Chapter 10: When he tried to leave

The stump was beating from the pain when the sun was setting, which could be considered positive. It would be worse if Hiroki started to feel weaker, if the wound began to hurt too much and stings of pain spread through his body. Well, he thought, at least I can feel it's still there. Now his end was slowly nearing, he had to make the best out of it.

The people around the place did not stare at him anymore, which made him feel more comfortable. He never really liked being the center of attention, so it was a welcome change. And yet it made him kind of sad too – they acted as if he were already dead. He wanted to stand on top of one of those Krabs and shout he was still around, but he didn't. It would only get him into more trouble.

In the crowd, he noticed Milly. During the passed hours he had wanted to be alone, yet it now was time to go back to her and talk to her. Hiroki couldn't avoid her for the rest of his life. She looked beautiful, like always. He had to smile again. Damn, she's hot!

"Hi," was all he could say to her. He could've hit himself for this opening phrase. No, no, no! You're avoiding her all day, and you say 'hi!'? That's not accurate, Ishiyama! Add something, no matter what! "How are you doing?" Okay, that's just good.

"Feeling better now," Milly admitted, and her gaze went to his right arm, of which the stump was still in the pocket, Hiroki not wanting to show it to the world, "How are you?" Hiroki merely shrugged.

"At least I can feel it's still there. For the rest, I'm feeling fine. I'm…" He was being interrupted by the screeching Mantas. He frowned. Was it already feeding time? This early? Huh, he didn't need to eat twice a day – Hiroki wasn't hungry at this moment anyway. So, it was unnecessary for him.

Milly said a quick goodbye before she readied herself to go for the cans with food. Everyone readied themselves- everyone with the exception of Hiroki, who went to sit against a wall and watch how chaos would erupt once the food crates have fallen. But until that happened, he let his gaze go over the background he now knew by heart. Still no weak point, still no chance of escape. Hiroki only saw the high voltage cables glitch every once in a while.

He almost got hit by a piece of wood when the crates fell and they broke by their fall. Then, chaos erupted and everyone ran there like a horde of wild beasts. He couldn't see Milly from his position, so she should be fighting for food at the other side. This evening, the wrestling took 15 minutes. Not much if you knew it once took two hours. And all those time, Hiroki had not regretted his choice of staying away this time – he simply wasn't hungry.

One of the older prisoners didn't seem to realize Hiroki sat there because he wanted to. Without thinking too much of his friends, he tossed one of his three cans in his direction. Hiroki smiled – Miguel Navarro had a good heart, was one of Yumi's classmates and only knew Hiroki because he looks like Yumi.

Hiroki failed to catch the can with his useless left hand, and the can rolled away from him when it ultimately hit the ground. He didn't put an effort in trying to grab the can, even if he could use it just in case he got hungry that night. Besides, a few greedy prisoners already picked up the can. They showed no mercy, and had already grown in the beasts they were, trying to survive by stealing stuff from others, even if the can wasn't really Hiroki's.

The sun had set soon after, and the small amount of time that was given to them to eat their 'dinner' quickly was over. Everyone hurried inside, back to their own 'room', their own space. It was forbidden to leave your space during night time, so everybody passed the toilets once more before walking into their small space.

To his big surprise, Hiroki found Milly waiting in his small space. He raised an eyebrow. Her space was the forty-seventh to the right, not here. "Milly? Shouldn't you be in the forty-seventh space to the right, your own? You can't be serious!" However, she shook her head.

"You've got to be in a space, but they never said which one," she reasoned, "Besides, I wanted to make sure I'm here when you need me." Hiroki frowned.

"Huh?"

"To be honest, you don't really look good, and you're saying your…" she gulped, "If it isn't treated well, you'll die. And I bet you haven't eaten anything this evening." Hiroki's eyes widened.

"How'd you know that?"

"Because you always scream 'feeding time' before you run into the crowd." Milly took an unopened can out of her pocket, and was surprised when Hiroki shook his head. Then again, she wasn't surprised he did. "Hiroki, you must eat something."

"I must not!" Hiroki told her, "It's just that I'm not that hungry, that's all. Someone can feel like he's not hungry, can't he?" Milly looked as if he were suddenly a strange creature. "What?"

"You're ill…" she said with big eyes who looked intensely at Hiroki – it made him feel uneasy.

"No," he reacted, "I'm not sick, or ill, I'm fine! They might have cut of my hand, but for the rest I'm fine, thank you very much." He didn't want to sound angry, but for some weird reason he did. Milly put out her hand.

"Show me." It was clear what Milly wanted to see, and I it was possible, he hid his stump deeper in the pocket. He protested for a while, but after a small wrestling Milly succeeded in grabbing Hiroki's right arm so she could see the stump. Both were surprised by how bad it had grown. The wound was suppurating even worse, and Milly's grasp sent pain through his arm. Hiroki came close to a point in which he almost would puke by seeing his stump. Eventually, he could free his arm out of Milly's grasp.

"Let go! It's fine!" he sneered – it was going to be okay, Hiroki knew, and Milly didn't need to help him with it. Besides, he wanted to know something from her. Something he would've asked earlier, but forgot because of his situation. Well, he had to ask her someday, so why not now?

"Come on, Hiroki, I only want to–" she got interrupted by the Japanese.

"I know, thanks. But, er… do you have an answer yet? You know, about, er…" he didn't need to say more to make Milly blush. Hiroki put his hope out of that. Say yes, please say yes! She avoided him looking at her.

"I don't know yet. Just… just give me more time to think." Hiroki nodded in agreement, though a bit disappointed because of her reaction. But yeah, he made her feel nervous by giving her a difficult choice to make, and one she had never thought of before. So off course she would want more time. She was lucky he understood the situation.

"Okay," and Hiroki went to lay on his mattress, and express with his back to Milly, so she wouldn't feel watched. When he lay on the couch in a comfortable position, he realized how tired he was. It didn't matter – now he just wanted to rest and sleep. He didn't remember if his head hit the mattress when he fell asleep.

That night Hiroki woke up panting, out of a nightmare – one in which his older sister Yumi and her friend Ulrich were killed in front of his very eyes. He was already glad Milly wasn't present in the nightmare. That would've been really bad as well, maybe twice as bad if he'd seen her alongside Yumi (and Ulrich) in his nightmare.

Looking at the dark corridor (like mentioned previously, there were no doors) it had to be night. When he closed his eyes again, he couldn't fall asleep. Not because he was afraid the nightmare would return, but his brains started to work. He always thought to plan an escape with Milly, just like Herve, Sissi and Nicholas when they were still in Kadic. Hiroki made plans, but then Johnny and Tamiya were still around. He linked this thought to a picture he's seen just yesterday – the glitch in the cables around the prison. If he used these glitches for his own use against the person who placed it, it would be perfect! Just flee, and enjoy the life as long as it would last.

But when would they go? Are those glitches going to last, or are they already gone? How long would it take to get out of there? Hiroki came to a conclusion: now. They had to leave right now. If they waited longer, there could be a chance they would never be able to leave again. So, they had to leave now. He sat straight up, and noticed Milly was sleeping next to him. For a while, he wondered what she was doing there, but then recalled her staying with him this night. Well, it would make it a lot easier to go away, to break free from this prison.

Hiroki placed his hand on Milly's shoulder, and he shook her until she was awake. He didn't need to wait long before she opened her eyes, surprised. She looked up at Hiroki, who seemed to have some plan. Milly did not like that facial expression. When she wanted to say something, Hiroki put his finger on his lip – the universal sing for asking for silence. That's why she next looked at him quizzically, hoping to get an answer.

"We're leaving now," he announced proudly, and Milly was shocked by this sudden announcement. Leaving? But they hadn't made plans, had they? Hiroki kept packing the stuff he might need and just expected Milly to follow in his plan without further explanation. That was too confusing for her.

"What?" she said, and when Hiroki turned around, he was gloating.

"I found a glitch in the cables," he could not hide his enthusiasm from her, "I've found a glitch in the high voltage cables. Don't you understand? XANA glitched! We could leave this place." Milly raised an eyebrow – she had her deductions.

"Yes, that might have happened. But what's the plan? Are we just going to storm right out of the door? Do you know for sure you haven't imagined it? And how…" Hiroki turned to Milly, and his face now screamed seriousness. She kept wondering how he could be happy one minute, and sad the other one. He put up his stump and pointed at it.

"I'll die anyway," he reasoned, "because of this small accident. I want to spend my last days in freedom. That way, I'm dying but free." he had stuffed his pockets with whatever they might need, and he put out his hand for Milly, as an invitation to come along. After a time of hesitation, she took his hand and they walked out as silent as they could. Some of the other prisoners were awake, and they wished the duo good luck. They themselves were too afraid to join them, but they did encourage anyone who tried. Maybe one of them was capable of doing the same thing as Herve Pichon once did.

Once the two teenagers were outside, they breathed in relief. There were no patrols outside at night time, because nobody dared to attempt to flee at night. A soft cold breeze rushed over the fields and buildings those who were still standing) and the only source of light were the stars, the moon and the occasional glitch in the cables keeping the prisoners in. as silent as they could, they snuck to the wiring where Hiroki had spotted the malfunctioning.

"Okay, about my question…"

"I don't know yet, I've asked you for time!"

"Sorry, I'm being impatient."

It took them at least five minutes to reach the high voltage cables, and the sound it made signaled them it wasn't just decoration. Milly started to doubt about the plan again – if there even was one. Hiroki might've seen a glitch, Milly hadn't. Carefully he stretched out his arm to the cables, where the glitch was seen. If he was wrong, he was going to be electrocuted. If not, it always could happen to him. The tension could not be underestimated.

"Be careful," she peeped, and because of this, she pulled Hiroki out of his concentration.

"I am careful," he said, sounding irritated, and he reached out for the glitch once again. He touched this with one finger, and this went through the cables without much trouble. He squeezed another finger in the glitch, and by pulling the two away from each other while they didn't get out of it, the glitch spread as far as that. It went like this until the hole was big enough for two teenagers to crawl through. Hiroki smiled, and soon it expanded in a full-scaled laugh. He did it! They could leave! He would spend his last days in freedom. Together, because Milly would follow him until his end, away from Kadic, as free as a bird.

"Hiroki, you did it!"Milly cheered once she realized Hiroki wasn't damaged by this stunt and he really had found a way to get out of the prison. Out of happiness, he pulled Hiroki in a hug, and this time he responded immediately by hugging her back. They were standing there for one minute, before Hiroki put an end to the hug, to signal they should better leave now.

Milly noticed his face distorted, and she turned her head to the wiring when she saw the opening, that against all odds was closing again. Desperately, Hiroki tried to keep the glitch opened, but it couldn't be. The glitch has closed, and disappeared, and Hiroki shook his head. No! This can't be happening! This is… oh gosh, no! Their only chance of escape had just closed itself.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Milly wondered, and Hiroki shook his head. He hadn't counted on this to happen. We probably agree as I say Hiroki just wanted to leave as fast as possible and thus didn't mind the small details, like the glitch, therefore being completely unprepared. He just had seen a risky chance and he'd taken it. Yet this risky chance had its consequences, and it's time they will have to bear these consequences.

From the forest, that now stretched to the high voltage cables, came five Hornets, and it seemed their next target was the two bold yet stupid teenagers. Out of fear, the two of them ran back to the building. Yet, two Bloks came out of their building, and they were followed by none other than William, who carried his big and heavy sword while balancing it on his shoulder, hand on the handle, like it was nothing. They were soon surrounded by the seven monsters and couldn't go anywhere. Man, this was a situation Hiroki did not like.

William didn't look happy, but he did seem satisfied. He was satisfied because, now the two did something against the rules of XANA, he could punish them way harder than before, especially the Ishiyama-kid. And, with his new powerful ally, the Lyoko Warriors wouldn't stand a chance. Odd was taken already, and with a bit of luck, the other three would follow soon.

Yep, now Hiroki's in really deep shit... should've stayed inside, the stubborn kid... anyway, what's XANA gonna do to him now? Will they leave Milly unharmed for this second time? How about those glitches Hiroki found? You're gonna get your answer in some future chapter, but you'll have to wait for that particular chapter. In the meantime, you'll only have to wait one week before we can read how it's going with Ulrich and Yumi in Chapter ten: when he decided on the 13th of March! On with the reviews:

Darkangle (I'm doing my best!)

Duchesslover (So I've noticed, and thank you!)

Sorrowcrow (Well, thanks!)

Bluedog197 (I know, but what would you do when you're in his situation? He knew they were targeting him in the first place... And you guessed wrong on the mystery guest, who's very important for this story as it is continuing)

bobbycheeks31 (I know, I try to put in as much emotion as possible in this story and thanks!)

See ya next time!

-DutchWriters2