A/N 1: Slight change of point of view…I am going to have two characters than one.
Chapter 22: Writers' and Editors' Celebration (part 5)
Aki kept close to Ueno for the majority of the party when he remembered his rabbit. He parted from his lover to go over to peer at his rabbit and saw the rabbit was gone…his entire body numbed as he shrieked at the food servers, "Where is my rabbit?"
The food server's face did a show of colors from red to green to pale. She gulped and said, "Well…sir…the rabbit…is dead."
Aki blinked and said, "excuse me…Aki-chan is in the prime of health! Sure, he is four years old but…what you mean dead?" His heart raced as he gripped the table cloth.
The food server gulped again and said, "we fed the rabbit a whole carrot and…it began to choke…we tried the hymlick maneuver—"
"ON A RABBIT!" Aki shrieked and paled. He released the table cloth and shrieked, "where is my rabbit?"
Everyone slowly turned to the scene as Ueno rushed to a shivering Aki. Aki stared at the server as she gulped and pointed down.
Aki lowered to the ground as he lifted the table cloth. He screamed as Ueno stiffened and clenched his fists. They stared at a still white rabbit with enlarged eyes…Aki reached for his rabbit as he still felt the same warmth from Aki-chan's fur. He found the rabbit's neck was twisted in an odd angle. His scream ran out louder as everyone slowly came around the scene.
Aikawa raced forward as she slowly covered her mouth in horror. Her face paled instantly and said, "oh my…Usugia…I never—"
Tukugo pointed at her and said, "This is your entire fault! You planned this party, but no! You did not plan for our rabbit to come! You hired idiotic rabbit sitters, and you killed our inspiration! How can we go to Marukawa for publishing when the editors make these sort of mistakes? How dare you even suggest such a thing?"
Aikawa opened and closed her mouth. She stared at the dead white rabbit…she was in utter shock at how strangled he looked. Who would want to kill a white rabbit?
Aki was crying as he hugged the lifeless Aki-chan. He mumbled, "this might be a sign…this might be a sign…this might be a sign…"
Tukugo said, "This is a sign alright! I hope your company has good lawyers, Aikawa-san. We will see you in court." He held Aki up as they left a stunned crowd.
Aikawa was dragged out by Isaka-sama as he shoved her into an empty room. She just stood there rooted on the spot when he said, "did you kill the rabbit?"
She looked at him and said, "NO! I would never! I was near Akihiko the entire time!"
Isaka-sama snarled, "Just wait until the magazines hear about this! Marukawa's reputation shattered by a damn barnyard animal! A rabbit! I have been thrown down by a rabbit…no, you will not go to court for this. The food server killed the thing, so she will go."
"It was an accident! Besides…accidents happen." Aikawa said as she knew too well…the food server had a family. Furtla was a friend of hers from college, and they sometimes planned parties together. There had to be a reason for all of this.
Chryo stiffened and said, "I do not care either way. I do not want to ruin Marukawa for this incident. Prove to me that you deserve this job and clean up this mess. If you enter a courtroom, be prepared to never work in publishing again. Are we clear, Eri Aikawa?" His face was so cold…Aikawa shivered and nodded very quickly.
Aikawa watched Chryo walk away as she gasped and tried to breathe. She did not plan for this! Her plan was to get writers and editors to relax in a party situation…but a rabbit dies! Is that a sign for her career to end…for the worst to come? Aikawa slowly sank to the floor and groaned.
Furtla ran in and breathed, "Eri…I am so sorry! I will go to court! I never meant to…I just tried to help him breath by patting him, but my husband said to try pushing his ribs….like a human…dear god! How can I face my kids? I killed their favorite manga character!"
Aikawa quickly stood and held Furtla's shoulders. She said very clearly, "I will handle it. Do not worry…you have a new baby and three kids to worry about. Let me handle this." Her eyes dropped to Furtla's newly rounded belly…she could not let Tukugo take a pregnant woman to court. Aikawa would never allow it.
Furtla sighed and said, "Thanks…I find it still weird…I thought rabbits could chew whole carrots without a problem…"
Aikawa grimaced and said, "So…you gave a him a whole carrot, and Aki-chan choked on it? That…makes sense…"
Furtla looked at Aikawa and said, "One more thing…I was away from Aki-chan for a few minutes when he started choking…my husband and I tried to help him. Of course, we sort of killed him but….he did sort of acted weird before that…"
Aikawa looked at her as Furtla said, "my son said that Aki-chan had this weird pellet in the pen…but it was gone afterwards. Should that be something to be worried about?"
They parted as Aikawa said, "you said your son saw this pellet, right? Did he see who was near Aki-chan's pen during the sighting of the pellet?"
Furtla said, "I asked…he said that two men were there the entire time…admiring the rabbit…but my son does not people of the higher class. He had no idea who they were."
Aikawa racked her brain…who was there? Was the pellet something that could have killed Aki-chan? Was the carrot and the hymlick maneuver the reason? She sighed and said, "I need to go. Take it easy…I bet this is not your fault, okay. Go home and relax. Your husband and son can handle the rest. I will tell them."
Furtla nodded and rubbed her back. She said, "I am sorry…"
Aikawa patted her shoulder and said, "at least you tried to save him…than let him die choking. Talk to you later?"
Furtla nodded and said, "Please stop being a stranger! Come over some time."
Aikawa and Furtla hugged as Aikawa ran to the food servers as Hans and Kourl looked at her. Hans went to her and said, "Is my wife okay? I was the one who gave her the idea for that…I am so sorry…"
"Relax Hans, I will handle it. I am sending Furtla home, is that okay?"
Hans and Kourl nodded as Aikawa finished, "if the cops come, please call me. The party is still going…good. I will be back." She ran out and hoped Tukugo and Usugia were still in the building.
She went to the elevator and clicked the ground button. Aikawa sighed as the elevator brought her to the ground as her wish and worst nightmare came true…Tukugo and Usugia were still there, but they were surrounded by the media clicking pictures.
Aikawa raced into the crowd and yelled, "They just lost a family member! Move it!" She rammed through the media as Tukugo and Usugia quickly followed. The media chased them as Usugia covered Aki-chan's body with his coat as Tukugo raced after Aikawa.
She hailed a taxi and jumped in. Her hand held the door open as she said, "Get in! We need to talk!"
Aki and Ueno looked at each other. He held Aki-chan close as he jumped into the car. Ueno followed as Aikawa said her apartment as a destination. The taxi drove away as the media followed them.
Tukugo turned to the crowd and snarled, "I suppose they were just an added bonus!"
Aikawa slapped Tukugo and snarled, "My pregnant friend tried to save your bastard rabbit, so you spout out that you want to sue Marukawa! Thank you very much for ruining my friend's health, my job security, and the party! This will be in the papers, and I hope to god that we go to court for me slapping you! I never killed your fucking rabbit! My friend tried to save it from choking to death! Maybe if you listened to the facts…you might be surprised!" She groaned and turned away huffing angrily.
Aki looked from a shocked Ueno to a very angry Aikawa. He just held his pet rabbit as he sighed heavily. The taxi stopped as Ueno got out and helped Aki out. Aikawa got out of the other door as the men followed her to her apartment.
Aikawa snarled, "If you please, we will leave the rabbit at the door. I will not have a corpse on my table, thank you." She ran up the stairs to her second landing floor and unlocked the door. She almost snarled another warning when she heard, "BRRRRAAWWAAAAEWWWLLL."
She stiffened and listened to the continuous…purging. Someone was in her bathroom getting sick. Aikawa let Tukugo and Usugia in as she slowly said, "someone is in my bathroom…hopeful my boyfriend, but stay in the living room."
Usugia slowly left Aki-chan by the entrance's closet as they took off their shoes. Aikawa flung off her high heels as she went to the bathroom. The noises were awful…the person sounded like a wounded lion tossing all his meals out as she came to the bathroom. The smell hit her first as she looked at Conto leaning over the toilet.
Conto gasped and spat out his last bit of barf. He gulped hard and leaned on the toilet bowl as he flushed the toilet. His body shivered and slowly turned to Aikawa. He groaned, "Sorry I left…"
Aikawa sighed and said, "Jeez, look at you! You clothes are a mess, you are getting sick, and you did not tell me you left! What happened? Can you hold your liquor that well?"
Conto moaned and said, "Usually I can…" He groaned and leaned over the toilet as he hacked.
Aikawa quickly turned when she hear bile hit the toilet water. Conto groaned and purged more of his stomach contents.
She quickly went to the kitchen and grabbed a cup. Her hands fumbled to fill it with water as she turned to a stunned pair of men on her couch. Usugia could not take his eyes off of Aki-chan's body as Tukugo held his ears from Conto's purging.
Aikawa moaned and quickly gave Conto the water. She whispered, "sorry but I have guests…can you handle yourself for a while alone?"
Conto groaned and took a small sip. He groaned, "I was going to ask you to leave me be…I will be fine…" He burped and leaned forward again to puke some more.
Aikawa gulped back her own bile as she closed the door gently. She did not like seeing people get sick…she went back to the couple and sat down on the recliner beside Tukugo.
Tukugo and Aki said nothing when Aikawa said, "sorry for hitting you…it's just…this mess will not go away unless you help me, Tukugo-san."
Tukugo snarled, "You were the head of that party, correct?"
Aikawa moaned and said, "yes, but—"
"Then you are responsible for the death of our family member, I expect the court date—"
She stood and glared at him. Aikawa said, "I am sorry, but the rabbit just died because it was fed baby pieces! So what if it choked to death! I am sorry, but I refuse to go to court for this! Because I know Furtla will chase me, she will say it is her fault. But goddamn it! She is six months pregnant! How heartless can you get if you throw a pregnant woman in jail for killing a damn rabbit!"
Tukugo stood and snarled, "This damn rabbit was our inspiration for writing! This damn rabbit was our son! This damn rabbit was a money making manga that your company wanted! But no! You have to kill him when it is convenient for you!"
Aikawa yelled, "when did I want to kill the rabbit? When did I say that? Why would I have all the trouble to spend three of my paychecks for that damn party and bands for your damn rabbit's comfort! Besides I—"
"HIS NAME IS AKI-CHAN, GODDAMN IT!" Aki screamed and wailed.
Aikawa and Tukugo slowly sat down. Tukugo cooed and touched Aki, but Aki shoved him away. Usugia turned to Aikawa and sobbed, "did your friend try to save Aki-chan?"
She nodded as Tukugo said, "Do not worry, my love. Marukawa will pay—"
"Nothing." Usugia sobbed as he looked very strictly into his lover's face. He continued, "we have been writing about Aki-chan for so long…what a better way to end the book then his death?"
Aikawa sighed, "Please do not recreate the party in the manga…"
Usugia said, "I will not lie to our fans, but we could recreate the scene a bit…after the shock dies down…I need time to adapt not feeding him…holding him…watching hop around…." He sobbed again as Tukugo hugged him.
Tukugo said, "You do not want to sue…"
Usugia shook his head and said, "No…I want to join Marukawa. Not because of the party or the extensive research that Aikawa-san did for our son's comfort…I want to because…she helped us. She helped us to escape the media for now…we have to tell them soon, but for now…we can grieve in our own way before the fans know."
Tukugo turned to Aikawa and back to Usugia. He said, "Sweetheart…are you sure about this? Aki-chan…"
"It was an accident…like she said, we babied him from cutting food to bit sizes. Maybe the carrot excited him to eat too quickly…besides…accidents happen." Usugia said clearly even with tears falling down his face.
Aikawa said gently, "I am sorry Usugia…I never meant for this to happen…"
Usugia hugged Tukugo and said, "some people, like us, are nuts about their pets…we just babied him too much…please…do not blame yourself or your friend. I don't."
Tukugo sighed and said while embracing Usugia close, "I will not sue…"
Aikawa sighed in relief as she quickly went to her closet and grabbed a shoe box. Her return went directly to the rabbit as she gently placed Aki-chan into it. He fit perfectly as she bent down and said, "I would like to apologize for your early fall from grace, Aki-chan. You were loved by all, but no more than your parents. May you find peace in the other worlds beyond our comprehension…Amen."
Tukugo and Usugia repeated, "Amen."
A/N 2: Poor Aki-chan….he dies…well, what about the pellet? If the reader remember that before seeing this comment, good job XD If not….well, the answer will be revealed later…until then, ado.