy guard around the clock."
"I'll be contacting the authorities that we have him in custody, and hopefully they can quickly send an armed escort to pick him up." Soichiro said with a sigh. "The sooner we can get him removed from here, the better chance we have that things will settle down with the refugees."
"Agreed." Yoshioka replied as Soichiro sensed that the Security Chief wished to say something more but seemed hesitant.
"Nanda?" Soichiro asked as Yoshioka sighed and then held up the leather case that Yuriko had passed to him as she went to herd the teens away.
"Yuriko-sama wanted me to give this to you, sir." Yoshioka said as he passed the leather case to Soichiro. I think you should take a look at this first before you call the General, dono."
"What is it?" Soichiro asked curiously as he reached for the leather case and opened it.
"Lady Takagi says that it's the American's identification, Takagi-dono." Yoshioka replied hesitantly.
"I was quite surprised at its contents myself, sir." Yoshiko said watching Soichiro's stunned reaction as he opened the leather case and his eyes suddenly went wide.
"MASAKA!" Soichiro Takagi said loudly as he stared in horror at the silver badge recessed within, next to the picture I.D. of the man now lying unconscious in the medical tent.
"Is this genuine?!" Soichiro asked in disbelief looking up at Yoshioka.
"It certainly appears to be, dono." Yoshioka said with a frown.
"However, it may very well just be a cleverly manufactured forgery, sir." Yoshikawa said as he looked into the eyes of his employer. "It is rather convincing though, at first glance."
"Perhaps,…." Soichiro said, composing himself as the shock wore off. "But just the same before we proceed any further, I'd like to get this man's true identity known as quickly as possible."
"Hai, so would I." Yoshioka replied.
"Handle it personally, Yoshioka-san." Soichiro said quietly. "Reveal your findings to know one but me, understood?"
"Understood, sir." Yoshioka replied as he turned and raised his hand motioning for one of his subordinates to come near, a man named Ogata, who was third in command of his Security Personnel.
"Hideto-san," Yoshioka said to the much younger man as Ogata smartly stepped forward. "Disperse this crowd and order them back to their shelters, and see that they stay there, no more unauthorized visits to the mansion, understood?"
"Hai, Yoshioka-san." The young supervisor replied.
"And then when that is done, I want you to station some men around the tent as Security for the medical staff until the American can be moved." Yoshioka added.
"Hai." Ogata acknowledged as he turned to leave, but was halted once again by the Security Chief.
"And Ogata-san,…." Yoshioka said as Ogata turned back around and Yoshioka looked the younger man in the eye. "I want the American handcuffed to his bed and placed under 24-hour armed guard at all times, understood, no one comes near him without my authorization, is that clear?"
"Crystal, Yoshioka-san." Ogata said as he bowed crisply and then began barking orders to the other men who began to loudly order the crowd back to their tents.
As the crowd began to disperse and head back to their tents, Soichiro glanced over at his Security Chief, knowing full well what was on his old childhood friend's mind.
"Doi-san was a good man," Soichiro said as they watched Ogata giving orders to the rest of the men to join up with him.
"Hai." Yoshioka agreed as he watched Ogata then ordering five of his men to follow him towards the medical tent.
"Where is he?" Soichiro asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
"We have him secured in the landscaper's shack for now, dono." Yoshioka replied, the sadness unmistakable in his voice.
"We had a hard time securing him once we removed him from the van, sir." Yoshioka added.
"Whatever this Contagion is, it seems to increase strength as well, so we were forced to place him in one of the animal cages, sir." Yoshioka replied apologetically as Soichiro turned his head towards him.
"Not at all what I wanted to do,…. sir." Yoshioka added.
"It's not your fault, Ken-san." Soichiro said to his childhood friend with a heavy sigh. "This is on my shoulders."
"Thank you for bringing my daughter back to me, old friend." Soichiro said with all sincerity before Yoshioka could respond. "I'm forever in your debt,….again."
"It was my pleasure sir, as well as my duty." Yoshioka replied.
As the small Security Force approached the medical tent led by Ogata, Soichiro Takagi and Yoshioka watched as Ogata then fished a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket as the four other heavily-armed men with him then stationed themselves at different areas outside the tent while Ogata and another man disappeared through the tent flap.
"Ogata seems to be quite capable." Soichiro remarked, having been impressed by the younger man's performance during the time Soichiro and his men had been in the city the last 12 hours gathering supplies as well as a few stragglers seeking refuge.
"He certainly handled things well while we were out in the city last night." Soichiro added.
"Hai," Yoshioka replied. "He came to us highly recommended from a mutual friend from the Merchant Salvage Yard near the dockyards."
"How do you feel about him, Ken-san?" Soichiro asked glancing down at the silver badge in the leather case in his hands again.
"He's earned my respect and my trust, dono." Yoshioka replied simply.
"Good, then I trust he can handle security matters while you focus on our "guest"?" Soichiro asked.
"Hai, Takagi-dono." Yoshioka replied.
"Very well, Ken-san, please proceed with your investigation." Soichiro said with a nod of his head.
"Hai, Takagi-dono." Yoshioka replied as he made a slight bow and then turned to head towards the medical tent.
"Yoshioka-san?" Soichiro said as Yoshioka turned his head.
Hai, Takagi-dono?" Yoshioka replied.
"With all haste, if you please." Soichiro said staring at the badge intensely.
"Hai." Yoshioka replied as he began to move more quickly towards the tent.
"This can't be,…" Soichiro mused after Yoshioka left as he once again peered more closely at the faded photo ID and the slightly beaten face of the badge.
"The actions of the man we saw in those videos Isoroku sent us were the actions and tactics of a trained and experienced combat soldier, not an American rescue worker." Soichiro thought to himself, still not convinced that the item he held in his hand was genuine.
"Even as gun crazy, and violent prone as Americans are,…" Soichiro thought as he closed the leather badge case closed. "There is no way that an ordinary American fireman could stalk and kill an enemy force like that."
"There is more to this man than meets the eye." Soichiro thought as he stared at the closed flap of the hospital tent.
"Unless Americans really have gone over the edge and their neighborhood firemen really are completely capable of doing exactly what this man did."
"Damn Americans," Soichiro grumbled to himself as he fished into his coat pocket for his satellite phone and pressed in a number and pushed a red button for the secure line.
"Honestly, do all of them truly think they're John Wayne?" Soichiro groused as the secure line was opened on the other end.
"Isoroku?" Soichiro said to the caller on the other end. "Hai, we got her my friend."
"Hai, all went well and Yuriko and her team were undetected." Soichiro added as his brother-in-law General Isoroku Ihara breathed a deep sigh of relief on the other end.
"Hai, we have all of them here." Soichiro replied to the General's inquiry of the status of the others accompanying "The Package" as Saya had been referred to.
"Hai, it was very risky. I can't thank you enough my friend for everything you have done." Soichiro replied to the General's offer of congratulations that the rescue had gone without a hitch.
And then the dreaded question that Soichiro had been awaiting to hear from his brother-in-law came, and he hesitated a moment before answering.
"Hai, he was badly wounded in the rescue and is currently being treated by our medical staff while in protective custody right now as we speak." Soichiro replied grimly.
"Demo,…" Soichiro said with a pause as he could almost feel his brother-in-law tensing up on the other end of the line.
"We may have a new problem."
Location: Inside the Medical Tent
"What is the status of your patient Serizawa-san?" Dr. Kyohei Yamane said after watching the school nurse who had returned to retrieve the little girl and her puppy, disappear behind the tent flap as he turned his attention away from the front of the tent and walked back towards his young protégé who was treating the unconscious American.
"I was just preparing to have the wound cleaned prior to suturing it closed, Yamane-sensei." The young surgeon Daisuke Serizawa said apologetically.
"Really?" Dr. Yamane asked his eyebrows rising in surprise. "I thought that you would have had his wound closed by now."
"Gomen nasai Sensei," Serizawa apologized slightly embarrassed. "The hair on the patient's scalp around the wound was being shaved prior to the tissue being cleaned of all foreign material when the shot went off, and we uhm,…..delayed proceeding any further, temporarily."
"Quite understandable, Daisuke -kun, what is his current condition?" The doctor asked with a chuckle.
"No visible signs of a depressed skull fracture, or damage to the ear itself either, Sensei." The much younger surgeon replied as a nurse tamped a cloth over his sweaty brow.
"Quite surprising given the conditions on which the patient received this wound neh, Daisuke-san?" Dr, Yamane said peering at the American's torn scalp and the exposed skull beneath.
"Hai, although without a CT scan or an MRI, there's no way to tell for certain if there's been any internal damage to his brain from intracranial hemorrhage." Serizawa said with frustration.
"Very different trying to work under these conditions ne, Daisuke-san?" Dr. Yamane said with a sympathetic smile.
"Deplorable, sir." Serizawa replied with a frown, unused to battlefield medicine as was any of the other staff other than Dr. Yamane.
"Do the best you can, my young friend." Dr. Yamane said with a sigh as he gazed over at a young nurse who was busily checking the American's blood pressure as she inflated the cuff attached to his arm.
"How are his vital signs, Emiko-chan?" Dr. Yamane asked the young woman.
"Bp is currently 90/60, Pulse 80, Respirations 16 and holding fath- I mean, Sensei." The young nurse replied as she deflated the cuff of her sphygmomanometer, embarrassed at her gaff.
"Very good." Dr. Yamane said nodding his head as he chuckled at his daughter's slip of the tongue.
"Daisuke-san," Dr. Yamane said as he glanced over at Dr. Serizawa smiling underneath his mask as Emiko Yamane shot her fiancée a nasty look. "Close the wound as quickly as you can and have a member of your staff maintain a keep open rate on his I.V. and monitor his vital signs while I speak with our hosts about arranging for him to be transported elsewhere."
"Transporting him elsewhere?" Dr. Serizawa asked as the rest of the medical staff standing around the American suddenly looked at Dr. Yamane puzzled.
"Sensei,…" Dr. Serizawa began, completely confused at his mentor's intentions. "All of our other medical facilities in Japan are currently being overrun with the Infected, not to mention that this man has severe head trauma and will require constant monitoring which makes transporting him anywhere extremely risky."
"I know that, Daisuke-kun." Dr. Yamane replied patiently. "And because of his current condition, I'll also need one of our staff to accompany him to continue to monitor his progress once he's moved."
"Yamane-sensei," Serizawa said again protesting his mentor's actions. "If my patient is moved, he might die."
"If he stays here my young friend, he'll be dead for certain." Dr. Yamane said with a sigh as he looked again at the confused faces of the young people staring at him.
"Everyone, I realize that for all of you moving this man in his current state and risking the chance of worsening his condition by doing so, goes against all practical medical ethics," Dr. Yamane began, his voice betraying the fatigue the veteran surgeon was feeling after the past three days of nightmarish horror with barely any sleep.
"But that is because not one of you has ever been trained to think or work under combat conditions until now." He added.
"As all of you know, the first rule of medicine is "Do No Harm." Dr. Yamane continued as if he were lecturing pre-med students in medical school again.
"And while although that saying usually applies more to avoiding the application of adverse or harmful medical treatment on a patient than anything else,…" Dr. Yamane added. "It can also apply to your patient's overall welfare."
"And in this particular case with this particular patient of questionable background, the danger here is not from what we are doing for him medically speaking,….." Dr Yamane said pausing for a moment to let his words sink in.
"No, the problem is that this patient is much too vulnerable to a violent attack from people standing merely a few feet away from his current location." Dr. Yamane said as everyone began to nod their heads in agreement.
"And based on that fact, keeping him here any longer than absolutely necessary will do him more harm,…. than good." Dr. Yamane concluded.
"But father, where can he be taken to where he will be safe?" Emiko Yamane said abruptly, once again forgetting to address her father properly by his title in the presence of the other staff members.
"I suspect that Takagi-dono will want him placed in a more secure area until reinforcements arrive, Emiko-chan." Yamane said aloud looking at the unconscious American.
"And that would probably be in the best interest of everyone here, and not just our gaijin friend." Yamane finished as he gazed over all of the other people in the tent around him as a young man carrying a pair of handcuffs suddenly emerged through the tent flap into the interior of the tent, followed by another man armed with an M-16.
"Then again, considering what's awaiting him,…." Dr. Yamane thought to himself. "Perhaps it would be better if the American did die after all."
"Serizawa–san,…." Dr. Yamane said as he stepped towards the approaching men and held his hand up as the Security force halted.
"Finish up here as quickly as you can, and I'll have a talk with these gentlemen and see if this man can be taken out of here quietly after we are sure it's safe for him to be moved." Dr. Yamane said as he quietly walked over to greet the guards as Emiko Yamane watched her father and then looked up at Serizawa with anxious eyes.
"Hai, sensei." Dr. Serizawa replied as he hunched back over the unconscious American and held out his hand to one of his assistants.
"Don't worry, Emiko." Dr. Serizawa said as he glanced into his fiancée's frightened eyes.
"Everything will be alright." Serizawa told her as Emiko glanced again over at her father and then began to check the patient's vital signs again.
"Scalpel." Dr. Serizawa said as his assistant smartly handed him a razor-sharp blade in the palm of his hand as he leaned closer to peer at the peeled back scalp and then began to remove some of the partially destroyed tissue.
Location: Outside of the Medical tent.
As the crowd of thoroughly humbled, yet still grumbling onlookers were escorted away from the hospital tent, a young teenage girl in their midst wearing the distinct uniform of a high school student walked towards the tent furthest away from the other group of tents erected hastily by the staff of Takagi Manor that were being used as by the other refugees and their families as temporary shelters.
And as she walked past the very last tent, the young teenager was met by another young girl wearing an identical school uniform and wide-rimmed spectacles who nodded to her as they both then walked into a small grove of trees near a large hedgerow set near the south wall of the sprawling estate and hid themselves from the view of any prying eyes as they stopped to wait under the cover of the foliage.
As the girls patiently waited, a very nervous looking teenage boy eventually appeared as well and cautiously approached them followed by two more boys of average build and appearance who also joined them.
And then after a few minutes of waiting, a teenage couple finally approached the small group as well, with the young male who much larger than all of the other boys scowling angrily at the rest of the group as everyone hung their heads.
"You idiots!" The young man hissed so as not to alert anyone. "How could you have screwed up so royally?!"
"Why didn't you idiots speak up like you were supposed to!" The young girl with the short hair standing next to him also hissed angrily.
"I barely heard you say anything at all with that little mousy voice of yours!" She snapped at the smaller girl with the glasses.
"And you clammed up as soon as everyone started shouting and skulked away, you little coward!" The larger boy said to the smaller, nervous looking teen. "Once everyone started getting worked up, you just ran away like a scared little rat!'
"I only left when I saw Komuro walking towards the crowd with that pistol in his hand!" The nervous-looking boy responded hesitantly. "I didn't want to get shot!"
"He shot in the air, you idiot!" The bigger teen retorted. "How did you expect to get hit if he was aiming straight up in the air, you worthless little shit?!"
"He's right! You're all useless! ALL OF YOU!" The teenage girl hissed angrily.
"Why are all of you so angry with each other?" The voice of an adult male interrupted suddenly as everyone stiffened as a shadow appeared from between the trees.
"Gomen nasai." The young girl who had arrived with the teenage boy replied. "We failed in our task."
"Oh?" The voice said in a very gentle tone. "What makes you say that?"
"They screwed everything up by not speaking up, that's why!" The older teenage girl replied as she glared at the other teens.
"We couldn't help it!" The young girl with short hair replied as she then turned away from the furious glare of the older teenage boy. "We said the things you told us to but,…"
"But you freaked out and clammed up, you good-for-nothing cowards!" The older teenage boy said.
"That's not true! We tried to get the crowd to rise up and attack the American, but,…." The younger girl with the glasses said apologetically.
"But what, child?" The voice said in an almost consoling tone.
"But when Komuro came fired his pistol in the air, no one wanted to attack anymore." The girl replied, tears falling from her face as she shrank back as the man approached her.
"There is no reason for you to be sad at all, little one." The man said as the girl timidly looked up into his eyes. "So please, do not cry anymore and dry your tears."
"After all," Shido said as he finally stood in front of the rest of the teens. "Things went much better than I expected."
"Eh?!" The teens said as one, each of them confused by the former teacher's remark.
"What do you mean, sensei?" The older teenage girl exclaimed as the rest of the teens looked up at Shido in confusion. "We failed to get the crowd to attack the American."
"Yuki-chan, Yuki-chan,…..you and everyone else have all misunderstood my intentions." Shido said chuckling to himself as he reached over and lovingly caressed her cheek.
"The point of having all of you shout out loud to everyone that the American was a threat was not so that the crowd would attack him,…" Shido began in his usual syrupy voice.
"That would have just been the icing on the cake." The man thought to himself as he licked his lips in delight at the thought of the American being ripped to pieces by the psychotic crowd.
"No my children, the point of having the crowd realize that the American was a threat was to show just how unsafe it is here with him in our midst and also to enforce in everyone's minds of just how reckless with everyone's lives the Takagi family is being for harboring him." The man said as an evil grin formed on his face.
"And in that endeavor,.." Shido said to the teens as he looked towards the mansion. "I would say that all of you did extremely well."
"Shido-sensei? Forgive us please,.." The teenage girl Yuki began slightly confused as were the rest of the teens. "But I'm afraid we don't quite understand your plan completely."
"Ah,…..well you see, it's really quite simple, Yuki-chan,.." Shido began with a chuckle.
"Because of your efforts everyone, the people here are now deeply suspicious of the Takagi House's concern over their welfare, especially now that they have seen with their own eyes that the Lady of the Takagi Household, instead of removing a possible threat to their lives from their midst, protected him instead."
"And as suspicion continues to grow that the Takagi's may not necessarily be concerned enough over the lives of those seeking protection here, those understandably frightened people will begin to seek someone else who will prove that he has their best interests at heart."
"And that is when we will reveal ourselves to those poor souls and open the way to a new world free from the old ways of the past." Shido explained.
"And you my children, will lead the way." Shido finished as everyone began to look up at him with great admiration, the wisdom of his plans beginning to sink in.
"No, my young disciples, my real plans are far grander than the well-deserved death of that gaijin and his friends." Shido said to his young admirers as he gazed enviously at the sprawling estate of Takagi Manor.
"Oh yes,…..Shido thought as an evil grin formed on his face.
"Much grander, indeed."
Author's Notes:
Yes, I know. You don't have to say it.
In the manga and the anime, Shido and his brood didn't arrive until a couple of days after the teens arrived at Takagi Manor first.
But what if Shido and his crew had arrived before the teens?
Thought it'd be interesting to find out.
The little scene where Yuriko finally scolds the teens like little kids was actually the last part that I wrote for this chapter.
I figured after all of the drama and frustration Yuriko Takagi has had to go through with the teens, I figured the poor woman deserved to let off some steam by giving the teens a good tongue-lashing for nearly giving her a heart attack all morning.
The scene was a nod to when I was growing up in my neighborhood as a kid and it seemed that almost every adult felt they had the perfect right to scold or even spank a child who was misbehaving even though the child wasn't even theirs, which was why I had Yuriko scold everyone and even smack Takashi in the back of the head.
Ah, the good old days when I would be yelled at and threatened by my neighbors before I'd be punished at home.
So glad things have changed since then for you younger folks.
And so I decided that Yuriko deserved a chance to get back at the teens for the hell they put her through all morning.
After all, what woman wouldn't go ballistic after the morning Yuriko had with the teenagers?
Sometimes coming up with names for some of the characters in my fanfic gets a little tough not being Japanese myself, and so sometimes I have to rely on characters from other Japanese programs and books on family names for reference.
Recently though, I was inspired to give the Chief Physician and his staff their names from a movie trailer I saw that was released recently on the net before the legal beagles had it taken off the web.
If anyone recognized the names of Dr. Yamane, his daughter Emiko Yamane, his protégé Dr. Serizawa, and Security Supervisor Hideto Ogata, then you've probably already figured out what my favorite kaiju movie is, Gojira.
By the way, I also loved "Pacific Rim", although watching "Jax Teller" (actor Charlie Hunnam) in the lead role was definitely different than what I'm used to seeing him in.
Personally, I think it would have been cooler if the producers would have let him wear his "SAMCROW Cut".
Anyway, if anyone missed seeing that video of the coming soon to theaters trailer of Godzilla 2014, I have to say, what I saw was awesome, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished feature especially after that disastrous remake back in the 90's.
No offense to actor Matthew Broderick, but seriously… Godzilla starring Ferris Bueller and a giant iguana? Yeesh.
For those of you who continue to follow my fanfic, as always I want to thank you for your continued support and your patience.
As many of you have noticed, I've been forced to slow down recently the number of chapters I've been posting lately.
Most of it is due to work related stress, as well as other issues I've had to deal with recently.
As a result, I've been unable to continue the pace I had before of averaging almost three or more chapters a month.
While my enthusiasm for writing hasn't waned, my ability to write and post the way I did before has been increasingly difficult, so it's taking me longer.
Please bear with me as I go along, I hope to finish this fanfic eventually, but it's definitely bigger and more time-consuming than I realized it would be when I first started in February 2013.
Anyway, thanks again for your support and your patience. The next chapter should be out sometime during the second week of November hopefully.
Thanks again. Jim