Chapter I

Memories always seem so vague in the cradle of white light that is sleep. And a very deep sleep too, for Keiichirou Akizuki, whose squinting eyes began to open, curling eyelashes fluttering like a butterfly from its cozy, silken cocoon. From one light to another, in an extensive blur ceiling lights greeted Akizuki's eyes, but the lights were bright and not so welcoming. He found himself in a white room, with strange white things suctioned on his skin, connected to an even stranger contraption that produced a green light travelling up and down in graceful V's, and letting out a steady beeping sound about every second. He yawned, breathing slowly, and felt his heart, beating right in tune with the machine. He closed his eyes again, resting a moment.

Wait a minute, he suddenly thought, with his hand on his heart he felt and saw not a single scar or indication he was ever harmed. He thought back to that dreadful winter day, where he was now... how could it be possible? He flung the sheets from his bed away from him, gasping in the discovery that he had two legs again. He rubbed his eyes, was he mad? He wiggled his toes, pinched himself... and winced at the pain. No, this was definitely real. But how?

A door opened, and he jerked his head to look that way, eyes narrowed. They couldn't still be coming for him, could they, in this strange new world?

But it was not a war general or soldier of any kind. It was a woman in white, a nurse.

"Settle down, there," she chuckled. "Finally awake, huh?"

"How long was I asleep?"

"We weren't able to figure that one out," she replied with a sigh. "But you've been here, in a coma, for about two weeks."

"Two weeks..." Akizuki repeated softly to himself, and sunk back down in the hospital bed.

She approached him, checking the monitor scans. "Hmm," was all that came from her mouth.

Akizuki also looked at the monitors, but didn't understand them or even know what they were.

"Okay, open wide," she said, a thermometer in hand.

"Why?" Akizuki frowned at the bizarre yellow stick.

"To take your temperature, silly," she replied. He cooperated, and she stuck it under his tongue. "Now leave it there for about a minute. In the mean time, I'll take your blood pressure."

She put a navy blue strap around the not-so-willing Akizuki's arm, and he watched carefully. She pressed a button on a white remote, and it started to squeeze. He gasped.

"It's tight! Get it off!" He said, but before he could rip it off the nurse stopped him.

"Calm down! It's harmless. Have you never gotten your blood pressure taken?"

She gave him a strange look, and took the thermometer from his mouth. "Hmm. 98. A little high. But with some more rest I'm sure you'll be fine."

Then she looked at the white remote. "Ahh, and a healthy blood pressure. You've recovered quite well for someone nearly frozen to death."

"What?"

"A couple found you and your friend half-dead in the snow two weeks ago. If they didn't find you, then there's no way you would've made it. When you came in, you were in just a robe. What were you thinking back then?"

Akizuki ignored the question. His friend...? It must have been--

"Kusaka!" he shot up. "Where is he?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Kusaka. My friend. Tall, blonde hair. Where is he?"

"Oh, I'm afraid he hasn't woken from his coma yet. I'm sure he'll come through—you were worse off than him, after all. Just get some rest. He will do fine." She nodded at him. "Anyway, I'll go tell the doctor you've woken," and with that, she exited.

Akizuki stared after her, bewildered. Kusaka. He had to find him.... but he was so tired, and the hospital bed was pretty comfortable...

Akizuki woke again, this time alone. He was always alone when he woke up it seemed, when he was kept up in that guest house. And alone he had to die... yet here he was, far from dead. He shook his head, too tired to contemplate this impossibility right now. But praise Buddha!

He remembered Kusaka. They were found together...? That must have meant Kusaka also killed himself. The thought of the one he loved, dying in misery over his dead body broke his heart. He shoot his head again. No... he was alive now, and that's all that mattered.

"Forgive me, Kusaka," he muttered bitterly, eyes closed. He opened them, and rose. His legs trembled, weak. But he was alone now. He walked toward the door, cold without the white blankets over him. But he had to get out, he wasted too much time here already. He had to find Kusaka.

He glanced around the white hallways, an infinite number of doors. He peered through the windows of each one, and if that wasn't good enough he opened them, searching for Kusaka.

He leaned into one, squinting through the tiny rectangular window when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Surprised, he whipped around---oh, just another nurse.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you trying to find your room?"

With wide eyes and a panicking heart, Akizuki took a step back... and ran, the nurse calling after him. He opened more doors at random, searching desperately to rescue Kusaka from this cold, white prison.

But only more nurses approached. Back up? All of them telling him to calm down, but how could he? He bumped against a wall, pressing a button with his back in the process. A "bing!" noise from behind him grabbed his attention, and metal doors opened to a small box. Without choice, he entered the strange contraption, doors closing behind him, hearing calls for him to wait. He pressed the first button, all of them with strange numbers. His heart raced. This made no sense. Was this just a dream? No, no... it was real. But what the hell was going on?
The steel doors opened again, and he rushed out. He saw an exit. Men in uniform tried to stop him, but he ran out. It was even colder outside, and all sorts of people were rushing this way and that. A large metal thing dashed across the street loudly, smoke coming out of it. Akizuki gasped. But no one around him seemed to notice, or care. He saw some people from the building he exited point at him. No, he couldn't be caught. He had no choice. Hurrying, he rushed away into the streets.

Was this even Tokyo? The Tokyo he knew—which had just been changed from its old name of Edo—was much calmer, brighter, friendlier than this. So much had changed. He couldn't take it.

Lost in a place so new to him, he ran on, without a clue or care—except for Kusaka. Poor Kusaka, still held captive! The knowledge that those men and women in white would pry and poke at him like some sort of creature sickened him.

Akizuki turned sharply into an alley way, where he could think. He leaned against the brick wall, fatigued. He felt sick, his forehead warm and feet numb from the cold. It was snowing lightly. The sky was grey. The buildings were so, so tall and everyone's faces so cold. Frustrated, he felt warm tears come to his eyes. But before they could escape from there, he heard foot steps. Akizuki looked up, seeing a young man in strange clothes, resembling more of the English's style than Japan's, approach. He stepped back, watching him carefully. The man chuckled.

"What's someone like you doing here in a hospital gown?" he laughed. "Are you crazy?"

I must be, Akizuki thought, but continued staring at him in silence, trembling.

"You must be cold. Well, I could change that," he smirked, and grabbed his wrist.

Akizuki jerked back, but it was futile. He was too weakened. The man shoved him against the wall. Kasuka. Kasuka.

"What, cat got your tongue?" the man grinned, and pressed a hand against Akizuki's trembling thigh. Akizuki felt sick to his stomach. He'd never find Kasuka.

The man tore the hospital gown from his body, running a hand down his chest. He began to unzip his pants, forcing himself on him.

But before he could, Akizuki felt a new found strength in him. He struck him, shoving the man away from him. His fist was clenched and his eyes aflame. "Get away, you scum," he growled.

"Ahhh so he can talk," the man wiped blood from his nose. "Now you're gonna get it!"

He aimed to punch him in the face, but Akizuki grabbed his arm and bent it backward, flipping him over. "I don't think so."

The man still chuckled. "Go ahead. Rob me if you want, a lowly Tokyo street gangster. But my friends will come, and they will slice your neck."

Akizuki winced, and stepped back. But the man got up, throwing himself on him. With all his strength, Akizuki shoved him away, hitting him hard in the stomach. The man hit the ground with a thud. Akizuki inspected him. He was unconscious. He looked down at his own hands. Violence. He hated violence, and thought of how Kasuka killed a man to save him. He shook his head sadly. He had been in the war too long.

He shuddered. He needed clothing... and luckily, had some at his feet. He stripped the man, only thankful that they fit somewhat decently, though the shoes were a bit small. Now he would blend in, and not die of cold.

He put on the belt, which had a strange black contraption on it. He examined it, and thought of England. It resembled the European's guns, only smaller. Yes, he decided, it must have been a weapon of destruction, of death. He tossed the gun down at the man's body. He wanted none of that.

In his pocket was a wallet. He found plastic cards, worthless to him, and some coins. Money. Alien to him, but they had Japanese characters which told him it was yen. There were also paper bills which said the same thing, but they had higher value. His stomach rumbled. Akizuki turned, walking out of the alley way and back into the busy streets, given no more odd looks. He decided to go with the flow, and more importantly find something to eat. But he had no idea how to get Kusaka, and dreaded going back to the white prison. He walked on.