Part Six: Secret No Longer

Chapter Ten: In my room

It was a completely foreign experience for Kari Kamiya to feel this level of anger for this long. Yet here she sat, almost two days on from having been caught having sex with her brother and she was livid. After yesterday's disastrous attempt to whitewash over things at breakfast, her parents had kept her locked up inside her bedroom. Granted she'd not given them any incentive to let her out. At lunchtime on Saturday, they had brought her something to eat and her mother had tried to talk to her again. Kari had completely blanked her and not even taken her headphones off. It had been the same story at dinnertime. At bedtime, they had let her out to use the bathroom, which had been a good thing as she had started to feel nauseous again not long after eating dinner and hurled her stomach contents down the toilet.

Today had pretty much been a rinse and repeat of yesterday. She'd been allowed out to use the bathroom in the morning, invited to sit at the table for breakfast, which she had refused, then spent the rest of the day locked up in her room with her headphones on. Her anger had not dissipated one iota. She was worried too, of course. Worried about Tai. Having not seen hide nor hair of him since that brief glance the previous day, Kari had no idea if he had recovered from the blow their father had dealt him. But what could she do about it? Her mother had point-blank refused to let her see or answer questions about him.

The Wall Live (she'd played it four times since yesterday) came to a close and Kari opened her eyes. Picking up her music player, which she'd had to plug in to charge, from the nightstand, she flicked through her albums as she tried to decide what to play next. Her eyes lingered over Tubular Bells, the album that had set the course of her musical journey of discovery. It was also the first one she had played for Tai all those months ago. She sighed. Her boyfriend must still be in a lot of pain, she reasoned. Otherwise, he would have broken down his bedroom door, fended off their parents and come to her by now. Yes, Tai would have broken down any barrier in his way to get to her if he had been able to. It made Kari feel pathetic. On one of the rare occasions when her boyfriend needed her, she was powerless to do anything to help him. And after everything he had gone through for her in the past. From risking his life to find her medicine in the Digital World, to when he had jumped onto her balcony after she had accidentally kissed…

Kari's eyes shot up from her music player to the glass doors that led out onto her balcony. Why had she not thought about it before? Ripping off her headphones, she leapt from her bed and sprinted across the room. Wrenching open the door, she stepped out onto her balcony. She took in a welcome breath of fresh air through her nostrils, her eyes momentarily lingering on the late evening Odaiba skyline. Rain hit her face, but she did not care. She may technically still be within the confines of her bedroom, but this glorious feeling felt like freedom. She let the breath out slowly through her mouth, turned to the right and walked over to the ledge. A gap of only about four, maybe five feet separated her from her parent's bedroom… and Tai. While her brother was not actually in the room, he might as well have been. Once safely across, she would be able to sneak out into the hallway and across the short distance to her boyfriend's bedroom. Even if her parents noticed, they would have no time to stop her opening the door, then locking herself inside. What happened then… she would deal with later. For now…

Kari stared out across the divide that separated her balcony from that of her parents. She took a deep breath and felt goose pimples form on her skin. Now that she focused on it, the distance between the two rooms felt like a chasm. Hesitantly, she took a step backwards. She couldn't jump that… could she? Tai had managed it, but he was miles more athletic. Her knees began to tremble and she felt the urge to turn and head back into her room. Except the love she felt for Tai would not allow her to do so. If able, her boyfriend would have risked everything to come to her aid. So, if there was the slightest chance that she could make the jump, she needed to take it.

Cautiously, Kari stepped back towards the ledge. Placing her hands on its wet surface, she hoisted herself up onto it. A gust of wind blew in her direction, shaking her body and spraying her with icy raindrops. Don't look down… don't look down… she told herself, fixing her gaze on the edge of her parent's balcony. She hesitated. Come on, Kari, you can do this, she told herself, Tai needs you. Heart in her mouth, she took one last deep breath and jumped.

It was one of those moments that feels like an eternity but in reality, lasts only a heartbeat. Kari flew through the air and felt a shockwave shoot up her right leg as it impacted on the wet ledge on the other side. For a brief heartbeat, as her trailing leg still struggled to catch up, she felt a rush at having made the jump. Then her foot slipped. Sliding forward it lost all contact with the ledge and hurtled towards the balcony floor. Her trailing foot caught the outside wall, causing her groin to smash down onto its surface. The pain that shot through Kari's body was so severe that her eyes glazed over and she had no idea on which side of the ledge her body eventually fell.

##

It was getting late when Yuuko and her husband finally decided it was time for bed. The weekend was rapidly coming to a close, which presented them with a new problem. What to do come tomorrow morning? Susumu was supposed to have work and Kari school. They'd debated this problem all evening and eventually concluded that they had little choice in the matter. Her husband could not take time off from work and without a doctor's certificate, Kari would need to go to school. That would leave her alone with Tai, who would have to be kept locked inside his bedroom. For if she dared open the door to her son's room while her husband was out, he would almost certainly overpower her and make a b-line for Odaiba Middle School. It was a blessing that he had finished high school on Friday.

Yuuko let out a sigh as she made her way down the hallway towards her bedroom. Susumu had spent half the day on the telephone, trying to get the ball rolling on his long-term solution to the current problem. However, given that it had been Sunday, he had made little headway. She could only hope that he managed to make the arrangements soon, as keeping Tai locked up in his bedroom would probably become increasingly difficult. How long would it be before he decided to try and break the door down, she wondered? Should they have gone to the hardware store and bought some bolts to reinforce it? And how was she supposed to go out with her son locked inside his bedroom? She shook her head and tried to force the questions from her mind. These problems and any others she encountered were just going to have to be solved as and when they arose. She opened the door to her bedroom.

At first, Yuuko did not realise that anything was wrong. In fact, she had managed to take several steps before she caught sight of something bright orange lying on the ground beyond the balcony doors. What on earth was that she thought as her head tilted to try and get a better look at it through the blinds. It had been windy outside all day. Had one of her neighbours had some laundry hanging out to dry, but lost an orange garment to the wind? She drew closer and her eyes widened when she realised that the clump of orange was not a stray t-shirt or other article of clothing, but hair.

"KARI!" Yuuko screamed at the top of her voice as she sprinted to the balcony doors and frantically struggled to open them. All the colour drained from her face when she saw the pool of blood mixed with rainwater that lay beside her daughter's motionless head. It did not take a genius to figure out what had happened. Kari had obviously jumped across the balcony but slipped and hit her head. OH GOD! "SUSUMU!" she screamed, as she slid down onto her knees and rolled the girl over. Her daughter's skin was chalk white and felt ice cold to the touch; her clothing was also soaked. She must have been lying here for at least an hour.

For behind her, she heard the sound of her husband's feet hammering on the wooden floor. "Yuuko, what's happened?" he called out to her.

She turned and met his gaze, rainwater dripping from her bangs and tears streaming down her face. "HURRY AND CALL AN AMBULANCE!" she yelled. Cradling her daughters head, the icy grip of fear took over and she lost all ability to even check for a pulse. Instead, her mind was thrown back ten years ago to the sight of her five-year-old daughter's motionless body lying in a hospital bed. Pale skin amidst white sheets, with brown hair the only hint of colour. All she could do was let out a blood-curdling scream.

##

Locked inside his own bedroom, Tai Lay on his bed with his back propped up against the headboard. Earlier that day, he'd moved the small portable tv to the edge of his desk so that it faced the bed. He'd then plugged in the GameCube and put on Metroid Prime; already anticipating that he could be stuck here for the long haul. His abdomen still hurt, but nowhere near as bad as it had the previous day. After taking the strong painkiller his mom had offered him yesterday morning, he'd slept until late afternoon, waking to find some sandwiches left on his desk. He'd struggled to eat and then spent the remainder of the day lying on his bed, drifting in and out of consciousness under the influence of more painkillers.

Come today, he'd been awoken by both parents, escorted to and from the bathroom, given breakfast back in his room and then left alone; lunch and dinner had been delivered at the appropriate times. However, none of his requests to see Kari or attempts to try and talk some sense into either of them had been met with a shred of positivity. So, he'd spent the day resting and playing Metroid Prime. While the temptation to try and kick the door down had reared its head on numerous occasions, he'd decided against it… for now. The last thing he needed was to attempt it and fail. Only for his parents to do something to reinforce it. No, he'd wait until he was back to full strength before having a crack at it.

Tai was in the process of hunting down a missile expansion in Magmoor Caverns when he heard his mom scream Kari's name. Dropping the control pad onto the bed, he turned his head to listen. Not quite sure of what he had just heard. However, the second he heard her yell for his father, Tai was on his feet. "Dad, what's going on?" he yelled on hearing the hurried footsteps of his father in the hallway. He received no reply. "Dad!" he tried again, banging on the door to try and get his father's attention.

His ear pressed up against the woodwork, he could just make out his father asking his mom what was wrong. It sounded like they were in their bedroom. What on earth had happened? A moment later and the colour drained from his face when his mother yelled at his father to call an ambulance. When his father's hurried footsteps sounded once more, Tai battered on his door and yelled, "DAD, WHAT'S HAPPENED TO KARI!"

"Everything's fine, don't worry," his dad replied hastily, although even with the muffling effect of the door, Tai could tell that he was lying.

"Why does mom want you to call an ambulance then?" he fired back.

"It's just a precaution, everything's going to be fine. Now just you stay put."

Tai had no intention of doing that. Something serious had happened to Kari and he was not just going to return to his game and pretend that nothing had happened. Taking a step back, he sized up the door. His abdomen twinged in protest, like it knew what he was planning, but he chose to ignore it. Without wasting any more time, he gave the door a kick and quickly regretted it. "Son of a bitch!" he cursed under his breath as pain shot up his foot, which was encased in just a sock. He quickly shook it off and darted to the wardrobe. Almost wrenching the doors of their hinges, he began furiously tearing through the contents of his box of old shoes until he found a sturdy pair of trainers. Shoving his feet into them, he laced the up and returned to the door. Lashing out with his foot, he kicked the thing once, twice… "Come on…" kick, "you…" kick, "BASTARD!" KICK! The door burst open, the strip of wood that covered the lock on the outside having parted company with the wall.

For a split second, Tai sucked in a breath through gritted teeth, then turned to face his parents' room. He darted towards it; ignoring the yell of his father from the main living area. Heart thundering like a freight train, he burst across the threshold to see his mom out on the balcony, cradling a mass of bright orange hair. "KARI!" Tai yelled as he sprinted the short distance between the doors. "Mom, what happened?" he asked as he skidded down onto his knees.

His mother did not respond.

"MOM," Tai yelled, forcing her to look at him. Her eyes were glazed over and he could not tell if it was rain or tears that ran down her cheeks. She'd gone completely catatonic. "Shit," he cursed as he pulled Kari's limp body out of the woman's grasp; he could see the red streaks of blood in her soaking, matted hair. In one deft movement, he scoped his girlfriend up off the ground and stood up. Turning, he quickly took her inside and placed her down on the bed. "Kari, can you hear me?" he asked, his fingers moving to her neck to check for a pulse, "Kari?"

His girlfriend gave no indication that she could hear him, however, Tai let out a brief sigh of relief when he felt her faint heartbeat beneath his fingers; she was still alive. Putting his head near her mouth and nose confirmed that she was breathing. "It's going to be ok, Kari," he said in, his voice laced with mild notes of panic.

"Tai," he then heard his father say firmly from the doorway.

He turned to look at the man. "How long will the ambulance be?" he demanded, a harshness in his voice due to the events of the past few days.

"It's on its way," his father replied, "should be here in fifteen. How is she?"

"She's got a pulse and breathing, but I think she's unconscious. What happened?" The moment the question left Tai's lips, the answer had already started to form inside his head. Kari had been out on his parent's balcony, meaning she had made the jump from her own, probably to try and get to him, but somehow slipped and hit her head.

"Your mother found her on the balcony. She must have jumped across from her room to ours," his father said, reiterating the thought Tai had just had. "I don't know where she would have got an idea to try something as stupid as that."

A cold shiver ran down Tai's spine. He knew exactly where Kari had picked up an idea like that. He'd done the exact same thing in order to get to her on that fateful night when she had accidentally kissed him. A voice in the back of his head hissed at him that this was all his fault, but he managed to quash it for now. However, he knew that once the dust had settled, he would have to deal with it. "Kari," he said again, giving his girlfriend a small shake, "Kari…"

For the briefest of moments, her eyelids flickered open a crack. "Tai," she said in a voice that sounded like the ghost of a whispers echo.

Instinctively, he took hold of her ice-cold slender hands in his own. "Kari, you're going to be ok… I'm here for you."

"Are… you… ok?" she asked, just before her head slumped.

"Yes…" Tai whispered in response, tears welling up in his eyes. Even now, when in such a terrible state, Kari was more concerned for his wellbeing than her own. "I'm fine and you're going to be ok too, just stay with me."

Out of the corner of his eye, Tai could see that his father had brought his mother back in from the balcony and sat her down at the dressing table. It was not long afterwards that he heard a sharp knock at the apartment door. His father immediately sprang to his feet and rushed to let the paramedics in. Only when prompted by a kind woman, did he let go of Kari's hand and step away from her. There was nothing he could do but watch as his girlfriend was checked over, then put onto a stretcher and wheeled out of the room.

"I'm going with her," Tai then said firmly to his father.

To his surprise, he received no argument. However, he soon saw why. One of the paramedics had gone over to check on his mother, who had clearly gone into shock. He ignored them and followed the stretcher out of the apartment and down to the waiting ambulance. Kari was going to be ok, he kept telling himself… she just had to be…