Strange Circumstances
Unbelieving Revelations
Hospital #101
Echidna and Train decided to visit the hospital. It may have seen time-consuming, but on the other hand, it had several advantages for the two of them. This way, Train could zip-zap and teleport along with Echidna to any place he wished to go in a second, so he could go to Timbuktu and back in a second if he wanted, much less any hospital in the various cities in the country, whilst Echidna was curious to see how the girl Saya really looked like and who was she that had influenced Train so much and drove Creed mad.
Let's just say that Train and Echidna weren't having beginner's luck, second-time bigshot, third time's the charm, or even the-hundredth-time ending. They had now reached the hundredth-and-one hospital.
"This is pointless," Echidna muttered under her breath.
"But you were the one who came up with the idea."
"Correction, Train. I have nothing to do with Saya Minatsuki."
"Right." Train said no more, and there was a silence which he himself eventually broke.
"Did Creed tell you who could have found Saya?"
"He didn't mention," Echidna explained.
"There's this feeling I have – There's been reports of a lookalike at one of the hospitals, I heard, from a few of the criminals who had been under hospitalization and who are well aware of how she looks like, especially since she was the cause of their being imprisoned."
Echidna shook her head. "He did say, though, that he overheard reports from several criminals who had been hospitalized about her return."
Train was quiet. "Would any of these criminals happen to be Preta Ghoul?"
Echidna looked at him. "Wasn't he in the Apostles of the Stars? I don't know anything of his previous life before I joined the Apostles along with Creed. Why?"
"He has a grudge against Saya."
"He's one of the criminals?" Echidna asked, her face showing genuine surprise.
Train nodded. "Saya and I encountered him, and she brought him down that night. When I next saw him, it was on the island, and he was so obsessed with Saya he attacked Silphy just because he thought she looked like Saya. Eve had to masquerade in a yukata to bring him down."
"Well, we're in luck," Echidna smiled. "I'm sure we can find out where Preta Ghoul's hospitalized."
"How?"
"Rinslet."
A message from Echidna.
Rinslet was tired. You'd think that after finding her true love (or, the person who claimed to be her true love) in Jenos, she'd live happily ever after in her own la-di-da fairytale right?
Prizes to everyone who thought otherwise.
Not only had Jenos forced her to stay up all night, she had a major 'project' to do: finding information on several sweepers who had recently been terrorizing the streets. Hefty sums had been placed on them as an incentive/reward leading to their capture, alive/dead.
Therefore she was expecting, or rather, wishing, for there to be no one to interrupt her and stand on her doorstep, especially since Jenos was still around and she was dressed just in one of his shirts. He was still dozing of peacefully, half-naked except for the bedside covers, and she decided to take opportunity of his naptime by working herself to death. She could only pray that no noise would be loud enough to wake him. After all, he was a Chronos eraser, and thus, by the sheer intensity of his training, was a light sleeper.
Too bad not all wishes come true.
A knock was heard at the door. In a second, a peacefully sleeping Jenos sat up straight and alert, and reached the door in perhaps a nanosecond.
Rinslet sighed. No work could be done today now. Dragging her feet, she reached the doorstep. She would murder the person who stood there. And exaggeration, but Rinslet really thought if she were angry enough she was capable of murder.
Unlikely visitors?
"Hey Rinse, guess who we have here?" Jenos calmly called her from where she was dragging her feet to the living room at her apartment.
She didn't answer, but walked in. Two faces came in sight. Echidna and Train –
Echidna and Train?
"Jenos! I'm not decent!" And she ran back the way she came from.
"No, darling, you look super-sexy!"
From the privacy of her room, she allowed herself to blush a little.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Echidna looked from the nearly-naked Rinslet to the nearly-naked Jenos, and back again to the spot where the nearly-naked Rinslet had formerly occupied before she disappeared.
"I'm not even going to ask."
"Good," Jenos said airily. "It's none of your business."
What else?
"What's the reason you came anyway?" Rinslet asked both Train and Echidna. "I'd never have thought you guys became partners."
"We're not," Train said, at the same time Echidna said, "We are."
Rinslet raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"Well, we're partnering up to find out about Saya."
"Saya?" Rinslet asked. "Do you mean yukata-Saya?"
Train and Echidna nodded.
"How did you both get roped into this? And who on earth is Saya?" Jenos asked.
"A girl who Train knew," Echidna said. "Creed killed her."
"I knew a Saya once. She was always –"
Rinslet narrowed her eyes a Jenos, with a look saying, "Shut up!" and Jenos surprisingly did so.
"And why should I do this anyway? I have tons of work."
"Because I'm your friend? And because I'm Black Cat?"
Rinslet raised her eyebrows again.
"Aww, come on baby. I want to see how Train's Saya looks like."
Rinslet stared daggers at Jenos. Jenos gave a crooked smile and scratched the back of his head, "Er, just kidding, honey." He went off to the kitchen and got a tray of drinks and put them on the table, and began to finish them up himself.
"Fine," Rinslet sighed. "I'll check on her right now. It'll only take a minute – I think. Do you know her full name/real name?"
"Saya Minatsuki," Train said.
Jenos spit out the drink he was drinking. He looked incredulous. "Saya Minatsuki?"
Echidna started. "You know her?"
"No. Not really," Jenos was thoughtful. "I knew of her, of course."
"Why 'of course'?" Train asked. "And how do you know of her?"
"Saya was a neighbour of mine. I remember having dinners with her family and her. The family was really traditional, and Saya would be wearing a kimono or yukata or something. But I remember they were really nice. I never really spoke to Saya, though. She was always studying or doing some lessons or some other thing that my parents called was 'not a waste of time,' as they would call my activities (insert sheepish smile). But I do remember her smile," Jenos thought.
Train remembered that smile. He didn't think he'd ever forget it.
"Train?' Echidna asked him.
Train did not answer.
"Train? Are you thinking what I think you're thinking of?" Jenos smiled knowingly.
"Depends on what you're thinking of," Train said coolly.
"I can only find out about her life before the age of nineteen. How old was she when you met her?" Rinslet asked.
"She was about my age when we met. I think I was around twenty-one then."
"And he's twenty-three now. Two years ago."
"I met Sven shortly before that."
"One and a half years ago," Sven corrected.
"So, there's been no record of her life after the age of nineteen. Jenos?" Rinslet asked him. He shrugged.
"I never saw her again after her parents died. They were away from home, I believe. Saya was with her paternal grandmother. It was a fire, if I'm not mistaken."
"How old was she then?"
"Nine, I believe."
Echidna found this all very interesting. Saya Minatsuki was turning out to be connected to everyone in more ways than one.
Jenos sighed deeply. "Jeez (another deep sigh). Oh jeez, I can't believe Saya's dead. I mean, I wasn't close to her or anything, but she always seemed as if she'd never die young, even when she was just a little kid."
"She was never meant to die young," Train's voice – which seemed so serious, and such a contrast to his usual fooling-around self – surprised everyone.
Then, unaffected by the startled glances thrown at him (probably he didn't notice this), he began, "Saya may still well be alive. And if she is, I'm going to find her."
Rinslet knew what was coming. And we're supposed to help you, she sighed inwardly. As if she didn't have that information to steal already!
The Scary Mind of a Villain.
Preta Ghoul, hospitalized and scarred, was pleased.
The incident at the island had not only left him scarred and disfigured, he was also sapped of his strength. And after he had found out that the Apostles had been disbanded, he considered Creed to have betrayed him and all the other criminals, which – in his twisted mind – he actually believed were innocent.
At any rate, Preta Ghoul was enraged. He had not only failed to kill Saya Minatsuki, who had captured him, but still –
Wait a second – the girl on the island, that wasn't Saya!
Because, there, in the same hospital, was Saya! There was even the same yukata! It was blood-stain, to be sure, but –
It was definitely her. She was lifeless, in a coma, o be sure, but he could still recognize her. His lips curved into a twisted smile.
He would kill her, he believed.
But it didn't happen then. The nurses caught sight of his plan, and he was chloroformed, and knocked out unconscious. When he finally woke up, he realized, to his immense anger and frustration, that she'd been transferred to another hospital.
In anger, he tried to communicate with Creed, the only person he believed could help him, as he was the only person he knew of well enough to ask for help. Creed never answered him.
But no matter. Last week, he had several visitors – several low, petty criminals, each formerly of the Apostles of the Stars, who had given him hope. They had managed to cause a stir in the town, with several serious crimes (all thanks to their Tao power). And when he was healed, he would cause havoc, even worse than that caused by the Apostles.
And soon sweepers would be drawn towards them. They would defeat them all. And he would be able to do whatever he wanted, and perhaps he would find a lover, a woman to love him.
And maybe, just maybe, Saya – when she was healed – would go after him, and he could kill her.
Without mercy.
Author's Note:
The third chapter is up! I can't tell you guys how much your reviews meant to me! You guys really made my day! Thanks!
And I know I haven't put any Saya and Kyoko in the story, but at this moment the plot is complicating, and if I added any more, it would lose its punch! And I hope you guys don't mind I made Saya a relative of Jenos! Jenos is a black sheep of his family, so he isn't really close or talks much about his family in this story, as I believe this was implied from the anime. Besides, he could be after all, I mean, thy do look a little alike.
Anyway, today is the first day of Syawal, and is Hari Ray Aidilfitri. This is a Muslim celebration, which happens after a month of fasting during the month of Ramdhan, so to all my fellow Muslim friends out there, as well as to everyone else, have a happy Raya, and hope this story brightens up your day!
Shouting out to all you reviewers out there.
