Fear Not the Dark
Part 03
By Amidala
Wow am I on a roll! I just finished TAATE, and now this! Okay so this chapter
is only two pages
and the others have been three, but I really just couldn't think of anything
else to say.
Enjoy!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There was a silence that seemed to last forever, though in reality it was only
a few minutes.
Finally Sailor Jupiter swayed dangerously, dropped to her knees, eyes closing,
and fell to the
floor. The others stared in shock as her uniform faded away to reveal Kino
Makoto again, her
back and sides covered in blood that had not been caused by Youji's wires.
None could really
move, for they had not been expecting such a reation from the senshi. Finally
a shock ran
through the woman, shaking her from her shocked state.
"Don't just stand there!" Birman said anxiously, "We just found
her, we can't afford to
lose her!"
That set everybody into action. Aya picked up the limp form gently and
efficiently carried her
to the bathroom, avoiding all walls with expertice, Birman at his heels. She
took over from the
bathroom, only letting the others in to hand her more supplies, as if to
preserve the girl's
decency.
Birman thought frantically, patching her up and practically *willing* the
bleeding to stop,
Finally, after nearly an hour, she called for Aya to bring Makoto into Omi's
room. A futon had
been set up for her there, but due to the circumstances, both Omi and Birman
agreed that the girl
should get the bed. Either out of respect or a feeling that they could not
leave her alone, both
Ken and Youji were waiting around in Omi's room, wanting to know for
themselves that she was
going to be alright.
"Are you happy now?" Ken asked, more than a little miffed.
It was bad enough that the four of them, and everyone else in Kritiker, had
been forced to toss
away their innocence for the good of the other people in Japan. He thought
they had done that so
no one else would have to; yet here they were, sacrificing an innocent they
were supposed to be
protecting. The former soccer player made his thoughts known loudly.
"Enough!" Aya finally snapped, whirling on Ken, fire all but burning
in his eyes.
Ken pressed harder into the wall, but stared right back at his leader,
refusing to back down on
this. After a two minute staring, or glaring as the case was, contest, the
redhead sniffed at
the others. He glanced back at Makoto once before disappearing from the room.
Youji sighed,
watching him leave.
"10,000 says he's going to the hospital."
"Urasei, Youji. No one wants to hear it. Just go get laid," Ken
hissed and left after
Aya, slamming the door closed.
Now, the older man blinked at the closed door. Ken had never spoken like that
to anyone, for any
reason, not even his enemies. He sighed again, and walked out after the
younger boy, muttering
something about cigarettes. Birman looked at Omi, who nodded and made
'shooing' motions.
"I'll look after her. She's in my room, after all. See if you can stop
Ken from killing
Youji on the way out? I really don't feel like picking up body parts."
Birman smirked at him, relieved that at least *one* member was willing to
remain logical and take
care of their new charge. Part of her wondered if Omi was related to the girl,
they had the same
skin color and build, and only slight differences between hair color.
she nodded to the boy and began walking out the door, "Wakatta.
Sayonara."
Omi sighed as she left and closed the door behind her. Then he looked back at
the unconscious
girl in his bed, noting her almost child-like face, and sighed again. She
looked so much younger
than he, though she was perhaps only a few months away from being his age.
<I hope she doesn't hate us after all this ... oh who am I trying to kid?
*I'd* hate me,
if I were her. I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to kill herself, or us,
when she wakes up,
either. God damnit! Why did we allow this to happen?!>
Mentally kicking himself, repeatedly, in the ass, Omi pushed some bangs out of
her eyes, and
nearly fell over when they opened. The pain filled green locked onto his own
blue. He could not
read the look on her face, but judging from the way her eyes were a bit too
shiny, she seemed to
be seeing someone other than himself.
"'Kaa-san ... don't leave ... again ... " she whispered, lifting a
hand slightly, before
her eyes slid shut again.
Omi gasped, eyes wider than they'd ever been.
At the present moment, Omi wanted nothing more than to leave his room,
screaming and kicking, but
if Makoto thought he was her mother, he could not just leave her. It was not
in his nature.
Settling down in his big chair, he decided to wait through the night with her.
he sighed, feeling himself nodding off.
It was, by this time, nearly 2 in the morning, and he had school to worry
about. The sleepy boy
nearly jumped out of his chair *and* skin when he heard the voice through the
door.
"Omi."
"Hai, Aya-kun?"
The door opened slightly and the red head stood in the doorway, as if debating
whether or not he
wanted to cross the threshold. Something about the way he acted made Omi
wonder if, at one
point, Makoto had meant something to Aya. Something more than she seemed to
mean now. Finally,
the older man seemed to decide not to enter the room, and he stepped back an
inch. He did not
break eye contact with Makoto's still form, however.
"Is she ... " he trailed off.
Omi looked back down at the girl on the bed, watching her eyes move around
under her eyelids.
Idly, he wondered what she was dreaming about. He shook his head slightly,
then nodded slightly,
then shrugged, wishing that *he knew*.
"I don't know. It's too early to tell."
"Aa ... " Aya looked over at her, then back at Omi, "I'm going
to visit Aya-chan. I'll be
back in an hour or so."
If the younger boy was surprised at this voluntary information, he did not
show it.
"Hai. I'll probably still be up. ... Aya-kun?"
The other tilted his head a bit, acknowledging the question. Omi hesitated,
then spoke,
wondering if he would get a favorable reaction from his leader at his next
words.
"I'll look after her, you know. You can stay with Aya-chan longer, if you
want."
The teen watched Aya allowed a brief flash of surprise to cross his eyes. Then
a briefer flash
of gratitude, before he turned away from the door. He paused just before he
was out of sight,
however, and looked back at his teammate.
" ... Domo."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Makoto came awake, slowly, by degrees, later that night. By the sounds filling
the room, or lack
thereof, Omi was deep asleep, but she did not know for sure. All she knew was
that she hurt
everywhere and there were some horribly depressed thoughts riding off someone
in the room in
waves, which added to her headache. By the sound of them, they did not belong
to Ran or Youji.
She tried to sit up and hissed as the pain increased.
"Dozo," whispered a harsh, self-depreciating, voice.
A hand appeared out of the darkness, two pain killers in the palm. The other
hand held a glass
of water. She took them gratefully.
"Arigatou."
"Don't thank me."
"Omi's still asleep. You should be, too."
Makoto felt herself getting sleepy from the pain killers. They definitely had
a powerful kick to
them ... everything was going numb. As she drifted off to sleep, she found
herself warm and
comfortable, being taken care of by the gentle hands. Hands that she could not
place with a
person.
"Sankyuu ... " she sighed, and the world was dark again.
Ken nearly choked. He told her not to thank him, yet she was still doing it.
He did not want
any sort of gratitude, not after what he had done to her. Well ... it had not
actually been him
per sey, but his logical mind was not working properly at the moment. All he
knew was that he
was pissed, at himself and Kritiker, and he knew Omi was too. Youji, he was
certain, could not
care less and Aya ... well, Aya seemed pretty damn concerned, if that was what
you could call his
odd behavior.
///
After coming downstairs from talking to Omi, the redhead had glanced at him
and opened his mouth
to say something, then shut it. After some consideration, he shook his head
and headed for the
door.
"Oi! Where are *you* going?"
Aya paused with his hand on the door handle.
"To see Aya-chan."
"And you're just going to leave your so-called friend up there?! That's
one of the
sickest things I've ever heard!"
Ken remembered pausing his rant because he thought he heard a self-hating
snort.
"I said she used to be a friend. I let her go. She shouldn't have had to
be associated
with me."
///
And Ken remembered watching Aya leave, his mouth wide open.
"No matter how hard I try, I will never understand you, Aya. That I know.
But for now,
I'm going to make sure she stays innocent. You said it yourself, she shouldn't
have to be
associated with *us*," the former soccer player muttered to himself.
He looked down at their new ... teammate, if that was what Kritiker had in
mind. He just hoped
that in time she would forgive them.
he reminded himself bitterly,
Smiling slightly as Omi moved and threw the blanket off him, Ken replaced it
and walked out of
the room. Once the door was shut behind him, he promptly sagged against the
wall, sighing
heavily.
"Ken?"
The voice posed the question all in one simple word, but Ken was not quite
ready to talk to the
owner of the voice. He was still pissed about everything, and Youji's seeming
lack of interest
did not help him to feel better at all. Ken was rather surprised that he had
managed to keep
himself from lunging at the older man at all.
"Go away, Youji. You don't care about her, and you know it."
"That's not entirely true."
"It's true enough for me to be angry at you. Now leave me alone."
"Or what?"
"Or ... or ... or I don't know. Maybe I'll just knock some sense into
you, the hard way.
She's hurt, Youji. Hurt, delirious, and in need of comfort, not suspiscion. We
just forced her to
become an assassin for God's sake."
"I didn't know you believed in God," Youji said, leaning against the
opposite wall.
"I don't. It's just an expression. You owe her an apology, you know.
She's just like one
of us, now."
"Perhaps ... " the blond pushed off the wall and headed to his room,
seemingly lost in
thought.
Ken watched him leave. "You ass," he whispered, "You always
know something more than we do,
don't you?"
~Owari, chapter 3~
And the plot thickens! ... Or does it? ... Ah, well, you be the judge of that.
Let me know with
your reviews!
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