IX: Tokyo, Crumbled?!
"How's the cut on your arm?" Sachiko asked as she and Yumi settled down in an abandoned house. "Nothing a little band-aid can't fix," Yumi replied nervously holding onto her right arm. "Here, let me take a look at it," the mercenary said as she approached Yumi. "It's okay, really…" Yumi said backing away from Sachiko. "Then you wouldn't mind if I do this now would you?" Sachiko said harshly as she snaked her hand out and grabbed onto Yumi's right arm, right on the wound and squeezed it a little.
"Gahh…" Yumi cried out in pain as Sachiko tighten her grip on her arm just a bit more. "You are not okay, don't you lie to me Yumi!" Sachiko spat out angrily letting go of the petite girl with a slight shove. "God, look at this!" Sachiko said looking down at her bloody hand. "Tell me Yumi, is this really just from the graze of the bullet?" she asked literally shoving her bloody hand in front of the other girl's face. The usual calm and collected Sachiko was gone, and in her place was a worried and angry Sachiko. "I am not lying to you when I told you that it's only from a graze of a bullet," Yumi said after a moment of mustering up her courage to face against an angry Sachiko, though in her mind she found this Sachiko to look very sexy too.
"Just because I can heal a little, doesn't mean I can heal myself." Yumi said in a steady tone as she pushed pass Sachiko and into the still functional kitchen sink. With great pain, she removed her jacket and long sleeve shirt and undone the bandages, fishing out a handkerchief from her pocket, Yumi dampen it before she cleaned up her wound again. Hissing a little, she gritted her teeth together as she gently wiped the blood stain way. Great, now both of my shirt and jacket are bloody too. I wish she understand how I feel, even though she's paid to protect me and all I couldn't help but… God, what am I thinking? I'm falling for a woman I just met last month. Shaking her head vigorously, Yumi tried ot clear her mind as she wrapped new bandages over her wound. Get a hold of yourself Yumi, there's something more important than your feelings for her. You need to find out why there are people constantly after you, why you can heal others, and… Her brain suddenly paused on her as she brows furrowed, what am I?!
"I-I'm sorry for being so rough on you earlier," Sachiko's apologetic voice interrupted Yumi's wandering mind. "It's okay," Yumi replied automatically as her brain was still scattered about. "Come here, let me help you wrap it up." Sachiko said softly as her sapphire eyes rested upon Yumi's delicate fingers. "T-thank you…" Yumi blushed as she sat down at the table. "I'm sorry for making it worse," Sachiko whispered as she slowly wrapped the bandages around Yumi's arm. "Don't worry, it's not your fault. Shimako-san had told me that she had given you a decent dosage of nanonite to help your body heal faster." Yumi paused when she saw the surprised look in Sachiko's eyes. "Why didn't she…" her question was cut short when Yumi placed her hand over Sachiko's lips.
"Unlike you, Sachiko-sama…" Yumi paused for a moment as they stared into each other's eyes. "My body reject nanonite, my father told me that when I was born, I was so frail and weak that he thought I would die if the doctor didn't inject me with some nanonite to sustain my health." Yumi paused yet again, remembering how her parents had died to protect her. "But I really did nearly died when they give me the nanonite, as a result of it I was able to heal others but myself. The bullet that grazed my arm, was an acid-base bullet that will eat the flesh until it is washed out with water and will take a long time to heal." Yumi explained and she swore she saw a flash of anger flashed through Sachiko's eyes just for a second there.
"This place looked like it had been through a war," Yumi said over dinner. "I say a few earthquakes would work just fine," Sachiko nodded, always enjoying whatever Yumi cooked up. "D-do you have any family Sachiko-sama?" Yumi asked shyly and it made Sachiko stopped eating her rice. "My family? I've been away so long, I don't even remember them anymore," Sachiko said in a cold voice as her face looked like a stone statue. "You didn't like them?" Yumi asked pushing her luck. "No, I love them," she paused for a moment and put her bowl down. "It's just I don't like what they do…" she trailed off, didn't want to go further into it and it seemed that Yumi understood her feelings about the subject and dropped it as well.
"Wow, Tokyo up here does look lively…" Yumi exclaimed as they pulled into the highway ramp after driving up from Old Tokyo since early morning. They had spent a few days down in the rubble of Old Tokyo, and Yumi had gotten to know a lot about Sachiko mostly of her background. "Not for long…" Sachiko murmured under her breathe so that Yumi couldn't hear her. They had been followed since they left Old Tokyo, she didn't do anything because she didn't want to put innocent people in harm's way.
Pulling the window down, Sachiko took a pen out from her pocket and pointed it at the tires of the cars behind her and pressed a tiny button. The laser beam emitted from the pen and hit its mark, right on the tires of those cars that had been following her. Following by those cars slowing down and one of them swerved and crashed into the ramp, Sachiko pulled her hand back in and rolled the window up quickly before anyone took noticed that it was her that caused the accident.
"Oh, I remember this place…" Yumi exclaimed looking out the window. They're coming up to the road familiar to her through her parents' holographic pictures, they had shown her the layout of the place many times throughout her life and not to mention she had been back to Neo Japan a couple of times before her life turned into hell like it is now. Sachiko remained quiet the whole time, slowing down as she pulled up to the driveway of a medium size two story home paint in a pale green shade and pulled blue curtains. It seemed quiet, unusually quiet, though neither had ever been there but it's just Sachiko's instinct that told her that something is out of place.
"We're here," Sachiko said flatly as she opened the door for Yumi. Yumi felt a knot in her stomach, because she's happy to be reunited with her brother but she's sad because now she won't be seeing Sachiko anymore. "Come on," Sachiko said taking Yumi's hand with her own. Their fingers laced together as they walked quietly up to the front door, Yumi blushed beet red at the warm feeling from her hand but said nothing and followed Sachiko. Sachiko reached for the doorknob, and turned it slowly the door let out a gentle clicking sound.