A/N: Hoozah! Another chapter. I was getting stuck a little on how to continue but I thought of this at two in the morning the other day. Well, enjoy yourself, you crazy kids. And I do not own Pokemon. But it would be sooo cool if I did!
"I'm really worried about him, Haruka," Kasumi said over the phone to the Hoenn girl. The red headed girl looked tired, like she hadn't slept for days. The Cerulean City gym leader was obviously worried sick over her missing friend.
"I'm sure Satoshi is ok. I'm sure he probably left the city before anything happened. You know him," Haruka said, trying to comfort her friend. She wasn't to convincing since her own worries tinted her words. The brown haired girl also cared for Satoshi and would never want him hurt or worse. Kasumi's voice over the phone brought Haruka out of her thoughts.
"That's what everyone says! 'Oh, I'm sure he's fine,' or 'He probably left by then.' But how do you know! If he was fine, why hasn't he contacted us?" Haruka could hear Kasumi begin to sob. She was at a loss for words. The bandanna wearing brunette felt tears well up in her blue eyes. Despite a desperate attempt to keep the hope alive, the girl knew Kasumi was probably right. Their closest friend, Satoshi, was most likely dead.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything," Kasumi apologized when she noticed she had caused her friend to cry along with her. Haruka shook her head, wiping away the tears. Forgetting Kasumi couldn't tell she was shaking her head over the phone, she calmed herself before speaking again.
"No. It's fine. I have faith in Satoshi. I-" Haruka started to say when her father, Petalburg gym leader Senri, entered the room. He motioned her to get off the phone. "I'm sorry, Kasumi. My father wants me off the phone. I'll let you know if I hear anything."
"Same here," Kasumi agreed before the phone shut off with a click. The red head placed the phone next to her on the bed before laying back. She stared up at the ceiling feeling more tears come.
Satoshi groaned as he began to wake. He was exhausted; his whole body was sore. His eyelids were heavy as he attempted to open them, peering up at white.
"A white room? That's new," Satoshi said sarcastically as he sat up. He winced as pain shot through his chest. He suddenly found it difficult to breath. He clutched his chest and waited until the pain subsided. By the time it did, he was shaking. He ran his fingers through his black hair as he looked to see where he was. Since he wasn't laying on a table, he assumed he was no longer in Kurenai's work office. Most likely this was his room, but since everything in the damn place was white and bare, it was difficult to be certain.
He stood up, wobbily at first before regaining his balance, leaning against the wall. He rubbed his neck; it was the most sore of his entire body. He could feel where the needle had punctured his skin. Looked down his bare chest and arms, he looked to see if there were anymore marks on him. Thankfully, there wasn't, meaning that crazed woman probably hadn't done anything else to him.
"Knock Knock!" came a cheery voice from outside. Satoshi instantly knew it was Tamako; because he had remembered her voice and she was the only one he had met so far that actually seemed somewhat happy. The blond peeked in and smiled when she saw she was awake. She walked in with her hands behind her back. "Sorry for bugging you." Tamako apologized.
"No problem. It's not like I was doing anything," Satoshi responded, pointing to the empty room. Tamako giggled. She was a mystery to the boy.
"I guess you're right. Well, I came up to see if you were ok. And to apologize. For the other day. I'm sorry I overreacted," Tamako slightly smiled, embarrassed. She moved a blond lock away from her face. Satoshi tried to think of the right words to say, but his mind wasn't cooperating. He smiled back at her.
"No, really I understand. And see, I'm fine!" Satoshi said, flexing his arm to show he was ok. It hurt like crazy but he didn't let it how. He didn't want to make her worry. Tamako frowned. She walked over to him and poked him in the forehead, still keeping her other arm behind her back.
"I know you're lying," she scolded, poking him again. Satoshi blushed as he was caught. He chuckled slightly.
"Okay, I'm still a little sore. That's all," Satoshi promised to the woman. Tamako smiled when she got her answer.
"That's more like it. Oh! I almost forgot! I brought you something!" Tamako grinned as she pulled a light blue box from behind her back. She handed it to Satoshi, a goofy smile on her face. Satoshi opened the container and was greeted by a piece of chicken, a roll, and a cookie.
"I didn't know what you liked so I hope it's ok. You haven't eaten anything since you got here, so I figured you must be starving now." Satoshi hadn't noticed that he was hungry. He thought the pain in his stomach was just another pain. Caused by what had happened and whatever Kurenai put into him. Now that he smelt the aroma of the meat, however, he knew that he was definitely hungry. He pulled out the leg and took a giant bite. It was delicious. Satoshi sat down onto the floor to eat, Tamako doing the same.
"Thanks Tamako-san," Satoshi said between bites. He quickly finished the leg and moved on to the buttered roll. Tamako watched the boy shovel the food into his mouth, making the box empty in a matter of moments. When Satoshi had finished his meal, he placed the lid back on. With his forearm, he wiped the remaining crumbs away from around his mouth. He had been hungrier than he expected. He wondered when he ate last. He knew the last thing he ate before this was cake at the festival, but how much time had past since then.
"Tamako-san. How long have been here?" Satoshi asked. He doubted it was all that long, but to him, it felt like an eternity. An eternity since he had seen something other than white, since he had looked up at the sky, since he had played with Pikachu. Pikachu? He wondered if his Pokemon was ok. It was strong and fast so he was pretty sure it managed to escape. He hoped.
"Let's see. You first woke up two days after we brought you here. Then you fell asleep for about three days when you were brought to your room, plus a week after your meeting with Kurenai-sama. So that's 1, 2,3 - um 12 days if my math is right," Tamako said as she counted on her fingers. Satoshi's gut twisted, but he was pretty sure this one wasn't from hunger. It had been almost two weeks since he had seen the bloodshed in Tsubame, although the disaster had popped into his dreams every so often. He wondered if anyone knew that he was gone.
"Oh, by the way, your Pikachu is safe. Apparently, it had come to look for you, almost was killed by one of our Mightyena. It fled, but I know it's alive," Tamako spoke softly, reading his mind again. Satoshi felt a little better now that he knew his best friend was safe. He still found it weird that she could tell what he was thinking. At first he thought it might be psychic powers like Natsume, the Saffron gym leader, had, but he remembered that although she could levitate and control things, even shrink people, he knew she couldn't read minds.
"No, it isn't any psychic power. My ability was created through one of Kurenai-sama's experiments. I was scared at first, but it's not so bad. Plus I got my eyes." Tamako stared into space as she thought back on her time when she was first brought to the facilaty.
"What do you mean by eyes? Satoshi asked curiously.
"My eye color. Originally, they were a dark blue, but after Kurenai-sama's experiments, they gradually changed into how they are now. I don't know why though, maybe it's a side affect. I'm sure yours will change too. I wonder what color they'll be?" Tamako explained as she lean in to examined his dark brown eyes. Experiment? Was she talking about the injection Satoshi had gotten several days before? So he was going to read minds?
"No. Kurenai-sama doesn't usually do the same test over again when someone survives the procedure. Or at least that's what I've been told. I'm sure whatever your ability is, I know it'll be cool. Just like you." She grinned as Satoshi felt a blush creep onto his face. It was rare that anyone called him cool; his friends usually called him a dork.
Suddenly Tamako stopped, as her smiling face turned into a frightened expression. She nodded furiously, leaving Satoshi confused.
"Y-yes, of course," she said aloud. She turned her attention back to the curious boy. She gulp before she started speaking. "Kurenai-sama wants you to meet her downstairs right away!" she told him quickly.
"There's a downstairs here? But the other day, I only saw one staircase and it led back up her," Satoshi told the blond before being grabbed by the wrist. Tamako pulled him up and towards the door.
"C'mon. Kurenai-sama doesn't like waiting. I'll show you how to get there." Tamako hurried down the stairs, occasionally skipping a few at a time. Satoshi followed close behind her, not wanting to get lost. Tamako stopped at the bottom of the stairs when they reached it.
"Now where?" Satoshi asked looking around. Tamako placed her fingers in front of her mouth, telling him too be quiet. She raised her hand in front of her and made a circular motion in the air. Satoshi watched fascinated as the white floor split apart with a loud roar. Within a few moments, a stone staircase was visible leading down. Tamako lowered her arm and stepped out of the way so Satoshi could go down. Satoshi hesitated for a moment, since the darkness was not exactly assuring, but proceeded to walk down the stairs. A few steps in, he looked up at Tamako, who was standing still, watching him. "Aren't you coming?" He asked the frozen woman. She shook her head.
"I can't stand it down there. It's too scary down there for me. But just keep heading down. The first hall you come across, turn right and you'll find Kurenai-sama. I'm sorry," Tamako said scared as she raised her hand again. With a deafening roar, the floor began to close up. Satoshi hurried down a few more steps so he wouldn't lose his head. He looked up for one final glance at Tamako before the floor came together, plunging him into darkness.
Satoshi didn't move for a moment before turning his attention back to manuevering his way downstairs. Thankfully, there were small lights on the wall. They weren't very bright, but they did help a little. He wasn't too certain how much further he had to go, but he decided to pick up the pace since he did not want to be late again. He kept on going, picking up speed. Suddenly, he felt himself fall forward as his foot missed the next step. His shoulder collided with the steps as he tumbled down. He rolled down and a fast rate, while being bumped and jabbed by the corner of the steps. Luckily, he had gotten pretty close to the bottom before he had fallen and soon the boy felt his back slam into the concrete floor. He let a grunt as his whole body began to pulsate in pain. He breathed through clenched teeth as he laid on his back. When the pain dull a tad, he stood up rubbed his shoulder. It was badly scratched since his torso was bare. He made a mental note to not rush down a dark staircase as he started walking to meet Kurenai.
A/N: Tamako was originally just going to be one of Kurenai's assistants and only appear for a chapter, but I like her, hence the fact she's appearing so much. I put Kasumi and Haruka because...I don't know. And since I love Pikachu, I made sure to put it was okay. Whether it is or it ran and was eaten by a giant snake is up to you. It would mean a lot to me if you tell me what you think!