Ningen Ningyou Chapter 21 2/29/2012 FIN!

[oddball]

Wow, Gaki/Ai and Konno/Ogawa alsmost meeting in that bar tottaly but accident!

Hmm, seems as though Konno and Ogawa are down now too, seems as though the government being involved has made them fell alot more down then they were before!   

[risa_ai]

They found takagaki! Oh noes!

[Koei]

Kuro-sama your character portrayal is truly magnificent!
And your creative imagination depicts an infinetly inmense universe in every story!
For this one; the synthetic... if that's the correct term...material that covers Ai is a fabulous addition as well as an important and well established detail!
Thank you for such fabulous stories Kuro-sama. Keep it up!

[kuro808]

@oddy: Well at least they have a working relationship

@risa_ai: well not enough to send them anywhere but this chapter will bring a little more light to some of the antics

@Koei: thnx also please read any other story that might interest you, it will bring up certain pairings that may clue you in on my favorite

Chapter 17

Despite her plan to sleep, the bean’s eyes wouldn’t close.  She feared that anyone who was going to get near Ai would have to go through her but now they were stuck.  She looked at her siblings with the lonely thought of leaping with her friend but she wasn’t going to go through with it for the sake of Ai without consulting the facts with her brother and sister.  Yet, the escape was going to be riskier than she had thought but the rattling in her mind was becoming louder than ever.

The bean walked to the sink for water and drank it slowly to prevent panic in her body to make a sound.  She dragged back to bed and closed her eyes.  She thought the water had done enough of the trick that she felt her body gone limp and took one deep breath into slumber.

Ai woke up with the sound of needles hitting a bell and looked at the alarm clock.  It was six in the morning with the sun barely above the horizon in Tokyo and seeing her partner sleeping, she tiptoed to the bathroom to wash her face.  She had become light-headed and looked up at the mirror. She saw an image of her father’s face next to her.  She gasped at her father’s picture and then it moved its mouth.

“Ai-chan, gomen.  I have put you into a position that made you restricted to live a woman’s life.  You have grown so beautiful, your mother helped with that.”  He laughed as Ai was trying to get over the floating image next to her.

“Chichi… I am in trouble.  I have made you not proud as your daughter.  I fell in love with another woman.”  His grin grew smaller.

“I see.  If she can make you happy as a friend, she shall make you forever a woman.  The doll pieces have fell to the side and you have felt your body.  That is all I wanted from you, to breakout and experience the world; I was wrong in keeping you in the house.”  Ai nodded.

“Tell me how I can get myself out of this mess…”  He smiled at her.

“I can but you need to experience it before anything else.”  The image disappeared and Miki looked at her while she was rubbing her eyes.

“Who were you talking to?”  Ai bent down and held her hands.

“My father.  He died a while ago.  I wanted to ask him for guidance.”  Miki grinned at her and asked Ai to leave as she had to do her business.

Ai walked back to the bed and took a deep breath.  She felt her heart stop and her body became stiff as she fell on top of the bean waking her up.  The bean felt her heart beat faster as Ai was struggling to gain back her breath.  Ai gritted her teeth as Risa looked at her feeling her heart becoming faint by the second.  Every image started to come into her mind and then her body stiffened up until she had become cold.  Risa frantically shook her but she was pale and she laid her on the floor.

“Wake up, Ai!”  Risa whispered into her ear as Miki walked out and kneel down by the lifeless body.

“Ai-chan, wake up.”  She murmured as Riki came crawling by her and prayed for her life.

The three looked at each other and placed their hands on her body.  Ai gasped for air and let out a cough releasing black mucus from her body.  Risa grabbed a napkin and picked up the nasty clump to throw into the trash can but now Risa stumbled onto her side and grabbed her ribs.  The pain shot through her body and then her chest had become tight.  She was suffering immensely until her body convulsed into a deep sleep.

Ai looked over at her and saw she was glowing.  Miki touched Ai and was blown away from her hitting back to the wall as she picked up Risa and dropped her on the bed.  Her heart was still beating but her pulse was faint.  She lifted her shirt to expose her midsection and felt around the ribs to find she was missing one from her body.  The rough area made Ai scared as she leaned over and place her head on her body.  Riki looked at Risa’s body and wailed at her sister being dead but Ai wasn’t going to give in easily.  Miki and Riki glanced at Ai and the held onto Risa’s hands, she closed their eyes and felt an exertion of energy flowing out of her waking up Risa.

The bean felt her body and took a deep breath.  The looked at each other awkwardly and shook her head as the transfer of energy was wildly unusual.  Then, Ai closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around everyone.  They saw a flash in front of them and it transported them out of the hotel room and onto the street.  People were walking by with their bags going to the train station.

Risa noticed they were in front of a bank and a person was opening the doors to the business.  Ai walked to a teller and handed over a piece of paper with her father’s signature on it.  She didn’t know what prompted her to give the note but the teller walked back to the manager and escorted Ai to the vault in the back.  The manager showed his teeth and grabbed a metal container for her.

Ai lifted the cover on the container and she saw a package of papers from twenty years ago.  She took it out with 100,000 yen wrapped in a rubber band.  She walked through the front door and the rest followed her to the library down the street.  Ai took a seat at one of the table and peeled the seal off the envelope to a stack of papers about the plastic material.

She scanned through it and she closed her eyes for a bit realizing the reason for being in the material for a long time.  Ai stuffed the papers back into the envelope and held it to her side.  The three looked at each other wondering what Ai was thinking about and she led them out of the library to go back to the hotel.  The three block walk seemed very long with Ai not speaking to them but there was something she felt someone betrayed her.  Her expression was neutral until she got to the lobby and walked to an agent.

“Take me to the nearest hospital.”  She breathed the words and he radio to another to ask for assistance as Risa and her siblings looked at the group converge on Ai.

Ai turned back and braved a smile as she surrendered to the people.  It felt like she lost the match and Risa had to let go of escaping for Ai’s health.  She wasn’t sure on what was wrong with her but she knew it had to be serious enough for medical assistance.   There was only two left when the ambulance arrived and they were concentrating on Ai for a while before loading her into the truck and drove off.

Risa turned toward the elevator and saw Konno coming off with her hair in a ponytail and a concerned look on her face.  She looked clueless to the events but she wrote down what she seen in the lobby and ran back into the elevator.  However, Risa only knew the floor she had gotten off and linked it into her mind for future reference.

She took them back to their hotel room deflated from Ai’s departure.  She saw a note on the table with Konno signature on it and she went off to visit the reporter in her room.  Risa took the elevator down two floors where a woman was waiting outside and escorted her to Konno’s room.  Risa remembered her as the other woman with Konno but never brought it up as she was concentrating on Konno.

Risa walked into the room where a table was set with a tape recorded and Konno smiling on the other side.  Risa took a seat across of her and Konno clicked her tape recorder but Risa stopped it immediately.  The bean poured herself a cup of water for her and lowered it onto the table after taking a sip.

“What do you know?”  Risa asked.

“Just as much as you know.  The government wants her.”  Konno replied which didn’t please Risa.

“Why?”  The single question struck the chord and Konno was frozen as Risa had the same question as everyone else and Konno took a deep breath to explain Ai’s history.

After a lengthy explanation, Risa was still confused but it seemed to clear up on what Ai may have seen which prompted her to go to the hospital but Konno wanted Risa here for a different reason.  She wanted to know how she felt about Ai in general.  Risa’s eyes opened up to the question but she needed time to think which gave enough time to consider what Konno should do with the information.

[oddball]

Man now Ai is really in some trouble after saving Risa I think, but now that Risa and Konno have found each other again, I wonder what will happen....

[kuro808]

@oddy I guess the tables are turned for Risa to now help Ai out

Chapter 18

Risa sat in the room frozen in her stance as she wondered over her friend.  Konno offered her a cup of tea but refused to acknowledge the gesture.  Her siblings watched their sister go through stages of rage and depression until Miki broke it with her gift of a paper heart.  Risa stared at it and placed her hands on the two lobes like she was ready to rip it but Miki grasped her right hand and let Risa looked at the heart.

“Ai will be alright.”  Miki comforted her older sister.

“I know.”  Risa sounding defeated as her siblings tried to cheer her up.

Konno flipped her phone open and close waiting for the news of the results.  She looked around the room and felt the depressed aura among everyone and stood up to confront them.  Her eyes were fixed on the bean and then her phone rang.

“Hello.”  She answered the phone as Risa leaned in to listen to the conversation.

Konno nodded her head acknowledging the situation and quickly closed her phone.  A smirk appeared on her face as she dialed Ogawa’s number to meet them in the room.  Three minutes later, Ogawa knocked on the door with her hands on her knees breathing hard from the run.  Konno let her into the room and she let her sit down on the table to catch her breath.

“I have a plan that might work out.  It may take the whole day which doesn’t help Risa at the moment but if you don’t mind we move in, we can work from here.”  Risa nodded as Konno and Ogawa walked out the door to get their luggage.

“Is Ai going to be okay?”  Riki whispered to her sister.

“I hope so.  I want them to tell me what their plan is to help us.  The image of Ai being poked and prodded is making me queasy.”  Risa held her stomach and rushed to the toilet to release the contents.

Her two siblings held their fingers together praying for their new friend and keeping Risa company by giving her glasses of water to settle her stomach.  Half an hour later, the two return with the bags in their hands and an envelope dropped onto the floor.  Miki picked up the envelope and looked inside but couldn’t recognize the documents and offered it back to Konno.  The two set up their plan in front of them with the documents pinned up onto the wall and began to take notes.

Risa crawled out and noticed drawings of a shield over a girl’s body.  It was fitted over an adolescence girl and then she saw a picture of Ai with measurements written around her.  Risa stared at one that showed her pale and the explanation torn her down to her core.

“Ai… She was sick?”  Konno nodded her head slowly.

“Why didn’t she tell me?”  Konno bit down on her bottom lip and looked at the pictures.

“She never knew about the sickness and the plastic material protected her from infection.  I guess when it melted off her body it exposed her to the outside world.  Ai-chan became involved with the environment around her so it increased her exposure until she could relapse into sickness again.”  Risa nodded her head.

The bean digested the information slowly as she started to think about what was happening to her and she ran back to vomit out whatever was left in her.  She drank a glass quickly and the question popped into her mind.  She took Konno to the side and asked for the plan.  She looked toward Ogawa before laying down the foundation for what they intend to do.

The first piece had been place with an informant playing nurse in the hospital.  The call indicated that Ai was undergoing tests which were normal for a person in her condition.  The results were going to be reported later on so that was the patience game.  However, the trigger to the plan was the doctor who was supposed to visit Ai’s father in Osaka.  He was invited to review the case again.  The informant clued them in with a recent project of recreating the synthetic shell based on new technology.  It was also rumored that he was within the town’s limits when Ai’s father was driving out to the airport.

“This doctor wanted to take credit for Ai father’s creation?”  Konno tilted her head.

“I don’t know the intention but it could be the truth.”  Konno hesitated to state that it could have been the motive but she got a write up about the doctor through her email.

Konno presented the article through her anonymous source and it read about his research in America.  It shocked her that he sourced his materials through Africa and South America and an underground group was created to expose his ways.  In addition, he was on the verge on getting a medical fraud case on his hands before voluntarily giving up his license to practice in America. 

It enraged the bean that someone would expose the weak for his own benefit and she finally agreed to follow Konno’s directions by grabbing her siblings and hiding them in the closet for a bit.  Riki held her sister tightly as she closed the door and Konno dialed the number to the agent.  After a few rings, she picked it up with a panicked tone but soon calmed down when it was Konno calling her.

“Dr. Johnson is on the case right?”  Konno said in a monotone.

“How do you know?”  She asked as the panic grew again.

“Media will get their hands on anything that is given to them on a platter.  The doctor is going after Ai for his own benefit and he may kill her if he gets his way.”  There was a pause before hearing a whisper through the phone.

“He is our best hope, he contacted us with a proposition of helping her, and we cannot go against that.”  Fuku-chan explained but it didn’t convince the reporter.

“A report coming out of America has been forwarded to me and it will be released in a matter of time with testimony of his actions.  This is no idle threat; it shows that he has been putting low quality medical equipment to protect his own interests.”  The agent bit her lip and heard her supervisor calling for her.

“I am assuming we won’t see it until all the tests are run but when you do release it; tell us so we can release Ai before it exposes us.”  Risa shook her head.

“We want it stop under his supervision and use a Japanese specialist immediately.”  Fuku-chan hung up her phone and it left them pondering their next move.

The reporter looked at the writer and Ogawa laid out a menu for room service so they could order dinner.  Miki and Riki walked out of the closet wondering what would be a good meal for them.  The children picked the chicken fingers while the adults took a traditional kaiseki meal.  They called the order in and then an email popped up about the pending move to release the information.  Konno had doubts about the effect if they do release the story but she knew the story would bust open the case.  She replied back that she wouldn’t take advantage and let the source release it.

She hit enter and then the story popped up on the front page.  It gave Konno a smile and the meal arrived at the door but the waiter seemed bigger than the one they had seen before.  She was accustomed with unusual people hanging around the door of where she was staying.  Konno slid the money under the door and looked at guy take the money and leave the dishes outside the door. 

“Wait a second.”  She took it a step further by waiting until she heard a rustle and watched the guy roll from under the cart.

The guy knocked again to see if anyone would open the door but Konno kept her ear by the door and the pause gave the reporter a chance to look again at the clueless man.  He looked toward the larger man and gave a shrug as they went away slowly.  Then, a few seconds later, the cart was thrown onto the floor indicating they gave up the pursuit to censor the reporter.

“I guess room service shall be coming soon.”  The reporter grinned as the cart spilt onto the floor outside the door and the next knock was the invitation to enter their meals.

Konno opened the door to the room and the guy slid it in without noticing anything unusual and Konno closed it as soon as it past her eyesight and it was in the middle of the room where everyone could get their food from the cart.  The hotel also provided rolls of warm towels to the patron’s comfort which was a pleasure but the lingering thoughts still invaded Risa’s mind.  The bean was happy for the help but the uneasy feeling of her friend taking tests was eating her up and she decided to rest to avoid any more episodes of losing her meal to the toilet.

[risa_ai]

Oh noes! Ai's sick! Save her!

[oddball]

Ahh no, poor Ai is sick again now she has been exposed to the outside world, I wonder if the tests can see if thier is another way to save her....

[kuro808]

^ A lot more is yet to come for this story.  I am curious though if this supernatural stuff helps the story, it was a jerk reaction to curve the story toward TakaGaki

Chapter 19


Ai sat in the observation room waiting for the routine tests to be performed with media and the agents hanging outside the door, it seemed like an eternity for a person to visit her.  Then, at noon, a nurse closed the door behind her with the flashes hitting the woman’s eyes and she calmly sat across of her.  She never spoke a word to Ai as she set up her instruments for her checkup.  Ai shifted her eyes to the door as the nurse was preparing to take her blood pressure and then looked back at her.

“I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t want to know.”  Her voice showed the irritation she had been suffering from outside but Ai kept her smile despite the stressful situation.

“May I know your name?”  She pursed her lips and began pumping.

There was a long silence as she took down the result onto her sheet of paper.  She grabbed her stethoscope and listened to the woman’s heart and wrote down several observations before looking back up at Ai again.

“My name is Takeda Mayumi.”  She said with the same tone from her previous explanation.

“Takeda-san, I am Takahashi Ai, hope you take care of me.”  She bowed as the nurse bowed back to her.

“Lay on your back for a moment.”  Ai revealed her midsection and the nurse saw the uneven skin tone on her body.  She touched it and felt something sticky which prompted her to put on gloves.

She peeled back a small piece of plastic and threw it away into the trash bin.  Then, she scanned her body for any more unusual observations and disfiguring of her hips drew concerns for her.  She felt around the joint and was surprised about the malleability of her joint.  She pressed them around and set it back into shape.  The nurse enjoyed the experience but wondered why she was here.  The nurse looked toward Ai as she still had her smile and decided to sit down next to her.

“What happened to you?”  Her voice changed to concern as Ai’s smile disappeared.

“I was an experiment.  My father helped me when I was young and sickly.  He gave me a suit that fit me to protect from foreign bacteria.  Now, I am without it but the people chasing me outside are bringing in an expert to review the case.”  Takeda nodded.

“Dr. Johnson has been interested in building synthetic protectors for people like you maybe you can share information on what you know.”  Ai nodded.

“I will admit that being locked up wasn’t fun at all.”  The nurse tilted her head.

“Locked up?  It seems rather weird with everything you are explaining but I understand how you got here but I want to know more about your background.”  The nursed leaned in as Ai explained her story which was an adventure for any person who didn’t know what she had been through.

The story lasted for half an hour with the nurse impressed by her will to accept a person who has been sickly for a while.  The nurse’s expression changed from irritated to anxious about the next part which they were at right now and then a person got pushed through with a nurse’s uniform.

“Takeda-san, thank you for doing the first part.  I will take it from here.”  She bowed to her as she exited the room and the nurse leaned towards the window.

“Ai-chan, you have to listen to me.  Risa has been contacted to know how you are feeling at the moment.  You seem alright but I am here to give you any more assistance in your hospital stay.”  She smiled toward the woman but Ai grew concerned about Risa and this person.

“Risa… I want her to know that… I was foolish in taking her on my adventure but I still love her.”  The nurse smiled.

“Well, it is the reason why I will escort you out of here.”  Ai shook her head.

“Let them finish their tests.”  Ai paused and then her body started to shiver.

The nurse increased the room’s temperature a bit before leaving the room.  Seconds later, a white male entered with a big grin on his face.  He was huge compared to the frail Ai but he was awkwardly looking at the results and threw it to the side.  He lifted up the shirt to see the discoloring of the skin and saw the plastic on the ground.

“Let me help you by telling me about your father.”  His booming low voice startled Ai and she stuttered to get her first words out.

Ai knew her father as a gentle man who sacrificed his work to improve Ai’s chances to live a longer life.  She vaguely remembered the morning when he had to go on a trip and never returned.  She was shocked about the car crash as the roads were slippery that morning and she had just woken up to the news.  It devastated Ai that the one she relied on was gone and soon after the mother passed on living here alone in a rundown house.  She mentioned the animals had helped her until Risa came to help her escape.

The doctor’s only thought was to take Ai with him to prove an invention but the resistance seemed too tough to get by and decided to show his prototype.  Ai was hesitant to put it on but it seemed to fit her perfectly but she fainted soon after as she struggled to take it off.  The doctor ripped off the prototype and shred it to the side.  Ai woke up in a daze and shared a look to the doctor.

“It was too tight.  Gomen.”  The doctor waived off the gesture and grabbed the piece together before leaving the room.

Ai was alone again in the room with no one to talk to until the secretive nurse had come back in and wrote down several observations that would cheer her up.  Ai felt the moisture from her eyes and lowered the sheet away from her as a discomfort changed her position.

“My stomach is sore.”  Ai pleaded as the nurse offered a sandwich to satisfy her needs but she declined as the pain grew to her ribs.

“Just stay on your side and breathe normally.”  Ai calmed down and then breathes slowly until she felt a burst of energy running through her body.

Ai closed her eyes and remembered seeing Risa near the room, she wanted to wave but her strength had been limited to offer a greeting.  She saw the bean run around to see her with her body in pain, she lifted up her shirt and a brown spot appeared on her body.  Risa asked what it could be but there was no answer until she saw the male doctor again and woke up to the nurse looking into her eyes.

“Are you okay?”  She asked.

“What is your name?”  She murmured as the pain grew steadily worst.

“I am Mitsui Aika.”  Ai held out her hand.

“Tell Risa to pray because I have a bad feeling that I might be exhausted before I see her.”  Aika brushed her hair back with her hand.

“You will survive this because I will help you meet back with her.”  Ai shook her head.

“Tell her quickly.”  Ai’s eyes went closed again and Aika rushed out letting the doctor come back to analyze the patient.

Risa heard the call about Ai’s condition was worsening.  It was the worst news she wanted to hear.  She curled up and held her hands together as long as she could until a dream popped into her head.  Risa stood next to her friend who was weakened by the medicine; she smiled toward the bean to gather her attention.

“Don’t give up!  Keep praying until she felt something rocked from the ground and everyone looked outside.  A bright light came from couple blocks away.

“The hospital.  We got to go.”  Konno led the rush out of the room as the fear of Ai grew on Risa’s mind.

[oddball]

Hmm, things seem to not be going to well for Ai at the moment, hmm I wonder what thwe next steps could be to save her, and how much risa may be involved in it.....

[kuro808]

^ more with the continuing treatment but the smoke leads to fire

Chapter 20


Konno and Risa ran over to the hospital where the smoke was billowing out from one of the rooms.  The people were standing fifty feet from the entrance looking at the building as a woman approached them.  Konno nodded to her as they dragged them away from the crowd to inform them about the situation.

“Has Ai ever lit up before?”  Risa nodded.

“It was how we escaped from everyone from the town where I found her.”  Aika rubbed her chin.

“She had been suffering from stress-related ailments before the explosion.  However, a doctor suffered the worst of the injuries as he flew out into the parking lot.

Konno and Risa were shocked that Ai-chan had that much power in her but they were concerned how she was feeling and Aika led them to the observation room.  Ai was floating over the table with her eyes like the sun glaring at them.  She kept her attention to the ground as it slowly burned into the floor.  Risa took two steps towards her and was frightened by the beams.

The three looked at each other with puzzled looks and Risa decided to charge into the room one more time avoiding the first attack but made her turn away from the entrance.  The beams were directed to the crowd outside where the chaotic scene had made a turn for the worst but Risa managed to wrap her arms from behind.  She held her tightly but Ai could power out of the hold until her footing caused her to drop to the floor.

“Ai-chan, please don’t do this.”  Risa pleaded as Ai was speaking jibberish.

“I must destroy him.”  Ai wrestled away from her and walked off to the stairs.

Aika held her arm to stop her from getting closer.  But, Risa resisted to leave her alone and charged to only get the glare from her eyes and wrestled her down to the ground again.  The bean held her head down until the beams turned into a dull gray and back to her natural eye color.

“Risa-chan, I’m glad you’re here.”  She said in a soft voice.

Risa had a concerned look but she feared Ai for being unusually different than when she met her.  She wanted to dig into her body to find what has made her inhuman.  However, she felt the skin and she knew it was her but something was holding her back from going further until someone could explain to what was happening.  Aika pried them apart and she took Risa away from Ai.

“I have looked into Ai’s past and my findings are that she has developed something unusual through her homestay but it could have been worst if you didn’t take here away I theorized.”  Risa nodded slowly.

“You may have a lot of questions and I think it is best to leave her with me.  I have a feeling that you may not trust people so I will allow you and your guests to stay nearby as we detox here from the ailments.”  Risa signaled Konno to join them into the conversation.

The bean was not convinced with Aika’s credentials and it was obvious that she didn’t want Ai to be with anyone else except for her but Konno pointed toward Ai as her reasoning to let Aika follow through on the treatment.  Risa took a moment to consider the decision and let Aika take her to an ambulance and drove to the outskirts away from the people.

The bean and Konno called Ogawa to update them on the situation and she relayed news about the doctor’s condition.  It seemed that he was hit with radiation from the blast which was sucking his life away slowly and minutes later, they heard of his passing over the crowd.  Ogawa requested for a car to be dropped off at the hotel driveway to accompany the growing group to the laboratory.

The thirty minute ride was rocky with the people mourning over the doctor and the periodic stops for safety reasoning.  They arrived stressed over the city’s events that they crashed onto the bed without accepting dinner.  Ogawa woke up first to visit Aika in her office where she wrote down reports for the doctor in charge, Dr. Hironaka.  Aika knew that the patient was high risk so she took precautions beforehand to bring the patient over without harm to her.  Dr. Hironaka was in the office across from hers as he saw the writer near the entrance.

“Sorry to interrupt, but do you have something with Aika at the moment?”  Ogawa shook her head.

“I need her to finish up the report to my attention.”  He walked away and before he could close his door Ogawa blocked it with her foot and rushed in.

“I have a question for you though, what can you do to help our friend?”  The question intrigued the doctor and let her seat in the chair opposite of him.

“My job is to detox her, whatever she does after this will be on her own terms.  I believe that the animals that assisted in her living are in her bloodstream which is causing the random acts of destruction.”  He stated with his cup of green tea in his hand while looking outside at the sunset.

“She has a friend who saved her from all this and she seems to have the most stress over the situation so can you make it quick?”  The doctor placed his cup onto the desk and let out a sigh.

“I am not sure how long it would take, so patience is key, but I wouldn’t advise seeing her for twenty four hours.  I will keep you entertain as long as I could before releasing her.  However, we cannot guarantee anything.”  Ogawa felt her answers would be suffice and left the office quietly.

Aika walked in with a report in hand to offer to the doctor who was in irritation after talking to non-medical personnel about the procedure.  The assistant was aware that bringing them was a mistake but the delicate situation made it difficult to not let them to stay.  The doctor looked over the report with his cup in hand and took a sip before handing it back to Aika.

“Refill my cup with green tea.”  He commanded as he smiled at the report.

“Mitsui-san, good work here.  I want you to prove me wrong in my ways.  You may be a good doctor one day to heal the wounds you aimed out for early.”  His praise lifted up Aika’s spirit for the night.

Risa was the next person to wake up smelling food from the kitchen within the housing area they were staying in for temporarily.  It was more spacious than the hotel room but plain with brown tones all over the room and wished it was as beautiful as Ai’s house.  Ogawa informed her about the update and the bean went deeper into her depression as it was unlikely she would see her alive.  The dinner was simple with rice, broiled fish, and soup but it was hearty enough for her to enjoy it all around for the moment.

As her siblings were getting up, they felt a rumble below them.  Risa ran to her siblings to cover them up as a mother would compared the Konno and Ogawa who was near the bed protecting from any objects from hitting them.  A minute later, an alarm sounded explaining the problem.  Risa got off them and lifted them onto the bed as they cleaned up as the best as they could.  It wasn’t until another hour that the doctor visited them to clear up any confusion within the building security.

Their confirmation of an earth quake was incorrect as they were handling a power outage within the corridor of the new patient.  The detoxing was a long time from over which made Risa angry that it wasn’t soon enough to escape.  He anticipated more quivers like the one before as the process would take a little bit of time for recovery.  The final announcement was they were more than welcome to some things within the living quarters.

The doctor left swiftly leaving them with very few items on her list to do but Miki and Riki were the most impressionable as their frowns fit the problem.  Risa played a game with them for a while leaving Ogawa and Konno chatting about the room which was unfavorable for anybody.

[oddball]

Well I think we can definatly say Ai is pretty darn unstable now, perhpas because of the 'Animals' in her blood! fortunatly Risa was there to calm down Ai, if not, I wonder what might of happened......

[risa_ai]

So ai is stable because risa was there... AI'S SCARY!

[kuro808]

@oddy a bloody situation but lucky for Risa

@risa_ai Ai is undefinable which leads to a lot more other stuff in this chapter

To all the readers, I suffered through this one as I tried to resist certain themes but the supernatural powers was something I was interested in.  Although I feel bad that I had so many projects worked into each other at once, which may cause longer breaks in between.  To be honest, I had the idea but hated writing it out, my condolences if you liked it but this is not my forte of writing.   However, if there is something that you do like, I will gladly use it in later fics but in this ever changing atmosphere, you never know what I will do next

P.S. the newest one will be another TakaGaki fic, although it will mix come dark themes as usual

Chapter 22


A few days past with the living quarters shaking for a few minutes before suddenly calming down, Risa gained short-term insomnia despite sleeping for eight hours with the worries of her friend in the laboratory.  Aika would greet the group with a friendly smile but her resistance was clearly shown through Risa’s face.  The doctor’s assistant took every request seriously to the last detail and they were pleased with the hospitality.

Then, she came back with the doctor to present Ai-chan to them.  She looked exhausted but she happily greeted them while taking a seat on the table.  Aika served a bowl of hot soup to Ai as the rest got hamburger for dinner.  The eyes were fixed on Ai as she slowly lifted the spoon to her mouth before realizing it was too hot and placed the spoon right of the bowl.  She lifted a cup gently up to her lips and sipped the water before carefully placing the cup down.

“Are you okay?”  Risa asked her.

Ai held up an okay sign and looked at the soup for a few seconds before scooping into it to take another spoonful to her mouth.  It looked better than her first attempt but the detoxing took most of her strength from her body but she looked normal.  The doctor was relieved with the results an hour after leaving the container.  He looked around the room and aimed toward Risa to explain the process.  He took her outside the room and went into the laboratory to see the container.

“Your friend was highly intoxicated with chemicals, from what I heard it is the synthetic material.  The animals must have kept the poison going further by feeding her berries and other fresh items.  However, when you realize that the hot water could melt it away, it actually helped her immune system.  For that part, I thank you for saving her life from further damage.”  The doctor bowed to her.

“Now, the past few days I have analyzed her body and the reason for the violent outbreaks like stopping time or exploding under stress.”  She stopped him.

“Were the chemicals responsible for events?”  He nodded.

“It was a mutation that her father must have overlooked or knew about; in any case, it has been drained out of her.  The residual mixture has been sent off to research.  I should be getting results in a few days.  You guys are welcome to stay here as Aika has told me it is a government-related case.”  Risa bowed to him.

“Thanks, I don’t want my siblings to worry.”  He let out a snort.

“I thought it was your children but I realized that your body hasn’t conformed so I feel relieved in not making a fool myself.”  Both of them laughed at the statement.

Dr. Hironaka mentioned that Aika was his niece and she had been his apprentice for a year after her parents forced her out of the house.  Their reason was to make Aika develop independent skills but her uncle felt guilty leaving her alone in the world that he took her into the laboratory.  He explained that he paid for everything and even a trip to visit her parents while keeping secret her location.  The doctor thought Aika would help him find a breakthrough patient and it was by luck that Konno was connected with the article about the American doctor. 

He submitted papers to make her the supplementary nurse caring for Ai.  Luckily, the explosion gave Aika the opportunity to bring her to the laboratory but Risa had stopped her.  She saw Ai in a superhuman evolution and Aika had to take her as soon as possible but took everyone in for no one to reveal the location.  Now, the bean felt relieved that Ai was drained of the poison but she wondered how long she would last in this mode.

She retuned back to the living quarters where Ai was staring at her bowl of soup.  The doctor confirmed that she is still alive but may take a while to gain back in being a human.  Risa could still see the smile that attracted her to Ai however it obviously was going to take a while to get her back to normal condition.

Konno and Ogawa looked at each other and began to have the same thought about seeing Risa caring over her friend.  They excused themselves from the room and started to write up articles about the special friendship between them two.  It was made to be a heartwarming story of a connection that was found in a town and they had sent it through every news center in Japan.  The catch was the source was protected and they would need to expose the government on the bringing in of a foreign doctor.

Hours later, when everyone decided to turn in, the news centers had become a maelstrom of action and at midnight, the top secret file was known to the public.  Then, a phone call came in seeing the call from Fuku-chan.

“If you are leading the charge, we will find you and take you in for contempt.”  Konno scoffed at the remark.

“I am not scared of you; the media has hold of everything of what the government has been doing on this case.”  Konno heard the voice behind her grow louder.

“We have an agreement to let Ai live her life but after this initial push, I want nothing else to be heard of the case.”

“What’s the offer?”  Konno asked as the voice suddenly was now pushing the limits of Konno’s hearing.

“We want to know about what was on her that caused the explosion, we investigated the hospital around that time and we found nothing that would induce an explosion.”  Konno let out a giggle.

“We have nothing on that situation but we believe that the case lingers over human rights, which is why the case has to be thrown out soon enough.  We can cover up the file as being destroyed but you have to make a copy for reference.”  Konno heard murmurs and then the disappointment in her voice finally came out.

“You do that and we shall follow up to not mention this case ever again.”  Fuku-chan hanged up and the two celebrated the victory for Ai.

After an hour of edits and rereading the articles, they went to sleep thinking that there was victory for patient care but as on the other side of the door.  The atmosphere was of heartbreak as Risa saw her friend sprawled onto the floor breathing hard as the doctor looked over Ai.  Aika stabilized the patient and watched her pattern of breathing as it slowly came down to normal.

Ai looked up and smiled at Risa as she held onto the bean’s hand.  Everything that was in their memories was flashing back quicker than ever.  The sudden remembrance of the first meeting ran through Risa’s head like a repeated movie scene until she managed to sit up.  Risa looked straight into her eyes, pondering over the next move she would make but her body was still weakened and she laid there looking towards Risa.

“I… still… love… you.”  She spoke weakly as she wrapped her hands around Ai.

“I know.  I do too.”  Risa held her face close to Ai and then Ai gave her a peck on the cheek.

The room turned bright waking up her siblings.  The doctor and Aika were surprised by the light as she suddenly became an angel.  The glare blinded so many but they were witness to her true form.  Konno and Ogawa came out wondering what the sound was about and it became an enlightening of everyone.  All felt a soothing touch onto their backs before the light was sucked back in and Ai took a deep breath.  She became alive through the eyes of the group watching her.

Ai stood up and picked up her friend from the ground, who was still amused from the light, and gave her a hug.  Risa felt her body being crushed by Ai’s arms.  She didn’t it to stop, it was giving her trouble to breathe but she took it until she let go of the embrace.  Ai hugged everyone in the room and bowed to them in appreciation.

“Risa-chan, I don’t remember anything about my past.  Have I been reborn?”  Risa’s eyes welled up as she embraced her again.

“I don’t know, but I finally see who you really are.  A human being like all of us here.”  Risa slipped a smile and gave her a long deserved kiss.

[risa_ai]

Gosh! Perfect ending! Takagaki is 2gether!

[oddball]

Yay!!! 

Ai and Risa are both OK and they end up together, good ending!