XVIII
Moment
Staring at the textbook, Mayu found it harder and harder to keep her attention and thoughts focused on the homework in front of her. Truth be told, it had been hard ever since she had come back from Mei's house. The lights had been out and nobody had seemed to be home, much to her disappointment.
Nobody had opened the door and after about an hour of waiting around, it seemed like no one was coming home anytime soon. She was feeling quite depressed, as she'd been looking forward to seeing Mei again. There was little that she could do except for finishing her homework and then trying again after dinner to see if she would have more luck.
"So Mayu, how did it go?" Nana, who was apparently in a good mood asked as she entered the room and took a seat next to her. She was anxious to know as well how it had gone for Mayu. "So is Mei-san feeling any better? What did she say? She did say something, right mayu?"
Mayu paused writing mid-sentence and put her pencil down. "I didn't get a chance to speak to her, Nana-san. Nobody opened the door when I rang. I get the feeling that something wasn't right there."
Concerned as well, Nana assured Mayu that she'd accompany her to Mei's house after dinner. A large part of the reason was to make sure that Mayu didn't get herself into any kind of trouble, but also because she was also interested in seeing how Mei was doing.
Grateful, Mayu simply turned and wrapped her arms around the other girl in a warm hug. "Nana-san, thank you so much. It really means a lot to me that you'd come with me tonight. Although... we should tell Kouta-san and Yuka-san first so they won't get worried."
Nana agreed, also suggesting that they bring a phone with them just in case. "Is there anything else we should bring for her? Like some kind of present to help her get better?"
"I don't know. Honestly, I wouldn't know what kind of present to get for her. Plus I think that the shops are closed for today but it's a good idea. We should go and see if we can find something for Mei-san this weekend."
Kyou could still feel her ears stinging after the one particularly hard slap Mako had administered. She let out a short whine of pain when she pressed a finger against her pounding ears. It wasn't all bad however, because at least she'd been able to enjoy witnessing Mako go all out against that idiot as well.
"O-Onee-chan…?" Ryou whispered timidly as she entered the bedroom holding another ice pack and some medicine. "I-I brought you these, I hope it will help you." She kneeled down next to her sister and then proceeded to carefully place the ice pack in an effort to ease the pain. She may not look it, but Mako sure did have one hell of a slap.
"Is that bug still in the house?" Kyou asked as she accepted the medicine. Right now, anything to help lower the pain by even a little would be a relief to her. Both her ears and, not to mention, her behind were thoroughly buried under a layer of ice.
"… He just left after oka-san got really angry. I don't think she wants to see him in the house for some time; you should go to oka-san and say that you're sorry for the damage. I-I'm sure she will understand."
Kyou stopped listening after that. She wasn't in the mood to apologize for anything, and didn't mind if their mother was upset with her at the moment. She fully believed that her actions were justified; nobody, and she really meant nobody, got to scare her little sister and just walk away from it.
"Nobody harms you, Ryou. I won't let anybody get away with that," she muttered under her breath just loud enough for her little sister to hear. "Nobody makes my little sister cry. I'll punish anybody who dares to even think about it, because Ryou, as long as I'm alive I will look after you."
Ryou stopped in her movements. "O-O-Onee-chan… w-w-why a-are y-you saying th-that… I-I-I-I… don't understand…" Her lips kept on moving but no other words would come out.
Kyou kept her gaze but softened her expression. "Nobody can look after you like I can; I'm your big sister after all, and so I need to look after my little sister right? That is what big sisters do."
"... B-B-But you can't go hurting people or attacking them. He didn't mean it, you know."
Kyou didn't say a word. No, that was exactly how he had meant it. If it had been her standing there instead of Ryou, she would have expected him to pull the trigger. "You're wrong, Ryou. That bug is a danger to us. He's never going to accept us; he's too blind to see past the horns and think of us as anything else but freaks. The bug can rot for all I care!"
"T-That is just horrible, y-you shouldn't say such a thing onee-chan! Weren't we going to try and become better people than those who abused us?"
While it was true that they did promise that to one another, some things were easier said than done, especially given how some people kept on treating them. Besides, even if she were to crush a few bugs, that still made her a far better person than the disgusting bugs back at the institute. At least she wasn't doing any sick experiments on others. "We will always be better people than those filthy bugs, always."
Having cleaned and put away the last of the dishes, Yuka finally found a moment to get a well-earned rest for the day. She had been doing enough chores as it was. The first thing she was going to do was to treat herself to a good bath, after which she wanted to read a book on the terrace outside.
Just a little quality time for herself, though she wouldn't mind having some company to talk to. Of course, Nozomi was away for the rest of the week so that was out of the question. Mayu and Nana had already left the house earlier to go check up on Mayu's sick friend, which she and Kouta had granted permission for them to do provided that they came back home in a reasonable amount of time. Last thing they wanted now was for the girls to be wandering about during the night.
Yuka brought her attention back to the task at hand; choosing which tea she'd like to have this time. Nozomi had brought her a set with some rather exotic flavors and she'd grown to like them quite a lot.
"Hmmm, which one should I pick?" she asked herself as she scanned the selection once more wile humming a lullaby to herself. "Maybe I should try this blend for a change."
"You seem to be in a good mood," Kouta remarked as he entered the kitchen carrying one more dish. "Any particular reason for it, or would you prefer to keep that to yourself? Well I guess it isn't so surprising given to how things are going."
He was definitely right about that; Saeko had been in a bright mood after coming back home and somehow her energy was affecting them all. It was nice to see her smiling like that after such a long time of not getting to see her true smile.
It took away the worries that had been plaguing them for a while, and made it seem like their efforts and troubles had been worth it. She finally was starting to enjoy more of her life.
"Say Yuka? Are you alright on your own or would you prefer for me to keep you company?"
Yuka smiled. "Thank you, it is really kind of you Kouta, but I'm alright. You don't need to stay for my sake. Why don't you go do something for yourself?"
Kouta laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "You're right. I could do that, but then again, keeping you company is also something for myself. Besides it's not like sitting in the garden and enjoying spring is so hard for me to do. Go on and set an extra seat for me too please, I'll join you shortly after I get some snacks."
The bath was going to have to wait for later and it didn't take long for Yuka to get herself ready on the terrace by this point. She hadn't expected him to stay but was glad that he would. Maybe they could even share a more intimate moment together if nobody disturbed them. That would be a pleasant way for her to spend the remainder of the day, though she guessed that fate probably wouldn't let her have her way. Whatever the case, she would enjoy what she could for now and appreciate anything extra that came along.
"Just don't take too long or somebody might just swipe your seat!" she teased him as he disappeared into the kitchen, though in reality she was over the moon about being able to spend more time with Kouta. Ever since the events at the lighthouse and the death of Nyu, it had been kind of hard for them to really sit down and talk about themselves and their future.
When the two girls arrived at the Mei's place, the interior of the house was as dark as ever. It did not leave much of a good impression on either of them.
"So, what do we do now?" Nana asked, not sure about what to do next.
"Well to be honest I really did think that someone would have come home by now... I'll see if I can reach Mei on her phone; perhaps she's just in a part of the house that we can't see," Mayu answered as she dialed the girl's number. Waiting with baited breath Nana watched as Mayu just kept listening, waiting for it to dial, waiting for an answer. After a couple of painfully silent minutes that seemed to last for an eternity Mayu hung up.
"No answer, not even a redirecting to voicemail. That's so strange… I wonder why she didn't pick up her phone this time. She always does." At this point the only option left was to leave a note in the mailbox.
"I think we should just go inside. You're right, this does seem pretty suspicious. What if Mei's injured and can't reach her phone? We'd be helping her!"
"No," Mayu interjected quickly. "Nana-san, we could get into serious trouble breaking into someone's home. We could get arrested if someone sees us. There are other ways to channel our concern other than entering Mei's house."
"What?! But we can't just leave like this! What if she's badly hurt?! I refuse to leave without knowing where she is and why she's not picking up!" Nana firmed her resolve, acting quite stubbornly and making up her mind that she'd go into the house with or without Mayu.
"Then I'm going with you. That's what best friends are for, right? To always have each other's back."
Nana nodded, grateful that she wouldn't have to do this alone though she'd been fully prepared to do so. "So what do you say we try the backyard first?"
She proceeded to lift Mayu off the ground and with one swoop of her vectors, covered the distance to the back in an instant. Mayu stumbled a little upon reaching the destination, just glad to have the ground back underneath her feet.
"I just can't get used to you using those. I think I may have forgotten my stomach back there."
There was strong urge to bend over right where she was standing and purge the contents of her stomach. She already hated being off the ground, and having received no warning about that jump didn't help with things. Worst part was, she was sure that there would be many more jumps to come the rest of the night.
"Mayu you look a little pale," Nana joked mischievously.
"I'm fine. But give me a heads up next time, will you?"
Of course now that they were in the backyard, it was time to be as discreet as possible.
Craning her neck up Yuka took a moment to appreciate the sky. Though it was still fairly light, she could just make out the twinkling of the first stars that were starting to appear. Coupled with the pleasant temperature and the rather tranquil setting of the garden, she felt fully relaxed.
She reached for the cup sitting in front of her, sure that the tea leaves had more than enough time to release their flavor. "Ah I forgot how nice something like this could be."
"It sure is starting to become a beautiful night," Kouta piped up, mirroring Yuka's position and also looking up. "How long has it been since we really looked at the stars? I can't even remember."
Yuka just shrugged her shoulders as she didn't answer that quickly, honestly she had no idea either but then had she and Kouta even done such a thing during their brief childhood. They certainly hadn't done it ever since Kouta had come back to Kamakura, she was certain of that.
Finally as she leaned back in her chair and gazed at the garden did she answer him.
"Does it really matter? I say we just live in the present."
"You're right," he agreed before raising up his cup. "To the future, then. Speaking of which, what are your plans? We definitely can't stay at the inn for the rest of our lives. I doubt the city council would let us do that, not that I'd want to either."
A silence fell upon the two. Yuka could understand why Kouta felt this way; they had talked about this before with her mother. In its current state, the inn just didn't bring in any money. The property remained vacant, though it was probably better for them this way or they'd have to leave even sooner.
"Whatever the case, we shouldn't drive ourselves crazy over the uncontrollable. The girls would get sad if they were to find out. I want them to enjoy their remaining time in this house. Hopefully both Mayu-chan and Saeko-chan can stay here until they graduate from school."
Kouta agreed full heartedly. "Yeah, it would be unfair to force them to switch up their whole lifestyle just as they are becoming comfortable in this one. I propose we talk about something lighter for the rest of the night. Something like our childhood perhaps… just to get our minds off of this as well"
Yuka set her cup down and walked over to the edge of the terrace, settling down next to him.
Arakawa rang the door, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently while she waited for somebody to open up. Slung underneath her arm was the briefcase containing all the references to the ajina device and the physical condition of the clone formerly known as Barbara; though from what she had last heard, the clone had taken a new name for herself. Frankly, she would have preferred to pass this to Mako at work instead of having to come to said person's home. "Why do I have to come here? Takebe-sensei knows that I don't like to get near those girls... I'm just not good with them anyway," she sighed and slumped her shoulders.
With baited breath Arakawa waited until finally the door opened. Upon seeing who it was, she was immediately reluctant to enter the abode. One of those dreaded Diclonius girls was staring at her and with that Arakawa felt her courage waver.
"G-Good evening, i-is your mother home? I'm a colleague of hers." The girl, one of a pair of twins if she was remembering correctly, was still looking intensely, not giving any indication that she'd heard the introduction.
"Y-You're K-Kyou-chan right?" A lump formed in the back of her throat as she waited for the girl's reaction. She hoped that she had said the right name. Perhaps she should have spent a little bit more time learning which one was which.
The girl's head tilted slightly before she finally spoke. "… I-I'm not onee-chan… I'm Ryou, but I'm not allowed to talk to strangers. Bye bye ojou-san." Without waiting for a response, she quickly closed the door leaving Arakawa standing there slack-jawed.
Her mind was still unable to comprehend the situation. This hadn't happened to her before but it having been done by a Diclonius no less made the experience all the more stranger for her, she scratched her head, still feeling confused.
Finally snapping out of it by reminding herself that she had important documents to hand over to Mako, and that she couldn't leave without making sure they were delivered safely. With that in mind, she rang the door again.
The door opened much faster this time, and the girl who Arakawa hoped was still the same one stood staring. "R-Ryou-chan right? I have some really important documents that your mother needs; it's really important that I give these to her. You know what that word means right? Important?"
This time the girl tilted her head in the opposite direction and squinted at her with a vastly different demeanor. "Oi, stupid oba-san! My name is Kyou and I don't talk to strangers! Now get lost!" The door slammed shut violently, almost hitting her in the face. Arakawa jumped back in order to avoid getting hit, what had just happened. Her tone had been totally different than before. There was a cold chill than ran down her spine at this chilling experience, oh that felt so hostile to her. Was that the other twin? She had no idea what was happening, and cold sweat was already forming on her face.
Nevertheless, a task was a task. She prepared herself for a third and last try, knowing full well that if things didn't go well this time she could very well be on the receiving end of another slammed door or even a vector for that matter. As her finger hovered over the bell, she let her fear of the Diclonius wash over her. She wondered briefly if they'd actually kill her if they grew too annoyed.
That lump that was still present only got bigger the longer her finger hesitated to push the bell, oh there were so many reasons for her to just turn around and walk away. She could always go and visit her at work even though Mako had mentioned that she preferred to have this delivered to her home instead.
"I have to be crazy to even do this," she told herself as she pressed it, now hoping that this was going to become a costly mistake for her. "I really don't like having to deal with Diclonius." She mentioned underneath her breath, hoping that if either of them was standing on the opposite of the door that they wouldn't hear her.
Still it was the truth, even when one of them had actually saved her life, she still didn't like them too much as she was wary around them. The fact that she was helping those who survived didn't change anything either. The only reason she was doing that was to atone for her own sins of helping create these abominations. Never had she been so regretful of participating in anything.
As the door slowly started to open she waited with baited breath. 'Anyone but those girls, anyone but those girls, anyone but those girls, anybody else would be fine please but not those girls.' she kept on repeating to herself as she watched with anxiety, holding her breath.
Frustrated, Nana moved away from the door and forced herself to stay calm. Every single door and window on the ground level was locked, leaving them no way to enter. She wondered if Mayu had more luck on her side of the house.
Moving to where she figured that Mayu would be she left the door for what it was, taking in the sight of the garden it came to her that she hadn't seen it before. Honestly unless Mei had actually invited them both in that night she would've never seen anything but just the front part of the house. The garden looked very nice and tidy, with rows so straight that she could only guess how much time was spent on this small plot of land. While it was indeed very beautiful, there was just something about it that felt unusual. Why did a rather normal looking garden make her feel so weird?
She sighed, this wasn't the time to waste thinking about something as trivial as that when they had something far more important to do, they needed to either find Mei or a way into the house. "I'm going to see if Mayu has been luckier? Or I could jump to the balcony on the second floor and see if I can find an open window there." If she did it now then she could tell Mayu that they had no chance of getting inside unless they wanted to smash a window though Mayu would certainly object to that if she were to hear it. It was possible that Mayu could have found an unlocked opening, but she had a strong feeling that smashing a window may end up being the only solution.
For the sake of both Mei and her parents, she vetoed the idea and vowed to find some other alternative. She doubted that they would be excited to find a broken window. Using vectors to propel herself upwards, Nana found that the upper balcony didn't offer any better options. There were only two windows and one door.
With the range of her vectors she could easily reach every window but if they wanted to go through those then Mayu would need to be lifted up again, not something she would likely enjoy or even appreciate.
Noticing that the door and windows were also locked she went further. "Well it can't hurt having a little peek I guess." Using her vectors Nana was able to reach the other windows.
Like all the ones before these were also locked, it seemed that there was just no way for them to get inside and Mayu would object to them breaking a window to get in, then again she didn't had to. There was last thing she could try; perhaps she could use her vectors to manipulate the lock on one of the doors. She'd never tried such a thing before, but now was as good a time as ever to attempt.
Mako entered the room while holding two cups filled with coffee. Arakawa definitely looked like she could use some. "Here, how are you doing?"
She knew about the woman's apprehension around Diclonius; it wasn't necessarily a hatred of them, but rather she had witnessed some pretty terrible things during the outbreak at the institution which was enough to scar her mind for a long time.
"I'm sorry if the girls scared you," she apologized to the younger woman.
Luckily for Arakawa it had been Mako who opened the third time. With the events that just transpired, Mako had totally forgotten that she was coming. Taking a sip from the coffee Arakawa finally started to feel a bit more at ease, she offered a silent prayer that both of the girls had gone somewhere else inside the house although she wasn't sure where exactly. Well as long as it wasn't next to her she didn't mind.
"This is some good coffee," Arakawa remarked after allowing herself to ease up a bit more. "Did you made it yourself?"
Mako just nodded, not wanting to disturb her co-worker with the information that it was actually Kyou who'd made her coffee. "Ehm, yes. I got a new machine recently, so I decided to test it. Do you like it?"
The young woman nodded her head as she looked up from the cup she was holding in both hands. "Yes, it's really delicious. So much better than that crap instant coffee I always use. You have got to give me your recipe or at least tell me where I can find that machine of yours!"
Mako shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She wouldn't reveal the truth today, but it really was imperative that the woman should start getting over her fear of Diclonius. If she wanted to keep helping with the tests then she'd need to interact with them eventually. Arakawa didn't seem to notice the pause and opened her briefcase.
"Here are the papers you asked for; it isn't everything that you asked for, but it's what I could prepare on such short notice. If you can wait a bit then I would be able to get the remaining documents and materials finished in a couple of days."
"That's fine; I still need to make the call to see when an appointment would suit Hashiratani-sensei the best anyway. Take your time and get as much material ready as you can. The more I have to show the better our chances of helping him find an answer."
Arakawa hesitated a bit. She could understand the drive behind Mako's efforts to find a safe way to remove the ajina device, but she personally still had her own reservations about it. "Do you still think it will be safe to remove that device? I have seen what its absence can do to a clone... she became murderous and even tried to kill me even when I had done nothing wrong to her!" That was a haunting experience that she would always keep with her.
"I know, I have thought about it often as well. Still, we can't be sure without trying. Saori-chan has had a lot more time to become accustomed to people, so our chances of success are much higher with her. Even so I get where you're coming from and trust me when I say that I'm worried about the repercussions as well."
It wasn't going to be an easy surgery to perform, Mako was fully aware of that. Plenty of risks existed with just the physical process itself, not to mention the harmful aftereffects of completely removing the device.
"You know that it won't be easy on her even with that thing gone, right?" Arakawa added as she placed the empty coffee cup in front of her. "She's going to needs some reconstructive surgery to fill up the hole in her forehead, and the damage to her brain is also never going to be fully restored; those parts are lost for good."
Just like Mako had, she had gone through all of the documented material so many times that she basically memorized every little gruesome detail. She wasn't fond of the Diclonius, but she certainly didn't wish for such a fate to be imposed on them. "Also, is there any more of this coffee? I could really use a second batch."
"I have some here for you ojou-san," a soft voice came from behind her. Without realizing it, Arakawa automatically turned around and reached for the cup, not noticing that it was coming from a Diclonius-
"You should be careful. It is still warm and you might burn your tongue."
-Until it was too late. She jumped out of the chair, spilling coffee all over the table to be witnessed by one of the twins, still holding the tray upon which the cup had rested until recently.
"D-D-D-D-D..." She couldn't get the words out of her mouth.
"Ojou-san? Are you alright?"
Mako reached over and kept a firm hold on her shoulder. "Please, don't be scared. Ryou isn't going to hurt you. I mean honestly, one would think that after all this time you would actually understand. Relax and have another cup of coffee. I'm going to go and get something to clean that up."
Not giving Arakawa a chance to object, she left for the back hoping that her living room would still be intact the time she returned. Back in the room, the frightened woman was trying her best to act natural, which was proving to be difficult as she was alone in the room with a Diclonius that was far too close to her for comfort.
"H-H-Hey th-th-there…" she ended up stuttering. "R-Ryou-chan right, that's a very lovely name…"
Nausea was overpowering her senses but she tried to calm down by telling herself that this girl wasn't going to harm her. Mako wouldn't lie to her.
Then Ryou took a step forward and asked slowly. "D-does ojou-san not like me or my sisters? Why is that? What have we done wrong to you personally, ojou-san? Why do you dislike our kind? Haven't my sisters and I been good girls this year?"
"Ah you're back? How did it go?" Saeko asked. She was just about to go upstairs when Mayu and Nana came back through the front door. "Did you get to talk to your friend, Mayu-chan?"
Though her tone was light, the question was completely serious. She was anxious as well, since it seemed like this friend had been missing for the past few days. It was really starting to bother Mayu, which in turn bothered her. Neither girl said a word, but their expression was more than enough. They hadn't managed to talk to her and sensing their unease Saeko guessed that likely they hadn't even met or seen her at all. She couldn't help but feel a little depressed about it as well, sharing their discomfort.
"Mayu-chan I'm really sorry, I wish I could help you," Saeko apologized.
Holding up her hand Mayu forced a smile. "It's alright Saeko-san, it's not your fault. There really isn't much that any of us could have done about this. I'm going to bed and you should do the same as well, it's getting late already and we still have school tomorrow."
With that Mayu and Nana left the hallway, leaving Saeko alone at the base of the stairs. Well there wasn't much left that she could do for now and Mayu was right; she had school to attend tomorrow and it was important that she got enough rest. Today had been fun but also exhausting enough so maybe she could help Mayu in some way tomorrow. Her thoughts now travelled to Saori, a large part of her wanting to share more joyous memories with her little sister.
Upon entering their room Saeko was surprised to see Saori just sitting there, gazing out one of the windows. "Saori-chan? Is there something you like out there?" she asked though it wouldn't come as a surprise if Saori was just gazing at the moon and stars, it was after all a bright night. "It must be very pretty isn't it?"
Not turning her head away, the little Diclonius just whispered. "Onee-sama, it is looking at me…" She pressed her finger against the glass and pointed in a certain direction. "I'm looking back to it, onee-sama. Do you want to see it too?"
Confused but interested what her little sister was talking about, Saeko moved in closer and sat down in front of the window as well, watching through the glass and adjusting her eyes to the darkness. However, she couldn't see a single person.
"I don't see anybody, Saori-chan, where is this person you're talking about?"
Said girl only pointed higher. "It is over there. Can't you feel it, onee-sama?"
No matter how hard she tried, Saeko couldn't see anything, least of all in the direction she thought that Saori was pointing, beyond the outskirts of the city there was nothing to see.
"I'm sorry dear but I just can't see it," she sighed with concern lacing her voice. "You should get to bed. You need the rest. Now you should get into your futon." Saeko ushered to her little sister.
Mako handed Arakawa a new cup with a fresh batch of coffee containing a few drops of some medicine to help her calm down. "Here, drink this. You are a nervous wreck right now, you know?"
The other woman took the drink gratefully. "I-I'm sorry but I-I'm just not used to getting that close to a Diclonius. I know your daughter isn't going to hurt me, but when she is standing that close I do not feel any better. Sorry if my actions insulted her, but it's just… well you know…"
Mako could fully sympathize with both sides here. Ryou seemed to have been genuinely upset by the way Arakawa had reacted to her, though it was to be expected that there would always be people out there who were scared of Diclonius no matter how well they behaved themselves.
"You should be the one to tell her that; I'm sure she'd much rather hear it from you. Though I will explain it to her tonight anyways." Mako remarked before she sighed as she understood that this wasn't an easy task for Arakawa. Too much had happened back then and she had witnessed too many horrors that day.
Mako could feel a headache coming on. It was a real shame that Arakawa had such a strong aversion to these girls. It would definitely hinder her research at some point in the future, even if she did claim right now that her current arrangement was fine.
Still Arakawa had mentioned herself on more than once that she was actually fine with what she was doing right now, she didn't have to interact with the girls or come near them for that matter while still being able to conduct research.
"Well thanks anyway for having gone through the trouble of getting as much information compiled as you could," she mentioned while she went through all the material on the desk. Arakawa had actually gone above her expectations. "I'm impressed by your work. This is far more than I expected, thank you so much for your effort."
Arakawa beamed with pride at the compliment. "Thank you sensei! I'm glad to hear that. Again, if you give me a few more days then I think I can get a bit more information, though I'm not certain."
"You already brought me more than I could have hoped for, but if you think more information can help her then be my guest. Oh, and you don't need to keep calling me sensei; it makes me feel so old."
Arakawa wasn't sure if the woman was teasing or not. Mako was an accomplished doctor after all, and certainly deserved the honorific.
"I'm serious, Arakawa. We know each other well enough that there is no need for such formalities." It was as if Mako had read her mind. "Besides, I'm only a pediatrician. It's not like I'm some kind of professor."
"Still," Arakawa objected. "You have a job that offers you a lot of prestige. You know yourself that there are less and less doctors who specialize in your field. As a pediatrician, and a good one at that, you don't have to worry about losing your job unlike some other people out there."
There was a short pause.
"Tell me, is somebody giving you a hard time? If there are problems then you know that you can give me a call, right?"
Arakawa shook her head immediately. "No, not at the moment. I'm still good at the school, but I would like to achieve more in my life. My career has kind of been in a dump after those government boys took me in. I have your husband to thank for getting me out of there." Smiling, she got up from her seat and thanked Mako for the coffee and the company. "It is starting to get pretty late; I will be taking my leave. Please give my regards to the rest of your family and my apologies to your daughters, I didn't mean to be so rude… well you know..."
A quick glance at the clocked stunned Mako. She had totally lost track of the time and didn't realize it was almost midnight by now. "Is it really this late? I'm so sorry for having kept you up this late! Sorry about that!"
"That is alright. Like I said, I had a good time not having to spend the night by myself. Please take care and have a safe journey should we not meet each other before then."
"Yes of course, though I should be dropping in to say my goodbyes later. Take good care of yourself as well; don't hesitate to call me should you find anything new. I'm always reachable on my cell."
When the door finally closed and Arakawa was on her way to her car, she wondered if it was the right thing to do to not tell Mako about what she'd discovered in the cells belonging to the one called Saeko. That discovery was her ticket to major recognition, and telling Mako may ruin that forever.
Looking at the locker, Mayu let out a painful sigh. It had been a full week now since she had last seen Mei. Ever since she had come back from Mei's house it remained as solemn as it had been the first time. Nobody had heard or seen from her again, not even her classmates or the other members of their club. Even the teachers were clueless, it seemed. She had tried to talk to Mei's counselor, but that hadn't brought her any new information, for whatever reason it was she seemed to have disappeared. It was just so frustrating to be in the dark, but there was absolutely nothing more she could do.
Already she was having doubts about the worth of visiting the house after school. She wanted to save herself from the disappointment of waiting for a closed door.
"What should I do?" She leaned back against one of the pillars as she asked herself that question, it was just a difficult decision for her to make. "I just want to hear something from you, Mei-san. I just want to know if you're alright. Please give me a sign… anything."
A loud buzz alerted her to the start of the first class. She knew she needed to hurry, because the last thing she needed now was to get herself in trouble with her teachers. Leaving the locker room she made her way to the hallway, her schoolbag in her hand she walked towards her classroom.
"I'm going to discuss this with Saeko-san. I would like to hear what she has to say. Maybe she can even accompany me if I go?"
"Morning Isuzu," she was brought back to the present moment by Aki's greeting. From the look on his face it seemed that he hadn't heard anything either. "How are you holding up?"
"Morning, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. And how are you feeling?"
He shook his head. "Kind of alright, though not knowing what is going with Suzaki is driving me nuts; it just isn't like her to stay away from school without telling anybody. You know what I mean, right?"
Mayu knew what he meant with that but she couldn't just say what had happened, she no longer had any ideas on how to find her. "I totally agree. Mei-san wouldn't be absent without letting us know."
"Well I need to get going; I don't want to be late for class. I'll see you later at the club meeting, Isuzu. We can talk there!" With that he left and Mayu had to go to class on her own, her thoughts still wondering if there wasn't something else she could do.
Leaning against the side of the car, he could still feel his leg sting a little. But what feelings did get past the painkillers he simply suppressed. This wasn't the time for him to worry about pain, and he'd already gotten past the hardest part; sitting still for so long.
Bando shifted his weight around to take some of the stress off of his leg and, looking at his watch, cursed that Mako was already late by at least ten minutes now. He really hated having to wait on other people, especially since he was already feeling doubtful of this trip. The woman had better hurry so they could get this show on the road; the drive to Matsumoto was going to take just under four hours provided that traffic wasn't going to be a giant pain in the ass. If it was well then it was going to take five, possibly even six hours to get there.
"What a great waste of my day. Well, at least we should be able to avoid most of the rush hour traffic now. Should have taken the damn plane instead. Or even a train. Both would have been so much better than taking the damn car."
"If you feel that it's a waste then you can just turn around and leave because I'm not going to listen to your constant whining for the duration of our trip, Bando. And you can try me but I'm not kidding one bit. I still haven't forgotten about the stunt you pulled back at my house. Pointing a gun at a little girl, that is just low even for you. Now get in the car if you will please?"
Mako's words, while level, cut sharply like a knife. He spat on the ground and hauled himself in through the open door; the car was surprisingly roomy. 'Oh the things that money can buy.' "Fancy car you got here."
"Don't make fun of me."
She looked at him from behind the wheel, suddenly regretting forcing him to come along. She was looking forward to this trip just as much as he was. "Just please be quiet. Luckily we aren't so far from Tokyo."
The surprised look on Bando's face brought a small smirk of satisfaction to her face. "Oh, don't tell me. You actually thought that I was going to drive all the way to Matsumoto with you next to me? As if."
Bando shifted his weight again, pushing the seat as far back as he could in order to make it a bit less painful on his leg. "Well at least you got some goddamn sense; going by car is too stupid. Now I can grab some rest on the train."
She shook her head as the engine roared to the life. They drove off, heading in the direction of Tokyo. It was a shorter ride now, but was still going to be a very unpleasant ride for both. "Did you make sure you came prepared? I don't want to be caught in any trouble."
Raising an eyebrow he remarked. "Expecting trouble? Who the fuck do you think I am? Off course I'm fucking prepared for any kind of fucking trouble that we might run into during this fucking trip that is just a fucking waste of my fucking time you damn woman! Stop asking stupid questions! Just tell me when we get to the station. You stupid woman." And just like that he turned away from Mako and faced the window.
"You are such a jerk, you know that?" she remarked bitterly. Just great. Hardly on the road for even a couple of minutes and he was already getting underneath her skin. What was she thinking? She had to have been stupid or insane, quite possibly both, to have asked him.
"Fine, have it your way. Just don't expect me to pass you the morphine should you need it."
He only shrugged his in response. "I'll just bear the pain. Now focus on the road ahead unless you want to crash the damn car with us in it."
She was getting a headache, right she just needed to block out his voice, well the only thing she had was to turn on the radio. "You are the worst," she said as she turned up the radio.
"Don't fucking care."
Having been gone from work in order to recover from his injuries, Dai felt annoyed and slightly overwhelmed by just how much of the work had piled up on his desk. Honestly couldn't the others have just taken over for him while he was away? Somehow he got the distinct impression that the exact opposite happened. Everybody probably dumped their own work on his desk since he wasn't there, dammit he had been shot and god knew what else. A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts and the pile of work.
"You are Hirano right? I haven't seen you in the last week," a man said as he stepped inside Dai's office. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mizuno Hajime; the acting supervisor appointed to oversee this department until command can round out the selection for the new commander. It's good to see you back at work again."
Dai looked at the man, not much older than himself, he guessed. So until command could actually cut through all of the red tape this man was now in charge. It kind of stung, given he had unofficially held that position since the turmoil. Of course, having this new guy here meant that some of the workload would be taken off his shoulders, meaning more time to spend with his family which wasn't a bad thing per se.
"Ah yes sir, Hirano Dai. It is a pleasure meeting you." He bowed in respect. "I will be looking forward to be working under you sir."
The man acknowledged the greeting with a small nod. "What's the reason for your absence?"
"Sick sir, I seem too had gotten a severe case of the flu. Been confined to the bed for most of the time, sir." Dai explained, making the lies up on the spot.
"I see." Mizuno gestured for him to come along. "I have a meeting to attend and would like you to come with me. I have read that these talks happen on a regular basis, correct?"
Studying the notebook in the supervisor's hand, Dai could make out a familiar name who he'd had many discussions with in the past. "Yes sir, every two months though the last few have been rather short since there wasn't much to discuss. I am also getting the distinct feeling that she no longer views these meetings as critical and are a waste of her time."
Mizuno coughed. "I will be the judge of whether these meetings are a waste of time or not. We cannot forget that her family is responsible for this. They have much to make amends for."
There was an element of truth to those words, though Dai admitted sadly that it wasn't quite as black and white as the supervisor was going to find out soon enough.
"Good morning Saekorin," Yuzuka greeted and stood next to her the moment Saeko entered the classroom. "How are you feeling today? And also, there is something that Azurin and I wanted to discuss with you during the lunch break. It's kinda important."
Saeko swallowed hard when she heard that; something really important? "W-what is it, Yuzu-chan?"
She couldn't imagine what could possibly be so important that Yuzuka needed to discuss it with her, and during lunch break at that.
Azusa giggled. "Please don't mind her; it really isn't all that important actually. We just want to ask you if you are already in a club or not. You see we are looking for a club to join and we would like to invite you to come along with us, is that alright with you?"
"A-A club?" Saeko didn't know what to say; honestly she hadn't really given it much thought even though Mayu had mentioned several times that if she wanted to make friends then joining a club was a good idea. But then what kind of club was it, then again did that really matter if she could spend more time together with Yuzuka and Azusa.
"W-What kind of club?" she asked them, feeling rather nervous about it.
Yuzuka and Azusa exchanged glances with each other. "Why don't we go and talk about that during lunch. Then after school we can go and visit some. It will just be the three of us, you are more comfortable with that, aren't you Saekorin?"
"Also, don't feel obliged to join just because of us." Azusa advised.
Dai had to mentally prepare himself as he opened the door to the irritated person inside. The woman was tapping her fingers on the table, wearing an expression of absolute annoyance. She'd been waiting for exactly twenty minutes and ten seconds and she wasn't too shy to let him know that she had been kept waiting that long.
"Kakuzawa-san, my sincerest apologies for keeping you waiting."
She didn't even bother to return the formality. "Just make this quick because I have more important things to do than waste my time chatting with you about things in the past. I have a business to run if you don't know that already," she stated, folding her hands and leaning back.
"Of course, I understand." Dai said quietly in return as he sat down opposite of her, sure enough she was in a poor mood today if she was already setting the tone this early.
Mizuno interrupted the exchange. "Kakuzawa-san, you are aware why these meetings have been called into place right? Why your presence here is expected? The crimes that have been committed by your family, not to mention the loss of life, are no laughing matters."
There was a short pause before Kakuzawa stood up, her face betraying no emotion, and walked over towards the new supervisor before slapping him hard across the face.
"Don't you dare to address me in such a manner, government boy! Do you have any idea on who I am?! I am Kakuzawa Kagome, and don't you even dare to lecture me on what happened because of my idiotic brother. My family has been disgraced because of his actions! I could care less about him and he can rot in hell for his stupidity! Do not even mention him and the rest of our clan in the same breath!" Despite the rather hostile tone of her voice, she made a pretty controlled impression though that didn't make her any less intimidating.
Either undaunted or simply not knowing what he was getting into, Mizuno refused to step back. Dai pitied the man for having to go through this so he quickly got up from his chair to wedge himself between the two parties.
"My apologies Kakuzawa-san, the supervisor is new here." He then firmly pulled Mizuno away so he could give him a rundown of how to proceed. "Sir, I strongly advise that you let me handle this meeting. Aggravating her any further will do us no good. She has a lot of political and financial power, despite the damage to the Kakuzawa's reputation; she is not somebody you want as an enemy."
It took some more arguing back and forth before Mizuno finally realized that Dai was right. He gave way.
"My apologies for the interruption, Kakuzawa-san. Shall we continue with this meeting? I will try to have this wrapped up quickly," Dai said as he resumed his seat. He was grateful that Mizuno chose to keep his distance as well as remaining silent.
"Accepted, now keep it short. I have a meeting in less than three hours, so let's get to the point."
She leaned back in her seat pretentiously, her face remaining stone cold.
Author's note: Well the next chapter is up, I hope that you all are having a good weekend. Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you all again in the next chapter.