Akiko's Return
MatrixTamer
Posted: Nov 24 2006, 12:37 AM


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Posts: 243
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Joined: 1-September 06



Sorry for the horrible transitions between third and second person... I sucked back then.

--

Mole pulled up into the basement of the Shibuya train station. With a loud hiss, his doors opened.
"Now get off... I have other things to do..." he complained.
Akiko scrubbed the last traces of tears from her face and stood up. She straightened Kouji's jacket, and readjusted the bandana so that she was sure it was obscuring her bright green eyes.
She took a deep shaky breath and stepped off.
"Thank you." she said to Mole, "Are you going to come back for me in an hour? Please?"
"Yes... I guess so..." Mole groaned. He then disappeared down the dark tunnel, leaving Akiko standing in front of a green elevator that would take her up to the Shibuya train station.
The train station was deserted, but looking at the large clock on the wall, she saw it had only been about a half-an-hour in this world. They were probably still around somewhere. She turned to the elevator and pressed the button, trying to look like a confident little boy rather than a very scared little girl.
The elevator took Akiko up into the crowded station. People were coming in and out of trains, crowding the platform. It was easy to get lost in the crowds, especially at this time of day.
Akiko eyed the busy station uneasily. She didn't think she would ever be good at crowds, but she knew that it was better than being alone. She would be easier to see if the station had been less busy.
"Shibuya station, this is Shibuya station..." a man droned on over the intercom as another train pulled up. Suddenly the clock gets your attention. You've already been here nearly 15 minutes. Better hurry if you want to get back in time...
Akiko looked at the clock and winced. She took a deep breath and threw herself into the tide of people, pushing towards the door, just another kid on the way home from school.
As you exit the train station, you look up and down the busy street, seeing offices, stores, a school, and at last a hospital.
Akiko resisted the urge to run to the hospital. She knew she didn't have much time, but she was afraid of drawing attention to herself.
She set off for the hospital at a brisk walk.
"Hey!! You!!!" a man suddenly shouts, pointing at Akiko. It was a trainer from the pits. He ran towards her, shoving his way through the crowd. There was a greedy look in his eyes.
Akiko froze, staring at the man with wide, frightened eyes. She spun on her heel, feeling her heart start to pound and adrenaline rush through her veins. She started running towards the hospital, pushing through the crowd.
"Hey!"
"What's going on?!"
"Where's the fire, kid?!"
Pedestrians jumped out of the way of Akiko and her persuer.
Suddenly a gust of wind blew through the crowd, causing Kouji's bandana to fly off Akiko's head and land at the feet of the trainer, revealing her green eyes and curly black hair.
"I was right..." he muttered. "It's Akiko Eriko!!"
The trainer began to chase her with a new motivation, dollar signs practically visible in his eyes.
Akiko felt the bandana blow off her head, she tried to catch it in the air, but missed. She spun back towards the trainer, saw the bandana on the ground at his feet and hesitated. She wanted to go back for it, it was Kouji's, after all, and she knew he was attached to it.
So was she, because it reminded her of him.
She looked back up at the trainer, the cold look in his eyes. She knew him. She'd killed several of his fighters in the pit. She shuddered and backed up a few steps.
The trainer continued to rush at Akiko, paying no attention to the bandana on the ground.
Akiko gave a final pained look at the bandana and turned and ran again, sliding between people on the sidewalk, breathing silent words to herself.
"You can make it . . . you can make it."
The trainer rushed towards Akiko, but had to stop when a mob of tourists got in his way. By the time they'd cleared, he couldn't see her anywhere.
"I'll find you, Akiko Eriko!! You're mine now!!" he vowed under his breath, striding away.
Akiko beat her panicked retreat down the street, bumping into people, wishing she had her knives and panting in terror.
Before you know it the hospital is looming up infront of you. Will you go in?
Akiko stopped at the doors, threw a frightened glance over her shoulder and an even more frightened glance at the doors. Then she pushed through them. She pulled the string out of her hair, letting it fall back down over her shoulders. She pocketed the string. There wasn't much point to tying it back now, the bandana was gone and she'd already been spotted. She scrunched her shoulders up and jammed her hands in her pockets, trying to look defensive.
The lady at the front desk looked up. "Yes?"
Akiko tried to speak, and nothing came out. She swallowed and tried again.
"Um. I'm here to . . to see my mother. Her surname is Suzuki."
The lady nodded. "Suzuki Chiyo? She's on the second floor, room B11."
She looked up and smiled at Akiko.
Akiko tried to smile back and only succeeded in looking like she was about to burst into tears.
"Is she . . . how is she?" she asked.
"I wouldn't know for sure. After all, I'm just the secretary." She said the last comment with a slight hmph!! at the end.
Akiko swallowed hard again and turned towards the stairs, looking very lost and scared.
She climbed up to the second floor and walked the bright hallway to her mother's hospital room.
A doctor was just coming out of room B11.
"Oh! Sorry about that," he said when he accidently bumped into Akiko.
Akiko reeled backwards, tensing up. For a few moments she was sure the doctor was a trainer and would grab her any second, and she looked up at him fearfully.
"Hey, calm down. I don't bite!" he chuckled.
Akiko had a hard time finding her voice again, and her green eyes were still sparking fear.
"Is she . . . is she gonna be all right?" She finally asked, darting a glance at the door as it shut behind him.
She didn't even think how odd she must look, a frightened little girl with wild hair and a boy's jacket several sizes too big for her.
"Who...?" the doctor began, but then noticed Akiko's nervous glance towards the door and understood. His expression became very solemn. "Well, the truth is the other doctors and I aren't really sure. She's in pretty bad shape, though." He studied Akiko. "Who are you? Her daughter?"
Akiko looked at him, startled,
"How . . how'd you know?" she realized that might not be the best way to answer, "I think so." That doesn't work either, she told herself fiercely.
"Yes." she finally managed.
The doctor nodded. "Did you come to see her?"
"Yes." Akiko managed to get the word out on the first try this time, but her voice was tiny and unsure.
The doctor nodded. His pager suddenly beeped, and he hurried off to another room, leaving the door unguarded.
Akiko stared at the door as if it might bite her.
You're wasting time! she told herself fiercely.
She stepped forward and twisted the knob, opening it only enough to admit her small body. She immediately stepped to the side of the door. Old habits die hard.
Before you lay a woman in a hospital robe. Her leg was being elevated by a traction and she had a tube coming out of her mouth, tubes coming out of her nostrils and some tubes protruding from her arms. She seemed to be breathing through the tubes up her nostrils. The tubes protruding from her arms gave her blood. She was also hooked up to an ECG.
Akiko swallowed several times, trying to make the lump in her throat go away . . .
"He--Hello?" She finally managed to get out in a small voice, "Are you . . . awake?"
The woman didn't answer. It seemed that she didn't even hear Akiko. The truth was, she was just barely alive. Her life relied entirely on the machines she was hooked up to.
Akiko approached the bed slowly, in short bursts of movement. Finally she was standing beside the pale woman on the bed, looking down at her.
"It's . . . it's me." She said quietly, "It's Akiko."
The woman still didn't answer, though there was some faint glimmer of recognition in the faded focus of her eyes.
"I . . . I came," Akiko said, faltering, "Cuz . . . they said you wanted to see me. I don't know if you really do. But I came anyway. I'll leave if you don't want me here."
She looked around the room nervously, then back at her mother. All the sudden, she realized that--although they were unfocused and clouded, her mother had the same brilliant green eyes that she did.
Akiko's mother lay still for several endless moments. Then, miraculously, an impossible flicker of life flashed through her eyes.
"A-Akiko...?" she managed. It was obvious that just that one word took most of her energy.
Akiko took a step back in surprise. Then she stepped forward again, on tip toes and leaning over her mother so her mother wouldn't have to turn her head to see her.
Akiko's black curly hair tumbled over her shoulder, as unruly as ever. Her green eyes glittered with uncertainty, and maybe a little bit of hope.
"Yes," she says, "It's . . . it's me. I . . came." She managed lamely.
Her mother didn't respond for awhile, but then smiled slightly, struggling with her next words. "A...Akiko... I'm...so glad... you c-came...."
Then, struggling from the effort, she lifted her hand just barely off the bed, reaching out to her daughter weakly.
Akiko cringed automatically, but then she realized her mother wasn't going to hit her as her father had so many times. She reached her hand back tenatively and took her mother's hand in hers.
"Are you?" she asked brokenly, "Are you really glad I came?"
Tears overflowed her eyes and she sobbed like the child she was, tears streaming down her cheeks and falling on her mother's hand in hers.
Yes..." her mother managed weakly. "Yes!"
Her own tears began to spill down her face, staining her face and bed sheets.
"I didn't know . . ." Akiko said through her tears, "I didn't know you were looking for me. I didn't even know you existed. Please don't go away now!"
She carefully lifted her mother's hand and put it against her cheek, tears running onto her mother's fingers,
"I don't know if you can love me . . ." She said, "But . . . will you try?"
Her mother nodded slightly and smiled.
Just then the doctor Akiko had ran into walked into the room. When he saw Akiko and Chiyo, he could hardly believe his eyes. She had never responded to any of the doctors in any way that showed she was even conscious of them being there. But now...
"Hey! Dai, c'mere!" he called over his shoulder.
"Yeah?" asked a female doctor. When she entered the room she too stood in awe.
Suddenly, the clock catches your attention again. You have only 20 minutes left.
Akiko winced at the time on the clock.
"Mommy," she said, using the term of endearment without even thinking about it, "Listen. I don't have very much time. I wish I had longer to explain, but ... I'm in a lot of danger here, and soon I have to go. I have a safe place where I can hide from the people who want to hurt me. And I need to go back there soon. I have a friend . . . a . . . a brother there. He takes care of me, and so I'll be all right. But . . . I want you to be all right too. I won't be gone very long, but . . . you have to get better. I need you."
Suzuki Chiyo nodded slowly. "A-Alright... Go well..." she whispered.
Akiko hesitated, then bent and kissed the palm of her mother's hand where she held it in her own small hands.
"I promise I'll come back. So you have to get better, okay? I . . . I need a mother."
Akiko's tears kept flowing. She stared at her mother and thought how beautiful she looked, even with all the tubes and machines, with her face pale with pain, and her eyes dull. Mostly, she knew it was because it was her mother, and because her mother still wanted her and loved her.
"But... But your father..." Akiko's mother suddenly stammered. "He must be looking for you... He... You... Where will you go?"
A flash of fear entered Akiko's eyes. She thought again of the basement, of the pit . . . . she knew sooner or later she would have to explain to her mother where she had been for ten years. She wasn't looking forward to telling her mother that she was a killer.
"He can't hurt me anymore." she said, her voice faltering, "He's . . . gone."
"But... But how...?"
Akiko's face twisted, she was going to have to admit more than she wanted to.
"Mommy, I . . . I got away from him. I escaped and he was . . . really really angry. And he was looking for me. I don't know how he found me, but he did. And he hurt me, and he would have hurt me worse . . . but the boy I told you about it, he saved me."
"But... No... You can't leave. I-I don't know what happened to you but... but I know you've been hurt. That can't happen again... You have to stay here," Akiko's mother suddenly insisted.
Akiko started to cry again,
"You have to trust me. I can't stay here, or they'll find me. They . . . they've already found me. There's a man following me right now, if I stay here, they'll take me away again, and they'll hurt me . . . they might hurt you too. I have to go back where I'll be safe. I promise . . . I can't explain it to you, but I can go somewhere where he can't ever follow me."
"But..." Chiyo began, but stopped herself. She bit her tongue. "A-Alright. I can't stop you... But be careful..."
Akiko winced, "Please mother, send me . . . with your blessing. I don't want to go if you really don't want me to, but I . . . I have to!"
She squeezed her mother's hand and leaned in closer, "I promise, it won't be for long. I'll be back before you know it . . ."
"Good-bye..." Akiko's mother whispered.
Suddenly a swarm of doctors surronded Chiyo, taking all kinds of tests in search of an explanation of why she was suddenly filled with so much life. They cut off Akiko's contact with her, which was just as well because the clock told her she only had ten minutes left.
Akiko turned with tears streaming down her cheeks and started to walk away. She stopped at the doorway and looked back longingly,
"Goodbye . . ." She whispered to no one in particular.
Akiko turned and headed out with a purpose. She had to find a way to trick the people she knew would be waiting for her outside the exit, otherwise she knew she'd never make it to the train station.
And she hadn't forgotten what she'd told Kouji. If she was recaptured, she wasn't going to fight back this time.
Suddenly you see a laundry bin sitting outside a door. It's filled with doctor's scrubs and lab coats.
Akiko stopped, looking at the bin. An idea formed in her mind. She went to the bin and dug out a pair of scrubs, a coat, and a hat.
She slipped them on quickly, rolling them up so they wouldn't drag on the ground. The coat, there was nothing she could do to stop that from dragging. Then she tied her hair back and tucked it under the hat.
She looked ridiculous, and probably still pretty suspicious, but at least she wasn't wearing exactly what she had been when she'd gone in. It might be enough to give her a headstart.
She went to look for a back door.
Suddenly you see a custodian striding through a pair of doors. It looks as if they lead into a back alley. Dare you go through them?
Akiko eyed the doors suspiciously and then looked back over her shoulder.
Well, I have to get out of this building somehow, and I can't go back the way I came . . .
She hesitated only a moment longer, shuddered at the thought of being recaptured and ran at the door, hitting the bar to open it at a dead run and bursting into the sunlight.
You find yourself in the back alley of the hospital.
Suddenly, someone shouts, "Hey! You!!"
It's the trainer. He's coming down the alley at a fast speed, followed by two more trainers. One of them holds a tranquilizer gun. What will you do?
Akiko froze for a moment, her eyes taking in the scene. Her heart plumetted to her feet when she saw the tranq gun. I'm doomed. she thought, she spun to catch the door and dart back into the hospital, but it had swung shut and locked behind her.
She threw another quick glance at the men coming towards her and then took off at a dead run the other direction down the alley. She prayed that her years of physical training and pit fighting would give her the advantage of speed.
The trainers pursue you, but aren't nearly as fast. Pretty soon they've chased you all the way to the train station. That's a good thing, considering that you only have three minutes to reach the portal.
Akiko practically threw herself through the doors to the station, her heart racing.
She hesitated a few seconds, staring from the elevator to the stairs . . she'd never make the elevator in time, but the stairs . . she'd be a wide open target for the gun on her way down the stairs.
She didnt' have much of a choice though, so she raced to the stairs and started running down them two at a time, praying she wouldn't get tangled in the too-big scrubs and fall.
The trainers race after you. You manage to get to the bottom of the stairs to find Mole awaiting you, but just as you reach him one of the trainers shoots a tranquilizer dart at you. It hits you in the back of the neck, just barely breaking the skin. Only a few more inches to cover before making it into one of Mole's compartment. But you'd better hurry, because time is running out, you're beginning to fade, and the trainers are gaining on you.
Akiko shrieked in pain as the dart hit her, throwing her to the ground. But she stumbled to her feet, took several steps and used the last of her fading energy to launch herself at the door to the compartment, falling to the floor inside Mole.
With the last breath before the tranquilizer sent her into oblivion she breathed, "Take me . . . take me to Kouji . . . please . . ."
Mole nodded. His compartment doors shut. Then he took off, disappearing through the portal and leaving three very confused pit trainers.

--

I think the next one I'll post will be right after Akiko returns to the Digital World, in Seraphimon's castle.
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