Damn, I really have nothing interesting to say nowadays...and I'm too lazy to add anyone in my author's notes.
Takuya: What about me? You like me well enough to add me, right?
me: ......No.....
Takuya: You're evil!
me: Thank you for the compliment ^_^ Anyway, here is chapter 17. Hope you like it.
Red Rose
Chapter 17
"What?! Really?!" Director Kakuzawa asked, not believing what he had just been told.
Masaki smirked slightly. "Yes, not only did we find her, but from what I saw, she can use at least two of her vectors."
"Excellent," Kakuzawa replied, a wide grin on his face. "I knew that you two wouldn't disappoint me."
"Is this coming from the same man who accused us of lying?" Kanae asked dryly.
Kakuzawa glared at her. "Quiet, Number Fifty-One. Unless of course, you have anything else important that you'd like to add."
"Actually," she began. "I do. And I think you'll be very pleased. But I'll only tell you on one condition."
"Oh? And what would that be?" The director inquired, suspicious.
"I want my cell phone back," Kanae told him.
"Absolutely not," he said firmly.
Kanae shrugged. "Then I won't tell you."
Kakuzawa's lips thinned in anger and his eyes narrowed. "Fine, I'll give it to you. But only if you tell me."
"Well, Zoe was hanging out with some friends of hers," she explained. "And I began to talk to one of them....."
"And?" Kakuzawa asked, impatient.
"He gave me his phone number, and I gave him mine," Kanae prouldy announced.
Kakuzawa's eye twitched. "That's it? That's the exciting news? The fact that you got some guy's phone number?!"
"I don't think you understand," Masaki said in a low voice. "This will work out in our favor."
"How?" The director demanded.
Masaki sighed. "You really lack intelligence sometimes."
"Why you little-"
The male Diclonius cut him off, however. "If Kanae gets close to Zoe's friend, she may gain access to important information. Where they live, for one thing."
Kakuzawa looked down, considering. "Yes....This is exceptional news...."
"Now you get it, old man," Kanae quipped. "I swear, the Alzheimer's must be catching up to you. Now can I have my cell phone?"
"You can't have it," he began. "But if he calls you, I will allow you to speak with him."
"What if he wants to go out?" She asked. "Can I leave to go meet up with him?"
Kakuzawa shook his head. "No, not yet. You can speak to him over the phone and meet with him during the hours of the day I have specified. We'll see how things go between you and work from there."
Kanae sulked, glowering at him. "Fine....fucking bastard..."
"Well, now that you've given me all of the important information that I need, your work for the night is done." The director looked at Itami and Silverman, who were rushing into the room. "Lock these two back up, but retrieve me Number Fifty-One's cell phone. I will hang onto it, and if that boy calls for her, I will allow her to speak with them."
"What boy?" Professor Silverman asked.
Kakuzawa looked at Kanae. "What was the boy's name?"
"Kouichi," she replied. "And you better let me talk to him."
"I will," he said with an exasperated sigh.
"Anymore blood samples tonight, Director?" Masaki raised an eyebrow. "If so, make sure the person knows what they're doing."
The director scowled at him. "As a matter-of-fact, you will each be giving two blood samples."
"Oh, whoopty-doo," Kanae said sarcastically. "Great way to end the night is being jabbed with fucking needles that look like they've never been cleaned."
"Those are all new and sterile syringes," Kakuzawa angrily replied.
"Could've fooled me," the female Diclonius shot back.
Itami and Silverman cautiously wheeled the nearby gurneys foward, the strait-jackets and restraint masks hanging from a small hook on the sides of the contraptions.
"Lock them up, then take the samples," Kakuzawa growled at his employees.
The scientists nodded obediantly, making their way over to the Dicloniuses. Kakuzawa briskly walked out of the room, his face filled with satisfaction.
"This is going better than I thought," he mused. "I should have Zoe back in my clutches by the end of the week if those two do it right."
Miki suddenly jogged up to him, a mug of steaming coffee held tightly in her hands. "Director Kakuzawa? I brought you the coffee you requested."
The man took the mug from her and took one sip before grimacing. "This is too strong. Make a new pot."
"But, you requested it to be black," Miki told him, her face filled with nervousness.
Kakuzawa tossed the porcelein cup off to the side, letting it shatter against the floor. "Yes, but you still made it too strong. You must've used too much coffee grounds in it. Now clean up this mess and make me a fresh cup. And get it right this time."
He stormed away, leaving the young woman alone. Miki sighed and pulled a rag from her white lab-coat. She slowly mopped up the spilled beverage, wincing as it slightly burnt her hands. Normally she would've just waited for it to cool. However, she would only be scolded at and decided to save herself from the trouble.
"Ow!" She yanked her hand back up and saw a tiny bead of blood escape from where a shard of porcelein had pierced though her finger. "Dammit...."
Miki stuck her finger in her mouth, using her free hand to mop up the remaining coffee. She looked at the direction Kakuzawa had walked down and sighed.
"I'm never going to get out of here....."
Later that night
At about nine o'clock, Takuya finally walked through the door, his face grim. Tommy and Nana ambled in behind him, Tommy looking as though he had been crying.
"How was she?" Zoe asked, walking up to the trio.
Tommy wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. "The doctor told me that she had really bad head trauma and a few broken bones. Um, her arm, three ribs, and uh....."
"A fractured ankle," Takuya finished for him.
"I'm so sorry, Tommy." Zoe pulled him into an embrace, just as the twins walked in.
Judging by the dour looks on their friends' faces, they decided not to ask.
However, Takuya chose to tell them. "Tommy's mother is in really bad shape. She was sedated and passed out, so Tommy couldn't speak to her.
"Oh, shit....." Kouji dropped his gaze, uncomfortably scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that, kid."
Tommy merely nodded, continuing to wipe his damp face. Nana was clutching onto one of his hands, her own eyes puffy from crying. She hated seeing Tommy so sad and could easily feel his pain.
"I know that you probably aren't hungry, but we brought you some cookies, Tommy," Zoe told him. "And we bought Nana a birthday gift earlier today."
"Thanks," Tommy replied monotonely. "But I'm just gonna go to bed. I'll see you in the morning...but I don't think I'll be able to make it through the school day tomorrow...."
Takuya gave him a weak smile. "It's okay. I'll write you a note. And Nana, you can stay home as well. I have a feeling that Tommy's really going to need you."
The younger teenagers blushed slightly, but nodded in agreement. Tommy solemnly made his way to his bedroom, Nana following him inside.
"Uh, it's okay that she's in there with him, right?" Kouichi asked, glancing at Takuya.
Takuya shrugged. "What are they really going to do? I mean, Nana doesn't understand the concept of....well, you know...And I don't either of them are in the mood to try anything."
"Yeah, you perv," Kouji sneered to his brother.
Kouichi rolled his eyes, then smirked at Takuya. "Hey, I saw that girl again. And got her phone number."
"Kanae's?" Takuya asked, trying to remember if that was her name.
Kouichi nodded. "Yup. And she asked for mine first. Now I know that she's interested."
"Yeah, while he was getting that girl's number, Zoe and I were almost hit in the head with a fucking sign," Kouji grumbled.
Takuya's eyes widened. "What?"
"Don't worry, I stopped it," Zoe told him. "I don't think anyone saw anything suspicious...or at least, I'm hoping..."
"Well, it's a good thing that you guys are okay," Takuya replied. "I haven't eaten anything yet, so I'm gonna grab some pizza."
"You think I should bring any to Tommy and Nana?" Zoe asked, following him into the kitchen.
Takuya opened the fridge, pulling a slice out of one of the boxes. "Nah, if they're hungry, they'll come and get some."
Kouichi and Kouji joined them, then sat down at the table.
"So, Tommy's mother is really that bad, huh?" Kouji asked.
Takuya nodded, taking a bite out of the cold slice. "Yeah, she took a pretty rough beating."
"Did the doctor say if she'll be okay?" Zoe inquired.
"He's not sure at this point," the brunette replied.
Kouji sighed. "Well, if she pulls through this, hopefully she'll learn to listen to her kid over her fucking boyfriend."
Kouichi smacked his brother in the back of his head. "You don't say shit like that, you moron."
"No, he's right." Tommy walked into the kitchen and headed towards the fridge. "As much as I hate seeing her like that, if she had just listened to me...maybe none of this would've happened..."
He pulled out a jug of water and began to fill up two glasses.
"Do you want any pizza?" Takuya asked, gesturing to the boxes in the fridge.
Tommy shook his head. "No, thanks. Nana and I aren't really hungry."
Zoe then held up a teddy bear, the same one she had bought with Takuya earlier that day. "Um, we got this for Nana...for her birthday. You think maybe she'd like it right now?"
The boy looked at the stuffed animal, then nodded. "Yeah, I think she will. I'll bring it to her."
The blond handed it over to him, then watched as he slowly left the room. She then sank down into a chair and sighed.
"I wish we could do something to make him feel better...." Her voice trailed off and she dropped her gaze to the floor.
"There's really nothing we can do," Takuya told her. "The only thing we can hope is for his mother to make a recovery."
Kouji looked at Takuya and looked at him with a bit of concern. "If she does recover...you think she might try to take Tommy back?"
Takuya thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Don't know to be honest with you. She might try, and it's really up to Tommy to make the decision. If he wants to go back with her, then I won't stop him."
"But that may not be such a good idea," Kouichi pointed out. "What if history repeats itself?"
"Again, I don't know. Hopefully she learned her lesson and will listen to her son more in the future, like she should've done," the brunette muttered.
Kouji rolled his eyes. "I'll never understand why parents would choose their new spouse over their own kids."
"Sometimes it's not always the new spouse, though," Kouichi objected. "Sometimes the kids just refuse to accept them as a new step-parent and cause a ton of bullshit."
"Still, parents should take their kids' side, not some person that they just decided to marry," his brother shot back.
Kouichi's eyes narrowed. "But what if the kids won't accept anyone? What, do you expect their parents to stay lonely and miserable just to keep their kids happy? It doesn't work that way, you idiot."
"Who are you calling an idiot, you dumbass?!" Kouji glared at him.
"Would you two please stop it?" Zoe sighed again, a tired expression on her face. "Now is not a good time to be arguing about stuff like that. When the time comes, then you can. But in the meantime, drop the subject."
The twins threw one last annoyed glance at each other, then huffed. "Fine...."
"Well, I'm going to fucking bed." Takuya began to walk out the kitchen, then glanced back at the others. "See ya in the morning."
"I think I'll be heading to bed as well," Zoe said, rising from her seat.
Kouichi looked down at his phone. "Maybe I'll call Kanae...."
"Try not to scare her away," Kouji told him with a snort.
However, the older twin merely shrugged. "Dude, I'm not in the mood right now. Go and be your emo self in your room or something."
"Whatever," Kouji muttered, but stood nonetheless. "I'm going to friggen bed...and it's only nine o'clock...."
The four of them headed to their bedrooms, all of them closing the doors quietly.
Kouichi flopped down onto his bed with a tired groan, still debating on whether or not to call Kanae.
"I don't want to sound too desperate," he said to himself. "But she did imply that I could call, just not before six. And it's well after six...."
He stared at the phone for another few minutes, before he finally sat up and sighed.
"Fuck it, I'll call her." He called Kanae's phone number and waited for it to ring.
Meanwhile
Director Kakuzawa jumped at the sound of the cell phone going off, cursing under his breath.
"Hello?" He answered gruffly.
"Um, hi," a nervous boy's voice on the other end replied. "I uh...I was wondering if Kanae was there....?"
Kakuzawa grinned, noticing that the caller was Kouichi, the boy Kanae had told him about. "Yes, let me go get her. It should only take me a minute or so."
"Thank you, sir," Kouichi politely responded.
The director rushed down the corrider, his footsteps echoing off the walls. Once he had reached the end, he pushed open the door and walked into the next room. Kanae and Masaki were in their chambers, fully restrained by their equipment.
"Hold on, she's just getting out of the shower now," Kakuzawa said into the phone as he pushed to button to open Kanae's chamber.
"Okay," Kouichi replied.
Kakuzawa smirked at Kanae, using one hand to remove her helmet.
"Uh, what the fuck?" Kanae blinked rapidly, her eyes trying to adjust to the light. "Why'd you wake me?"
"You're friend, that Kouichi kid, is on the phone," he told her.
"Oh, thanks, Gramps." Kanae waited for him to put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
Kouichi cleared his throat. "Uh, hey....What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much," the girl responded happily. "You?"
Kakuzawa pressed the button to activate the speaker-phone, then pulled it away from Kanae's ear.
"I'm doing okay," Kouichi said. "So....was that your dad who answered?"
"Nah, that was my grandfather," Kanae replied. "He sounds too old to be my father, doesn't he?"
The elderly man glared at her but remained silent.
"Yeah, I guess." Kouichi hesitated for a moment, then finally mustered up the courage to ask her out. "So...I was wondering. Did you want to hang out tomorrow and grab lunch together? I'll pay."
"What time?" Kanae asked.
"Around noon I was thinking," he responded. "Unless that's a bad time for you."
Kanae looked at Kakuzawa, who nodded in approval. "Sounds good. Where do you wanna meet?"
"Um, I'm not sure yet. I'll call you at around ten tomorrow and let you know."
"Sounds great," Kanae told him. "Can't wait."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow... Uh, bye." Kouichi hung up, a flutter in his chest.
Kakuzawa pushed the 'End' button and smirked.
"Looks like this will benefit us," he said to Kanae. "See you in the morning...."
He left the room promptly, taking the cell phone with him.
The female Diclonius chuckled. "This is going to be so easy...."
Yeah, looks like Kouichi has a date with Kanae ^_^; Hehe...great.....
Kouichi: Yeah, I'm so excited!
me: Uh, yeah...I'm sure....
Kouichi: Um, why are you looking all suspicious?
me: I know nothing about what will happen! *runs away*
Kouichi: ....Okay....
me: Anyway, please review if you have the time :)