JPHiP Forum
The Hello! Project Fanfics => H!P Fanfics => Topic started by: kuro808 on January 07, 2012, 10:29:23 AM
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Chapter 1
Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the from way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it.
Damn the monkey is right. Risa thought to herself as she wrapped her arms trying to warm herself up.
“Onee-chan, I’m hungry.” The boy was holding his stomach while the growl was growing louder by the second.
His sister echoed the same sentiment which drove the bean nuts and she opened the fridge to show the lack of food in there. She saw the frowns on their faces and calmed down as they were obviously hungry. Risa knew the little money she had with her wouldn’t help the hunger problems but she was willing to sacrifice for them. She walked out to the convenience store and picked up two rice balls for them. As she went home, she saw a sparkle out of the corner of her eyes, it was a white light but she needed to go straight home.
Their faces lit up when their older sister brought home food, they each took one rice ball each and bit into them without looking back at Risa. She was hungry too but her pride was too much to overcome in caring for her siblings. Risa knew that if they were happy, she would be happy. After eating the rice ball, they slipped into their pajamas and slept for the night. It was the same routine every night and all she could blame was her parents.
Three years ago, they were chased off after building a large amount of debt with their store. Risa, who started working with them, saw the events unfold in front of her eyes. They packed up all their stuff midday and drove off never to be seen again. She assumed they would come back but it all ended when the hustler came for the life insurance payout exactly ninety days after their final departure. He had a crooked smile and a scar above his right eye. He solely looked at the bean and extended his hand.
“Girl, I know your parents had life insurance, which money is to pay off our debt.” Risa had hid the check and wanted to see if they would go away with a lie.
“It didn’t come in it…” She said in a soft voice as the man looked back at his colleagues and laughed.
He slouched over and looked straight into her eyes. He knew she was lying but he knew killing her would make no sense so he ripped her shirt off instead. Risa paced back until she felt the wall and his colleagues were now surrounding her.
“Well, I guess you can be the payment.” Their eyes were now on the bean’s body until her brother blocked their path and came out with an envelope.
“TAKE IT! Don’t hurt her.” He cried as the men looked at the check and was satisfied with the money amount.
“Well we can call it the down payment.” He grinned as Risa regained her composure and shut the door behind them.
“Riki, why did you give away the check for?” She slapped him across his face and he held his hand over the bruise.
“I… wanted… to… protect… you…” He screamed over his cries as he ran back to find his sister now crying.
Riki was always the protector of the family, he was only five at that time and he grew to be strong like his dad. Risa knew that he would become like their father: strong, protective, and foolish. Reason he was the one to protect the family pride. The youngest, Miki, was the princess, she got everything she wanted without no argument. Risa had to mother her in being a girl but at such a young age, she was tomboyish, and caused fights at school.
Her two young siblings never watched as their parents left them, they always thought they went on a vacation without them. They would ask Risa every time where they went to and she always told them “somewhere.” It was a lie that she couldn’t keep up after the yakuza guys came and took everything from them. Risa had moved them place to place to leech off the uncles and aunties until their luck ran out. The three of them manage to get out of city and into a village that had begun its modernization.
The village was nameless because of its rough past with all their fellow neighbors but the people were the opposite. They had embraced the three of them despite assuming that Risa was their mother rather than their sister. No one knew about their struggles, which made it easier for them to adjust to their lifestyle. The bean was able to most of the female jobs with a smile on her face but internally she was wearing down for the little income they were receiving.
Because of the modernization, the price of food skyrocketed as they decide to do away with agricultural lands for businesses. It had a store for groceries and one for food, Risa liked the one for food because they lacked the equipment to cook with. However, the neighbors sometimes chipped in for the family to get by but Risa was running out of energy working for that little pay.
She had to make a decision about staying her, it was becoming stressful to worry about her siblings, and work at the same time. It always came down to what benefitted them the most and since the education was free, she had to stay for their sake. As always, she slept knowing that decision would be the correct one thus starting the cycle again the next day.
Couple nights later, her siblings were complaining of their hunger pains and bought the friend noodles that were half off for them. She saw the sparkle again but went straight to the house to drop off their food and she sat there with a smile as they consumed the food. However, instead of sitting outside looking at the sky asking for guidance, she became curious of the bright light she saw twice already.
Risa closed the door and decided to venture toward the sparkle, she passed the sign that indicated the start of a trail, and drifted into the darkness. The moon had been covered by the tall trees and she could only see inches in front of her. The fog was suddenly getting thicker which limited her sight even more and she instinctively touched the trees until the sparkle appeared briefly, directing her to her destination.
Wow this is so spooky. She thought to herself until the fog cleared up and emerged a house that was lighted by the moon. Her heart started to beat faster with every step she took toward the home. With a couple feet to go, an owl spooked her from the right, and a shock ran through her body as she got closer. Then, she grasped the doorknob and turned it slowly. The creaking sounds were not helping her nerves nor were the lack of light in the house, she took the first step into the house, and the door suddenly closed behind her.
“Anyone home?” She asked with echoed of her voice repeating back her question.
She ventured to the right side of the house where the kitchen would be but it seemed no one had been living her for ages. She passed by the counters and got caught into a few of the webs, she pulled whatever she could off, and forged onto the next room which looked like a family room. Everything seemed old, the television, the couch, the games, etc. The bean finally found the stairs to the second floor of the house and climbed each of the stairs carefully, trying to not make a sound.
“Anyone home?” She asked again with the same echoes repeating the questions.
She finally got to the top and saw a door open up to her left where the moon had entered into the hallway. The floors had several cracks in them and she avoided them with ease. Risa finally got to the door and let out a sigh of relief as the moon lit the only room she could actually see fully. She opened the door and it came off its hinges, it feel to the right of her and she saw someone. It was about her height with brown hair, wearing t-shirt and jeans; her feet were petite and white. It stood lifeless in the moonlight.
Risa decided to come up closer to see its face: pale, with reddish lipstick and rounded cheeks. She noticed it was redder coming up closer and her hair was parted in the middle. She extended her hands out to feel her face and her eyes opened up wide as she had woken up. Risa ran out as fast as she could tumbling down the stairs and managed to get a glimpse of her with the moonlight behind her.
“Welcome to the Takahashi household, my name is Takahashi Ai, nice to meet you.”
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1st! YATTA! Interesting story! I want moar!! :inlove: risa's parents dumped her behind? How could they? :( I want to know what happens to ai and risa! Update please!
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^ right now only :lol: well thnx for commenting, maybe I can get more with the story expanding other than my gory/sexual driven/love triangle story :nervous
Chapter 2
“Ehhh, this is a house? Someone actually lives here!” Risa tripped onto her butt as she saw the woman walk down to the bottom of the stairs.
“Yes, we live here. Why didn’t you knock?” Ai asked her as she lifted her up from the floor.
“Arigatou.” The bean bowed to her as they both dusted her off. “Why is it so dirty?”
Ai smiled as she looked around the house, it was moldy and everything was old to Risa. In her eyes, it was still brand new as nothing has changed. Ai took a seat on the table and began to smell the table with a smile like it was polished with lemon Pledge. Risa stood in the hallway attempting to understand Ai and her unusual adaptation to the old house.
“It is clean, I cleaned it yesterday.” Risa closed her eyes for a second and opened to find what she had been talking about.
The old house was turned into a beautiful interior and the smell of lemon filled the house as Ai danced through the room and landed on the couch. The room was filled with red hue and the couch which was filled with dust was a light shade of green. Ai snugged up to the pillow and looked back at the bean who was still in disbelief.
“How did this happen?” Risa rubbed her eyes and pinched herself.
“I told you, I cleaned up before.” Ai smiled at her as she grabbed Risa by the hand.
Risa sat down on the couch and it was warm with Ai’s warm body just being on it. She studied the whole room and compared to what she had seen before. It was dynamically different and then a peculiar smell of flowers hit the bean’s nose. She noticed the vase behind the host and the bright yellow flowers added to the atmosphere surrounding her. Then, she looked up and saw a family portrait of Ai and her parents; she had a sparkle showing her excitement, assuming she was much younger. Then, she snapped back to Ai who was staring at her with a grin on her face.
“I have a nice house right?” Risa nodded as she went back to the front door.
Every item was changed from when she first entered, it was luxurious compared to before, but she began to ponder why, why was it different from before? She was in disbelief that it was once a rundown house with no other decorations and it magically turned into a house in the middle of the forest with lights and colors that would be welcoming to any visitor. Risa tried to theorize what had actually happened and with every scenario, it would get shot down by common sense. Then, she ran up to Ai and touched her face: it was soft, silky, not a rough patch. She felt her arms with a slight tone to her and went back up to her face and moved it around.
“Why are you doing this?” Ai questioned her as Risa placed her hands on her face and looked into her eyes.
“You are real.” She stated as Ai pushed her away.
“Of course I’m real.” Ai walked up to Risa and touched her face imitating the bean’s motions.
Risa felt confident that she had to been dreaming and zoomed out of the house to look at the exterior. It was only lit by the moon as she saw it before she had entered the house. Then, she walked back in to find Ai still smiling with her hands to her back observing the bean panicking in front of her. Without any explanation, Risa decided to hug Ai as her final test, she felt the arms slowly embracing her, and the scent of strawberries filled her nose.
“You smell like strawberries.” Risa murmured to her ear as Ai took a sniff of her partner.
“You need a bath!” Ai joked as Risa pushed her away, feeling a bounce coming off her hands.
The bean was on the verge of tears as she felt warmth in a long time and she had to take advantage of her house. She ran upstairs to see the house refurnished with her room lit and the bathroom cleansed of the filth from before. Ai looked at Risa and offered the bathroom for her to use. The bean looked to see if the extra clothes would do before jumping in for a bath. It was slightly bigger than she anticipated but it would do.
She never felt warm water in a long time; it was a pleasurable experience for her to let anything warm hit her body. However, the thoughts were still weighing on her mind on how it could change within seconds, she felt that she went into a time warp, and popped back into another time where the house had been inhabited by people. She was still not convinced that it all happened in front of her but it was nice that a person let her used the shower to clean up.
Risa got herself refreshed by the bath and walked out to find a towel to wrap around her body but didn’t expect Ai to be right in front of her with a smile. She felt embarrassed that anyone else would see her naked and especially a stranger who just let her use her bathroom. Risa wrapped herself in the towel as fast as she could and stared at Ai to get privacy from her.
“Thank you for letting me clean up.” Risa bowed to Ai as she bowed back.
“No problem, I have tea ready downstairs when you are ready.” Ai stepped out and closed the door behind her.
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Miki woke up to the sound of the dogs howling and sat up looking for her big sister. She looked over at Riki, who was a log, and attempted to wake him up. Since they had no lights, they had to trust by the shadows, but the light was blocked by the wood pillar above them. Miki thought she saw movement from where Risa usually sleeps and was relieved by the sight.
Moments later, she woke up again to the howls and crawled over to Risa’s bed, to find no one was actually there. She kicked her brother up and curled up next to him. He was fearless during the day but at night he was just as afraid as her and tried to hold his stance protecting his sister. Then, he glanced over to see no one in Risa’s spot and began to panic.
“Nee-chan isn’t here.” Miki whispered as Riki agreed to the observation.
“Just stay calm, Risa prays for our safety, so she just might be outside.” Riki took a few steps to the door and withdrew when the howls got louder.
The two siblings decided to stay closer to each other as they anticipated Risa to come back in as soon as possible. They both closed their eyes and mumbled a prayer for their sister’s safety before snoring away in each other’s arms.
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Risa got herself dressed and wrapped her dirty clothes into the towel Ai offered her and raced down the stairs where Ai had poured her a cup for each of them. Risa picked up her cup and sipped the warm tea. She let out a loud moan pleasing her host for her accomplishment. Ai looked up at the clock and lowered her cup as her smile turned into a frown.
“What happened? Why are you frowning for?” Risa put her cup down as the sunlight came peering through the window.
“Papa and mama are coming home soon, sorry for chasing you out so soon, hope we meet again.” Ai waived as Risa froze wondering what was happening; she disappeared as soon as the sun hit her.
The house had turned back to its old, moldy building but the clothes and towel were still new and she decided to bid adieu to the house before anything weird does happen. She didn’t realize that she had spent a lot of time in this house away from her younger siblings. The bean saw the path back to her house and ran as fast as she could before anyone else woke up.
She manage to make it back before the streets were lining up with cars, it was unusual for Risa to be up early, but she had the energy to run back. She sped through to get to the other side of the street and bumped into an elderly lady who was carrying her groceries.
“Gomen.” Risa bowed as she grinned at her.
“Ohayou, hayai ne~” Risa nodded.
She got back to her house and noticed the two sleeping wrapped in the same blanket. She unwrap her towel and noticed coins pouring out. The sound woke up both of them as they looked at the ground with happy expressions; Risa picked up half of the coins and left the other two to split it between themselves. The bean dropped her dirty clothes into the basket and dove into bed with her eyes closed.
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interesting start to this story, poor Risa and her family...... what exactly is Ai? is she 'real' and if she is in what sense could she be real... more please!
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wow this story seems pretty interesting! sucks that risa's parents just went and ditched her with her younger siblings ;3; and i wonder what ai is too? like a ghost but not a ghost? XD
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Wait, wait. O_O
Ai has magic?? Or is ai a ghost?? But good chapter and update soon, author-san! ~^^~
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@oddy: the story will kinda unfold to who she really is, for now she is real in an unusual way
@kawaii: definitely not a ghost, she disappears for a reason, just not in this chapter
@risa_ai: yes she has magic, which makes her alive only when Risa is around or supposedly to that reason
Chapter 3
Risa woke up still drowsy from her adventure, she noticed it was about midday, and everyone was busy with their shopping. She looked around the house and noticed both had left for school, she had the house to herself again as the usual day would go except she had money. Risa thought it was a dream that she had met Ai, the coins were a surprise, but still to describe it and it was a blessing. She counted up the coins and found she could buy vegetables for the day.
Risa walked out with a smile and greeted everyone passing her, she never felt glad in a long time, and it was showing to everyone as she got cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. The townspeople were wondering how she got money overnight thus starting the rumors of her past. No one knew why she came here, she had no relatives living within the town limits, and many thought her siblings were her children. However, no rumor could be squashed by her means and the people were conservative with that thinking.
She arrived home to prep for their dinner and the dark cloud that was above them was gone. She felt that everything couldn’t be any better until the two siblings went home. Riki was covering his right eye as Risa saw the bruise and she grabbed the few ice cubes left and wrapped in a towel for him.
“What happened?” Risa looked at his eye as it was now swollen shut.
“The bullies punched me and took whatever money I had.” He cried as Miki stood behind her brother.
Risa let out a sigh as she rubbed the brother’s back to calm him down. In her mind, she felt responsible because of the money and letting them handle that much. However, it was a way of life for them to get intimidated because they were bigger and no one would protect them any harm. She closed her eyes to hide her tears and walked back to the kitchen to finish up the soup.
“Nee-chan, are you cooking?” Risa nodded as she saw Miki by her.
“I think it will be good.” Miki said with a smile as Riki stood behind her as he tried to smile but the pain was throbbing.
“Thank you, I hope so.” She said with a smile, building up her confidence in preparing food.
Risa laid out the pot and the two siblings decided to dig in as they had to do their homework after dinner. Risa watched them as a mother would, admire them as they were growing up. Her mind was heavy with thoughts of the night before and her curiosity was becoming evident as she took a step outside watching the sunset. Few minutes after, they had declared their surrender to the pot, and saw a lot of food left. Risa wanted to cry as she laid her bowl down and took the few huge pieces of vegetables left.
It was good, that’s all she had to say to herself. No one could ever say it wasn’t, it warmed up the bean perfectly, she was never confident until now. Her cooking could make her siblings perform better and their health was her number one concern, as long as she could feed them, it would make them better off than where they are at now. Risa felt full after her third complete bowl and covered the rest to cool off before putting it into the fridge. However, she had an itch to go back to the house but her two siblings had to keep it a secret. She told them she was going to the church to pray but she knew that her destination was the woods.
She wrapped her coat tightly and walked out as they were readying themselves for sleep. She knew they wouldn’t fool around because they were too obedient to go against her. With them at least safe enough, she walked into the woods and followed the same path that got her to the house. It was the same house that she had seen last night. The smell of mold and fresh rain conquered the area. She pushed the door and walked into the house, she remembered that Ai was upstairs, so she walked to the room where she remembered seeing her.
“Hello Ai, I’m back.” She said softly and there was no response.
Risa felt sure that it must been a dream and walked down the stairs. She suddenly felt a cool breeze blow through the house and then light started to go on in one room and then, the next room until the house was completely lit. Risa saw all the furniture come back to life again and then looked up at the top of the stairs seeing Ai with a new outfit on: White T-shirt with the kanji character Ai on top and she was wearing denim shorts.
“Welcome back! My friend.” Ai ran down and hugged the bean as the kettle was on the stove blowing steam.
“Thank you.” Risa replied as they sat on the table with teacups in front of them.
Ai poured the hot water into the tea kettle and waited for it to steep as she laid out finger sandwiches for both of them. Risa was within her mind’s limits in trying to answer this to her own self, it was magic that Ai was doing to encourage her to come back. However, it could never be possible that it was connected to electricity in the middle of the forest and that puzzled her more.
“What are ya thinking about?” Ai asked as she grinned at her.
“How is this possible?” Ai tilted her head as she playfully slapped her on the hand.
“I live here, doesn’t every house have electricity?” Risa nodded.
“But, this house is in the middle of a forest.” Risa said bluntly as Ai poured the first cup for her guest.
“I don’t live in the middle of the forest, I live in a town where everyone is nice to each other and we offer our goods in share with others.” Ai poured a cup for herself and lifted it for cheers.
“Really?” Risa wanted to believe that it was a real house but from the night before, it couldn’t be.
Ai crossed her arms and started to ponder about how to show the house was real despite feeling, touching, and smelling the house beforehand. Then, an idea came into her mind and took her to the father’s study, Risa went to the basement and a light was switched on to show the books he had collected. Risa could tell her father was an intelligent man as the equations were complex for mostly anyone to solve. In addition, he had a diary that looked quite rustic and she looked at Ai before opening the book up.
The first entry was from January 1986 and he was frustrated over their attempts to make a child. Her mother was on the verge of suicide until the test came back positive. He was overjoyed of the news and a celebration was planned for their first born baby.
“They were talking about me.” Ai said proudly as Risa nodded.
Risa flipped to the next page but was interrupted by Ai as she was concerned about the father coming home while they were in his study so she took her back upstairs to visit her mother’s room. The room was filled with fragrance of her many perfumes and a flower facing the window. Ai took out one piece of jewelry and put it on as she was prancing around showing off her rich side. Risa began to laugh at Ai’s mocking and they moved onto the family room where Risa had been before. She couldn’t think of anything to deny her claims until the urge to go upstairs.
“I think we can visit the next time.” Ai sidestepped the bean and walked back to the table to drink their tea.
Risa could only think of what was up there that made Ai nervous for her to go up there. It seemed unusual that her own room was off limits and she only used the bathroom which looked normal to Risa. As she began to theorize, Ai drew her train of thought from upstairs to Risa.
“You forgot to introduce yourself.” Ai had a sly smile as she came closer to her.
“Well… I’m Niigaki Risa; I usually go by Risa or nee-chan, not Gaki-san.” Ai giggled.
“Gaki-san, you don’t look like one.” Ai replied.
“I used to look more boyish, so that is how I got my nickname.” Ai nodded.
“Well Risa you do look more womanly, I wish I had more physique.” Risa scanned her body and disagreed with her statement.
“You look wonderful, I should be more jealous of you.” Risa complimented Ai as she became red-faced.
After a long conversation about her family, Ai had walked up the stairs, and soon disappeared to the morning light. The house transformed to its former self and Risa saw bills stacked on the table and hid it in her coat. She walked out of the forest to see the people waking up while she rushed back to see her two siblings to school.
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Still not quite sure what is going on here seems as though whatever is upstairs may be important in some way, hmm....
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Ahh~ ai's keeping something from risa! So ai lives in another world?? And risa is the key to the existence of ai?? GMADPAJGMGAGMPJGMGAPM!! I don't get it~~
Author-san, update soon!
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@oddy it will get explained soon... :nervous
@risa_ai Risa is the key to Ai but something else will happen that will change the dynamic
Also, thanks for the thanks!
Chapter 4
Risa managed to see both ready for school and looked at each of them giving them a good bye hug before they ran off. She remembered that she had work today and she had to walk over to the library to do some janitor work. Risa decided to wash her face before going into work.
The library was usually occupied with the elderly reading their newspaper or picking up a book to read, even if they read it million times before. The bean was excited that the library was closed yesterday, so she wouldn’t have to clean the bathrooms in the morning. But, she had to mop the floors, which was relatively easier to do, and she could do that well with only water.
She filled up her bucket, walked out to the far corner of the room, and swept up the dust before putting the mop head onto the floor. With her head dazed, she didn’t notice the young woman behind her and whacked her with the end of the broom. She looked up and saw her holding her head on the floor.
“Itai!” She yelled out as Risa dropped her broom and looked at her.
“Gomen, gomen, I didn’t see you back there.” Risa apologized as she lifted the injured woman up.
“Well, I guess I should watch where I go to.” She smiled and turned her back away from Risa but a few seconds later approached the bean from the front.
“I’m sorry to bother you again but I’m new here, can you tell me where I can go eat lunch?” She smiled as Risa remembered it was morning, and began thinking that she must get knocked hard on the head.
“It may be too early for lunch.” Risa said as she looked back at her clock.
“Ahh, gomen, maybe breakfast shall do.” She said to herself as she began to walk away only to come back to see Risa.
“My name is Konno Asami, I am a researcher into a mystery of this town, and it used to be beautiful before the city dwellers ruined it. I only heard of the few stories outside of the town, now I am going in depth.” Risa had a lopsided smile as she wished the researcher good luck and pointed her to store.
Risa had wondered if what she had experienced was the mystery she had been hunting for but in her heart she had to figure it out herself. She had been lost in her thoughts until she finally got to the other side with the broom and prepped the mop. Risa moved it side to side to catch every part of the floor’s surface; it felt lighter than usual as her thoughts began to think of Ai.
Risa adored Ai for her own beauty and her free spirit within the house but she never had a chance to say good bye. It bothered her to the point that she had to hold her to say it to her face. Without knowing it, she was in the middle holding the mop upright to her. In embarrassment, she quickly finished up mopping and went on lunch break. She had forgotten about making her own lunch and walked out to the convenience store to buy a bento.
Asami stood outside looking at her strangely as she bought the bento and wrote down clues about Risa. Konno was a reporter by trade but with the lack of great mysteries she took on a story about the missing doll. Fifteen year ago, a girl died tragically in the forest outside of town. Her body was never found but her father never gave up as he made a doll that looked exactly like her if she was a young adult. But, her father withdrew himself from the world as he labored over his creation.
The girl was later found buried deep in the woods right next to the house he was occupying. His wife broke all ties with him and later committed suicide before the investigation was over. They only found the doll left and the case had gone cold to who killed her. Konno was keen with her senses although her love of eating was her only distraction but she loved to jog which made her slim. She was always known to wear a white sweater when she had concrete evidence towards any investigation. Most of the time, she had it right on the dot to the person but the one that flawed her was another mystery of the homeless.
In Osaka, they had their census in counting the homeless one year and she had volunteered because of the stations connection with the community. She had written down what she knew she had and handed it over to the supervisor but it was confirmed wrong by a local. The official did the count again to confirm to the side of the local, she was furious that a local who was never around her area could get the right count. She came back the next day to find it was fewer than the day before and was proven wrong by the local again who said it was supposed to be higher.
Konno took the initiative to research on the local and came up with one lead of him being a convicted gangster. She followed him tirelessly until she got her evidence. With everything in hand, she was to explode the situation wide open about the hire to kill scheme. As she was to walk into the building, a bomb went off on the officials’ floor. Her boss pulled back the story and it was closed to the fear of retaliation.
She was ready to explain but the case had gone cold and the evidence was just sitting in a locker waiting to be explored but she lucked out. The white sweater which had been her trademark in exposés was shut down for the first time; she became frustrated that nothing would come out it that she sat in her room with a letter and a knife. Her co-worker, Oshiro Makoto, rushed in and knocked it away from her.
Mako-chan, as Konno called her affectionately, was her savior. She knew it was a cover up as she was witness to the scam he was pulling. She placed her full belief in front of their supervisor that it was a cover up and silently agree to never bring it up as a public matter. Ever since then, they were the top two in their occupation.
Luckily, Oshiro had another matter to take care of and Konno was now figuring the piece of the puzzle together to the mystery. She examined Risa with careful detail about her face, hair, height, and predicted weight. She theorized that she came from a poor family and eating must have been a struggle. Her smile faded as she walked out and saw the researcher with her notebook out.
“What are you doing?” Risa yelled out as she hid the book into her pocket.
“Analyzing the people, getting to know them personally.” She explained.
“I see I hope you had a meal here to do more studying, good luck.” Risa grinned as Konno wiped the sweat off her forehead and analyzed a few more before packing up.
The bean came back to find that the library’s restrooms were flooding, Risa was no plumber, so she called the person to fix the pipes. He came onto the site in ten minutes and walked up to seek the problem, the librarian was disappointed that it may have cost them a day of work that they pay and let Risa have the rest of the day off. She pleaded to at least give her one more hour but it came with no success and she walked home to the sun blazing over her.
She arrived home drenched in sweat and sat by the fan as she cooled off. It was about an hour more until her siblings had to come home from school. She took the opportunity to buy more stuff for both could eat but stuck in there was Ai. She walked out to the store to buy vegetables but with the extra money she could buy it correctly. However, it seemed weird that she had money from an unknown source. Without question, the cashier stared at her making her uncomfortable. She scatted out with carrots and potatoes and returned home without any more questions.
She started up her stew with the carrots and potatoes boiling in hot water. She began to ponder if she should make another trip to AI’s house but decided against that with the new person snooping into their livelihood. A few minutes later, her siblings popped in with smiles on their faces. They emptied out their pocket and the coins fell out as they found a trail home.
Risa had thought of what they had down but was confirmed that they found coins on the ground without forcing them and Risa promised that they could keep it. The bean was confirming to her that she should watch over them instead of adventuring into the woods.
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*dramatic music plays* ai was killed?? O.O and then she can only appear cos of risa? WHO KILLED AI??!! Konkon is a detective. Interesting. Thanks for the fast update, author-san! ~^^~ WOOTS! I'm 1st to comment!
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^ and sometimes the only :lol: well the story will come along the line of that happening but did she die?????
Chapter 5
It was a normal afternoon for her after hearing Miki and Riki come home and they could eat dinner soon enough as they waited for the rice to cook. The two opened up their books and started on daily homework but something was distracting them as they kept their attention to Risa. They felt something was wrong with their older sister and knew it when she isn’t smiling. It usually meant that they did something wrong but it weighed on their minds too about her status.
“Nee-chan, are you okay?” Riki tapped onto Risa’s legs as she was sitting down next to them.
“Yeah… you guys shouldn’t worry about me.” She masked her happiness but there was something on her mind.
“Okay… but we need to say something.” Risa scooted closer to them as Riki began to whisper in her ear.
“We heard that you have been selling your body…” Risa’s eyes widened and within her body a flame grew larger by the second.
She didn’t want to scream at them about the source but she wanted to know who told them that. She stood up and left them to watch the rice for the time being. Risa ran out to the town and everyone had their eyes fixed at her, however she was on the hunt for Konno. The bean ran down the street keeping her eyes everywhere for the reporter and finally saw her at the café. She ran into the half-filled café and pointed toward the reporter in the crowd.
“What do you know?” Risa said firmly catching the reporter off guard.
“I only know a bit but if it is about you, we better speak in private.” Asami lowered her cup down to the saucer and let out a breath.
Risa didn’t want to make a scene however she had to know what people had been telling her siblings immediately. She believed that any gossip would give distance but she had to prove that she was trustworthy for them to grow into great people. Asami walked outside into an alleyway and took out her notes to scan over them.
Konno could tell the difference between the true and false, it was her job to do so and she did it well. The elderly gave her an explanation of lazy, which she could tell it was false after running into her. She was introverted among the population, which was early to determine but maybe it was the gap that made her respond that way. Finally, she was shady, she never had a real job, she rarely has anyone who is a parental figure in the house, and she might have been a call girl or prostitute before arriving in town. That item made Asami curious about Risa and she could help dismiss the people’s view of her.
“Well I want to believe that you hadn’t done most presumed by the people, which isn’t the worst of your concerns, because I read into why you came here.” Risa surrendered that she came to the town under abnormal circumstance but it was for protection.
“I don’t know what they told you but most don’t know me because I shy away from them because they thought I was a single parent. It irritated me that they thought that way and looked down at my status but the few who believed me, tended to be younger and could sympathize.” She wrote down her words.
“I see, but I need you to make a deal with me.” Risa nodded.
“If you can help me solve the mystery, I will help you out of here. My company had their dealings with the yakuza before and we had to cut many because of the connection. However, you have to be truthful about what you do see, and report back to me with any new commentary, understand?” The bean extended her hand in agreement and ran back to the house.
Risa saw her siblings taking out the bowl to prepare for dinner. She was proud of their assistance and they never did complain unless they were extremely sick. With all their dishes ready, Risa poured them a bowl of a stew and they dropped it off on the table until three were set. Miki liked to scoop out rice because of the steam and she tended to follow the celebrities with the steam treatment. Risa laughed at her younger sister for putting beauty before anything else. It was cute at her age and she dreamt that she would help out her older sister to at least give her a day off but Risa delay it until she was much older.
They all sat around the table with dinner in hand and ate up after their greeting. Risa looked around and they were smiling for the first time since their parents were with them. It was pleasurable that everyone was glad for a meal worth for many. The stew was going down quickly with Riki’s large appetite and was shameless to show his midsection was now hard as a rock thanks to Risa. Then, as they got to bottom of the pot, they looked at her wondering about their situation.
“Nee-chan, are you going out tonight?” Miki asked as she carried their bowls to the sink.
“I’m not planning to go anywhere, why do you ask?” Miki looked over at Riki and gave her a nod.
“We were wondering that if you were…” Risa interrupted them.
“I am not doing anything illegal, I have been finding money lately.” The two smiled and bowed to their sister.
“Thank you, we love you very much.” Risa grinned as they both went back to doing their homework.
Risa wanted to tell them about the old house but she feared they would mention it without knowing the truth of the situation; however it would have been nice to see it themselves. The bean decided to wash all the dishes before she went to sleep and then she heard a crash outside on the street. She instructed the two to stay in the house while she investigated the accident.
She stepped out to smoke, a car had veered into the pole, and the person seemed to be stuck in the automobile. She looked as the people desperately tried pulling him out and seconds before it went up in flames, the person escaped with scratches on its head. She felt something sticky in her hand and looked to her right finding a deer licking her hand.
“A deer.” Risa said as it looked up and rubbed its nose on her shirt.
“I wonder what it is looking for…” She looked a foot beyond the animal and found a strawberry bush.
Risa pushed the deer toward the bush and sniffed it before taking a berry off the vine. It let out a powerful grunt before taking the rest of the vine. It ran back towards the direction of the forest before a person flashed their light over to the woman.
“Are you okay?” Risa nodded.
“That deer caused the accident, did it cause any harm to you?” She shook her head.
“Okay, well I guess you heard the car slam into the pole.” The man flashed his badge and Risa nodded again.
“I was washing dishes and heard a loud crash. I ran out and saw the car smoking up. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.” She bowed to him as she left her alone.
After he walked away, the deer came back to get more strawberries and lowered its head as it was bowing to Risa. The deer ran back into the forest and the light she had seen before appeared. Risa was determined to not go back for tonight because of work the next morning and the rain was slowly coming over her and firmed up her decision to not visit Ai. She ran back inside and the storm attacked the city with heavy rain and thunder, Risa was lucky that she kept flashlights from their move, and she left them out in case of a black out.
Risa laid out her supplies preparing for anything that was going to happen that night and fifteen minutes after the rain was pounding the roof, the house went black. Miki and Riki closed up their books and turned on their flashlights to find their older sister sitting in front of her flashlight concentrating on the door. Without any hesitation, they walked up to the bath and cleaned themselves before sleep. In Risa’s mind was pondering over the deer, it seemed like someone was visiting her, which seemed unusual but it could have been Ai in disguise, which Risa couldn’t rule out.
The two quickly got dressed for bed leaving Risa the bathroom to herself; she had to clean it out before putting in the new water, so she spent an hour ridding itself of the filth before taking her bath. She relaxed in the bath with the rain hitting the roof like percussion and she drummed to it as it sounded nice but then her body felt the fatigue come over her and dried herself up for bed. She walked down in her pajamas with a towel holding up her hair.
“I feel guilty that we went through all this but thanks to Ai, we can pull through at least for now.” She mumbled under her breath and released the towel. The next moment, her head was on the pillow and went to sleep with no trouble.
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UPDATE! Eh?? So it means that someone is watching over risa or something?
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^
Yeah I'm wondering that too, I wonder if Ai might be able to do more than she can, or something like that........
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To answer your question, it will be part of the mystery :grin:
Chapter 6
The bean woke up with a stuffy nose and her head pounding with the sounds of her siblings stomping next to her, trying to wake her up. She opened her eyes and they both stopped as her red eyes cautioned them to stop stomping. Risa looked up at them and they ran off to school. She rolled out of her bed and looked at the clock to see she was ten minutes late to work. Her phone on the table was ringing off the hook but the headache was halting her progress towards the table.
“Hmm, you must have a good night.” Risa looked up to see Konno with a cup of tea.
“My head is pounding.” Risa looked at the cup and leaned forward to take a sip.
Konno was always careful about her health and usually took care of her co-workers, so it wasn’t surprising that she was at her house but how she got in was what on Risa’s mind. She stared at the reporter for a moment before taking another sip of her tea.
“Well, I’ll make it quick. I am here because I found something that might interest you. Many people dislike you but they have no idea where you came from and why you have two siblings. I want to offer you a job to be my assistant on this case.” Her eyes opened up to the offer but her heart sank a bit thinking about Ai.
“I see. I may have to think about it as I am not in the shape to come with a decision.” Konno smiled and nodded.
“Well I am here as long as it is still active on my part. However, if I do solve it, I have more questions to the recent events and that is where I need you to be most active in.” Risa shook her head slowly and was offered an envelope and a sheet of paper with rules.
Risa glanced over them for a moment and then crashed down to the pillow as she went to rest. Konno’s patience was wearing thin over Risa as she really needed her as soon as possible, it had been a joke to even consider as a source but she had a gut feeling that it could be a breakthrough for her. The reporter decided to stand outside her doorway in case of any intruders. Beyond her skills as a reporter, she had learned self-defense to protect herself or anyone from danger, she only had to use it once, and it gave her much pride that she could use it properly.
A few hours passed and she went in to check on Risa, she was still asleep but she looked at the clock, and noticed she only had a few hours before her siblings would come home. Despite spending the time to make her tea to at least get her to sign, she felt sorry for Risa, it was compassion that drove her to become a reporter, and it was that same fire that wanted Risa out of this town. Konno locked the outside door and left with a note with her address on it.
It was almost midday and she forgotten about breakfast by taking care of the woman. She walked over to the yakisoba restaurant and ordered a plate with gyoza. The lunch gave her energy to look up the background of Ai and to seek more pieces that she could use in her story. Suddenly, as she walked up to the counter to pay for her meal, she felt a weird vibe coming from a female sitting at the table near the entrance. It made her hair stand up as she walked by her and the money fell to the floor as she helped her out picking up her change.
“Gomen.” Konno mumbled as she handed the money over to Konno.
“Don’t worry, it happens.” Her smile wiped off her fear but something didn’t seem right and walked out as soon as possible.
The woman Konno banged into was in the town for the same story but for a different reason: tourism. She had scoops of stories within the Japanese archipelago that brought people from around the world to her finds and she made money for every hit. It wasn’t a lot although she could live with every article she wrote and that made her the most happy. She had a lighter appetite than the reporter, which made her quicker to the source, which gave her an ultimate advantage because any story made her richer. She was Ogawa Makoto of the Nihon Obake Magazine.
~~
She grew up a fan of ghost stories and with her curiosity; she walked into the areas to find truth and myths in the classics. Ogawa had grown to become a writer and her topics varied with the ghost stories to the mundane missing dog stories. However, her break was from the magazine, she read their best articles while she was a child, and fell in love with the author Taki. She had believed to meet him once before his passing couple years ago but it could never be confirmed and it was their last hope that she could bring up the magazine’s prestige.
Her first assignment was Taki’s last story about a boy was run over by a car forty years ago on a road leading to Osaka. The ghost were frightening the people and cost a person his life when it came out of thin air and his car stopped into a pole and the pole crushed him to his demise. She drove up to the area and studied the road during the day and observed the people at night. She noticed nothing of the unusual for the first few days until the thick fog covered the road and then she saw a silhouette in the fog.
Ogawa ran out into the thick fog and ended up on the other side of the road as she saw headlights from a ½ mile away. It was amazing how the boy was oblivious to his surroundings and feet from the eventual contact the car screeched and slammed his rear into the wooden posts tearing the car into two pieces. It was cleanly broken from the backseat area and she saw the driver with a gash on his head so she helped him until she could drag him to the car to bring him to the hospital. She dropped him off at the emergency room and drove back to the area where the crash had happened to notice the car was gone.
She had lost her temper and yelled out at the road for her mistake in judgment to help the man in the crash but the fog had cleared up and a house twenty yards away had a light on. She ran over to ask about the man’s car and as she got closer the wreck was in front of his house. She had paused to change her path to the house and found the back door to an elderly man and woman chatting about the latest events.
She had walked in unannounced and gazed at her for a while before inviting her for dinner on their table, it was laid out for three people, but she took the empty seat as a sign of respect. The wife handed her a bowl of soup and she swooped up what she could before laying down her chopsticks to thank them for the meal. Ogawa had her hand in pocket as the man stopped her.
“You know Taki came here to get the story but we fixed the details to get him away from this house.” Ogawa placed her hands onto the table as she gathered the story into her mind.
“The real details were he was killed on my own poor judgment and I truly regretted it over the past forty years.” His wife held his head onto her midsection as he teared up.
“Why tell Taki that it was the driver’s mistake? Did you know what the consequences were for him?” He shook his head in agreement.
“Because the driver was my son and he killed my grandson by accident.” Ogawa felt uneasy as she looked at the pictures of their son and the lone for their grandson at the altar.
She prayed toward the altar and looked over at their mail; it was none of her business to find anything but there was an insurance policy in their name. She glanced over to find the son had died of wounds in his jail cell twenty years ago; there were other papers to be sent over for claims of his death, and his wife, who was with another man after the accident.
Her lips felt heavy as she looked over to them, they were distraught over the mess that led to the timeline, and she closed her eyes to envision a way to soothe their losses. She grabbed the papers and wrote a story out to the editor about their feelings after the story. The story changed the complexion of Taki’s original version and updated over the details. The family was deeply indebted to releasing the real story which they got the settlement money and could die in peace over the incident. She had been made a lead writer and was now in the midst of another breakthrough.
Ogawa had her backpack ready to enter the woods after her meal but now with Konno in town it would be a short time before either could get a lead. Either way, the winner gets a big story, the loser travels back to its respected parties with failure written across the forehead.
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Risa's sick! Oh noes... AUTHOR-SAN, WHAT IS THE MYSTERY KONNO IS IN?
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Poor Risa getting sick!!!
and quite what is is Konno up to I wonder.......
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Wait a while more for the mystery as Ogawa has become a player in the story.
Chapter 7
Risa woke up and felt her body was being strapped down, she felt that she couldn’t pull through but the energy came back when she looked over the contract next to her. It was requiring her to give full participation towards Konno’s research and if she had signed, Konno would give her a permanent place to stay. She was quite surprised that she had put that much on the table for the little knowledge she had but in her heart, she had to seek what was the reason for Ai to hide herself in the forest.
She reheated the tea Konno had offered her and began to think about her options.
She knew Ai wouldn’t give away her secret for a few visits but to know the trick would make Risa happy. It felt tiring to even think about Ai that she went outside to breathe the air. She noticed the paper outside her door and the deer, that had visited her earlier, tore it apart and nudged the bean.
The deer led her back into the forest where the house stood in full daylight, Risa entered again, and the magic reappeared to show off Ai’s house, but Ai was nowhere to be seen.
“Ai-chan!” Risa called and there was no answer until the deer directed her to the stairs.
She walked up and saw her looking out the window. Risa sneezed to catch her attention from the doorway, Ai turned to show her frowning face. However, she stayed on the bed, looking at Risa as she hadn’t seen her in a while, and the deer behind her pushed her inside. Risa’s legs buckled under her weight and she was kneeling on the bed still focusing on Ai.
“You are sick and yet you visited me.” Ai said softly.
“I can’t visit you all the time and I am sorry if I led you to believe that.” Ai smiled and shook her head.
“I know why and you are the one who brought them here.” Ai turned back away from Risa as she went for her hand.
“They were on their own, I never did anything to make them come here, I promise.” Ai slipped her hand away and moved her hair to the side as the noise had become louder outside.
“Sorry, you have to go.” Ai laid back down and closed her eyes. Slowly, everything turned back to the old house until she grabbed her hand and hugged her. Her eyes opened up again and it was to the beautiful place Risa saw when she was with her.
“Leave NOW!” Ai yelled and the house was now to its run down shape. Risa sat there moping over Ai as she didn’t lead anyone to their hideout but she urged herself to let go and flee before anyone else saw her.
The deer pushed her out of the window and luckily landed on the soft leaves. The bean ran back to the town with tears in her eyes, wondering what went wrong. She ran back into the house and saw the contract floating around; she ripped it up and threw it into the hot stove. It was proof of her innocence and she hoped Ai could see what she had done. It was a long day for her to ponder over her next visit.
~~
Ogawa took out her notes as she headed back to base, where she was staying for the present, it was highly unusual that she camped outside, but for this story, it was necessary. She had taken out her cell phone and saw the no signal sign pop up as an indication from when she first came. All the events were making Ogawa anxious to fine the house in the forest. It seemed like destiny that she would find it and solve it within her time visiting but the catch was the storm that made the area muddy.
She hated being dirty.
The writer took advantage of a dry spot during the storm and she was now on a hill facing the town. The smells were quite different than the places where she went to for her stories. It was more elegant or at least rooms were setup for her but the town was hush about the story and she was the nut that was chasing an impossible case. It made no sense that people were hiding pieces that could make it big for her, because it put the town on the map around Japan. However, she made due with her tent reading the map of the town. Then, the editor Honda called her cell phone.
Ah a connection.
“Moshi moshi, Ogawa desu.” She answered but no reply back.
Shoots.
Ogawa turned off her phone to conserve her battery and placed it in her backpack as she planned her path through the forest. Since she was near the back end of the trail, she had to climb down a few hills to seek the house, which was made difficult by the vegetation. She entered through the dark area where the tress blocked the sun and felt her way to a fork.
She decided to take the left path based on her intuition and the area was filled with unusual creatures. But, her lack of knowledge gave her a great disadvantage and bailed as soon the sounds of snakes was near. Ogawa arrived back at the fork and went right this time where the path lightened up with the sun. She anticipated the ridge close to the middle and looked over to see the house.
It was abandoned a while back and the only thing that was alive was the moss growing. Ogawa sat down looked down to see a slide was created. She rode down but the root caught her right forearm, tearing the skin six inches long. The pain was unbearable and she held the cut for a few minutes trying to null her crying. But, the pain was now all over as she was only being held up by the tree and blood was covering her face.
She made the huge mistake by not walking the trail down but it wasn’t life threatening so she could stay there to at least rest a while before moving onto the house. A few minutes later, she heard a door creaking and looked down to see someone walking into the house. She pulled her notebook out of the pocket and wrote down what she had seen below.
Makoto tried to stop the rush of blood from entering her eyes from her cut on the forehead. She held on until a voice screamed out a person’s name. She wrote the name and decided to put pressure to stop the bleeding from the arm by wrapping the scarf over the wound. Then, the woman ran out crying given her an opportunity to follow up but her body was paralyzed with the lack of blood flow and she called assistance to cure her right away.
After the call, she had to be patient about the paramedics as they knew she wasn’t looking for a cure but the solution was the rest by the tree. People had brought her from the area and took her to the hospital out of the town to heal her wounds. But, she was a few hours behind the woman who had ran out and now it was up to the woman to answer her question or suffer the consequences again.
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Risa... So she's the source to ai. Ai was not able to leave when risa held on to her. Who's tailing risa?
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I thought that Risa had to be attached to Ai someway or another, wasn't sure it would be that though......
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I posted it before the forum went down but I shall post this chapter again
Chapter 8
Risa had returned home wondering what made Ai changed. It was like Ai didn’t want to be discovered or she didn’t like her. She felt more towards the prior but the concept of not liking her was possible. She walked up to the bathroom to wash her face and saw her face in the mirror. She was sent back to her childhood, reminding herself how she fit in with the non-popular kids. For how much she fought, Risa wept until she got home where her parents would comfort her. The role reversal was unique to her and she could think about what her parents would do but the mistake would never be erased.
She heard the door open and the two voices calling her from the bottom floor. Risa ran down to see Miki with a note in her hand. She took it and sat in the middle of their living room.
Dear Risa,
I understand why you never visited me yesterday. It was the reason why I told you to run away earlier. Honestly, I missed you a lot and when the deer visited you earlier, it gave me back strawberries and hints about your whereabouts. I want you to know that I am alive and not dead as many people predicted. The reason why I stay in the house is because I need to hide my identity. The deer shall be our tool to communicate and the illusion you usually see is the kindness you bring when you visit.
Arigatou,
Ai
Risa folded the note and went outside to see the deer resting near the strawberry bush. She walked up to the deer and petted her for a while as she thought of her next maneuver. Risa ran back and wrote her a not to bring back to her.
Ai-chan,
I never meant to bring them to your location. Is there a way to make you escape the house so you would not be found out as well? If there is a way, please tell me. As for the deer, we can use it for the time being but we need to act quickly to avoid any suspicion.
Ja ne,
Risa
The bean threw the note to the ground and the deer picked it up and trotted into the forest. Miki saw everything and wanted to ask her about the deer but she figured to keep silent. Riki ran out to find a pouch where the deer was resting and brought it in quickly. He opened it up to find a stack of cash wrapped with string, Risa counted it quickly and she almost fainted from the amount. The two young kids couldn’t interpret Risa’s expression but the weight of the bills indicated it was more than they had seen in their lives.
“Why are we getting money?” Riki asked as Risa couldn’t produce an answer.
“Riki, I think someone is looking over us. Risa must be working hard.” The bean smiled for a bit but 200,000 yen was bliss.
Risa went to the closet where she hid the money for them. It was building up to be a life savings for many but she needed to wait for her response. Since she was exhausted, Risa went out to find food in the convenience store, she gathered croquettes and noodles for her siblings, and told them to eat so she could wait for her response.
~~
Ogawa walked back to her camp ground with a bandage on her head and her body was stiff from being cramped in the hideout. She laid down on the ground moaning in pain, she began to feel out her bag for pills to ease her ailment, and then she heard a noise outside causing her to turn awkwardly. The writer opened her tent to find a stray dog begging for food. She chased it off to get a little shuteye but it began howling, which annoyed her, and she just closed her ears to stop the noise from entering into her ears.
She thought it was over when the sound didn’t bother her but the momentary silence made her fear for the worst and she threw out pieces of jerky to take care of the dog’s hunger. Moments later, the howls started again and she decided to walk back into town for food. She saw the woman who ran out of the abandoned house and she hid behind the wall to not expose herself.
She sat down to look over her notes and began to think about why she ran out and what could make her connected with the house. She assumed she might be mentally impaired but quickly crossed it off as she couldn’t believe anyone would visit without a purpose. Now, it was her goal to figure why the woman had gone to the house and she wrote down pieces of information that would help her.
Ogawa followed her back to the house which was run down and the odor of rain water filled her nose with the puddle to the side of the house. She tried to find clues of her name but it seemed difficult and she assumed that it was a temporary house for them to have shelter. As she crept up to the front, a hand landed on her shoulder and turned to find Konno behind her.
“What are you doing?” Asami asked as Ogawa escorted back to the street.
“What is her name? She ran into the forest hours ago and ran out for no apparent reason. She was in the house long enough to seek something she knows.” Ogawa explained.
“Niigaki Risa. She has two young siblings and she has been working since she came here to earn enough to move to a stable house.” Ogawa wrote down the information and saw the reporter with books in her hand.
“May I ask the same question to you?” Konno showed her books about the recent history of the town.
The two decided to eat dinner at the ramen place as they discussed their purpose in the town; it seemed that they were here with the same goal. Ogawa felt comfortable with Konno as she only wanted to help out Risa while Ogawa wanted the story of the house. They understood that working together might interfere with their goals so they gave each other numbers to discuss further collaborations and walked their separate ways.
Ogawa felt refreshed after the meal. She stretched out before walking up the hill and from the corner she saw a deer trot toward Risa’s house. However, she was drowsy and her body wanted to rest at least until tomorrow, so she walked up without pondering over the deer. The writer walked into her tent and placed her head onto the pillow to start her healing.
~~
Risa saw the deer come from the forest and dropped the note into her hands. She opened it up and began reading it with caution.
Risa,
I don’t blame you for anything; it has been nice of you to visit. The deer acknowledges that I am real but to have it communicate in a way I need it to have been difficult. Luckily, it visits me since I found it years ago and I used it to transport my thoughts over to you. As for me, I can escape but I cannot surprise people of my existence, the two people are hungry for fame and money, so I advise to deflect anything about me, if it does come up. I want you to come tomorrow at this time, your siblings may worry so please tell them it would only improve your status, I want you to escape before I can.
Ai
Risa folded the note up and chased away the deer from the front door. She walked back to her bed to get some sleep before her morning job.
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Well onto Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Risa woke up to the rustling of the front door. It sounded like two men fumbling with the door until it stopped for a moment. She held her hand over Riki’s body as she heard faint talking from outside. Then, moans from one of the men got the two siblings to wake up and followed their sister up the stairs. As they abandoned the ground floor, Riki looked outside through the spacing and saw men fighting off a deer. They tried to aim at the animal but it was too close the head hitting them squarely in the ribs was too much for them to handle as they squirmed away.
The bean quickly had the courage to walk downstairs and opened the door to the deer, who was visibly exhausted from the fight, and saw the not in its mouth.
Risa-chan,
I may need shelter; the house is going to be burned down. I am not sure when but if possible, please visit me soon, so we can plan our escape. It is last minute for me to consider you as a partner but I want to see you once before you make a decision.
With regards,
Ai
The bean folded the note but instead of returning a response, she called down her siblings, and told them to sit down on the floor with the deer peeked its head inside. Risa noticed it was a quarter past three and she had about an hour before work but her head was spinning with choices.
“Onee-chan, is something wrong?” Riki asked.
Risa took a moment to explain everything about what she had been doing the past couple of nights. They were surprised that she mentioned about Ai and the abandoned house. They weren’t sure if Risa was mentally fit to even converse with them. However, they had to trust her with their lives as they always did and let her set the path of escape.
“Riki, Miki, I want to thank you for being great siblings through our bad time. Whatever happens next, I want you to be strong and protect the house.” The two nodded as Risa changed out of her pajamas and into warm clothes to visit Ai in the forest.
The bean felt a cool breeze with rain hitting her face which was the only place not covered by material. Her adrenaline levels were at an all-time high. The rush was driving her closer to understand why Ai was stuck in the house and the deer trailed her until it blocked the front entrance. It signaled over to the other side of the house where there were two doors leading to the basement.
She walked down the steps to the basement where she remembered about the father’s diary but it was dark and the smell of dead wood was filling her lungs. She felt the steps down to the bottom until she felt the floor and then felt her way to a chair which had a loud squeaking sound and took a rest. She took five deep breaths before moving into the house, where Ai had bad surveying for anything important mementos.
“Welcome back.” She greeted as Risa wrapped her arms around her.
“I’m glad but you seem rather worried now.” Ai nodded and she had her father’s diary in hand.
“The morning might be a noisy one and I need to escape while I have the time to do. Also, there is something I need to do.” Ai held up the bean’s face and pressed her lips on top of Risa. The bean took a step back, slamming her onto the wall, the lights started to flicker until it was fully on in the house.
Risa looked around and the place was marvelous like the first time she had visited. She couldn’t explain the transformation but it gave Ai a chance to look downstairs for more mementos. Risa closely followed Ai like a shadow to gather up her stuff before she left. Then, after a few minutes of pulling stuff aside she found two pictures, a male and female. She wrapped it in a towel and saw the deer hinting at them to hurry up. But, Ai was not heeding the warning and soon steps were heard from the inside.
“Hello, is anyone home?” The familiar voice rang in Risa’s ears and she pulled her away from the pictures towards the stairs leading to the outside.
“Who is that?” Ai whispered to Risa as she concentrated on the other door while she yelled around the house to gain someone’s attention. Ai signaled that she had gotten everything and grabbed an old knapsack to keep everything inside temporarily. They both climbed without notice but with the lights on, they would be easily noticed, and the sunrise would not help them at all. Risa ran ahead to escape from the forest while Ai stayed back looking at the depressed deer.
“Thank you papa for watching over me all these years. You made me feel warm despite not seeing you in human form. I have to go now and watch over mama because she hates when you make her feel unwelcome.” The deer bowed its head and ran off into the deep while Ai tried to hold her tears in.
Ai didn’t want to yell but she needed to get it off her chest that the deer helped her after the parents had passed away. It was lonely for a bit until a fawn nudged Ai awake and invited her into the deer’s family. They offered her strawberries as a source of survival until they could understand her language where they caused havoc.
The townspeople forgot about the Takahashi’s and it made Ai furious that no one was going to support her but it made her stronger. She did what she could in the deteriorating house but she only had the bed left that could support her body weight. Then, the night Risa visited, she exploded with fascination that one person didn’t forget, but she couldn’t live in the conditions so she had offered monetary gifts to remember her by. Ai knew it would work and now she was able to escape from the house.
Risa ran out and bent over to gather her composure. She heard a few men walking into the forest and turned to see no Ai following her. She hid behind the bush for a couple of minutes before sticking her head out see if Ai was coming out but no sign of her. After a few minutes, she was worried that she was caught but something in her mind was holding onto the hope she had escaped. She peered around the bush and saw Ai out in the open and waived to go to where Risa is.
“What happened to you? I thought you got lost.” Risa was on the verge of tears as Ai slapped her playfully on the head.
“I saw the men so I jumped into the bushes, I could smell the men crawling closer towards me, and right when he reached in a bunch of foxes ran towards them, it distracted them enough for me to escape.” Ai smiled as she felt something weird in her body.
Ai sat on the ground holding her midsection with both hands as she looked like she was ready to vomit but after a few breaths she was alright. Then, she stood up and felt her legs were weakened by the events, she leaned onto Risa for a bit until she gained her balance. Ai felt the early sun hit her skin and warmed up quickly as she followed Risa to her home.
“Risa! Wait up!” Konno was looking at both of them and Risa ran towards her house as Ai followed. They managed to avoid the reporter by a second and locked the door behind her.
They both dived onto the floor in exhaustion as Miki looked at Ai awkwardly. Her body was pale and she wasn’t in good shape with the body only revealing skin and bones. Risa crawled over to the sink to grab a cup of water for Ai and she was instructed to drink a bit until she could get fully recovered. It was now quarter to six and she had Ai in the house with Konno chasing her.
Risa was farther away from escape than ever but Ai was partly charged and then a flash of light appeared, throwing the family off their feet. Ai smiled and then collapsed soon after, she turned everything into a time freeze. It was now up to Risa and her siblings to take the body with them for an escape.
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Kuryo~ Great update! So konkon is tailing them. o_o
I hope ai's gonna be okay...
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^ Well Konkon and Ogawa are tailing them it was just Konkon saw them :nervous
Chapter 10
Risa and her siblings guessed that they would have limited time to move across town and they packed what they could into their bags. Risa decided to carry Ai’s unconscious body with Riki carrying two bags, he tried to hold up the heavy bags but he lacked the strength to balance either bag. She threw one of the bags onto Ai and moved as quickly as possible to the town’s limits.
The deer blocked their way and bowed its head towards the trio. The animal walked up to Ai and kissed her as a farewell to it. Ai didn’t reply but the deer knew she reacted as it ran back into the town. Risa continued on the barren road until they saw a stand on the side of the road. Ai still felt warm which interested her on how to wake her up but the comfort level being around her siblings was irritating her.
“Miki, Riki can you go around the back?” The two nodded and Risa held Ai in her arms.
She spent a few minutes staring at her face. She traced her lips trying to see if she could react to it but it was no effect and then she traced her chin which had no effect either. Risa placed her head onto her chest to find a heartbeat and it was faint but it indicated she was alive. She decided that her next move would maybe wake her up but if her siblings witnessed it, it could change the complexity of their mindset. So, she turned Ai to the wall and faced her toward the open area, she pressed her body onto hers, and gave her a quick kiss.
“Hmm, this is so frustrating.” Risa said to herself and she held her hand to pray for her.
Risa closed her eyes and felt a hand touched hers with a giggle. She looked up to see her siblings praying with her and Ai shot up from her position to see she was out of the town. Ai ran around the stand once and then ran back in to see Risa standing there with a blank expression.
“Where are we?” Risa shrugged her shoulders.
“I was going to move into the next town with the money we got and stay in there for the time being or forever.” Ai rubbed her chin for a second and then she looked toward the direction they were heading and she pointed northwest of their location.
“There’s no road where you are pointing at.” Risa commented.
“If we walk in this direction, we can avoid everyone from following us.” Riki felt Ai’s confidence and agreed with her without questioning. The bean shot her arms up and picked up their bags to follow Ai toward the unknown location Ai was confident about.
~~
Konkon’s head was spinning from the fall. She remembered the flash coming towards her and took a spill backwards to the ground. She ran into the house and noticed it had been cleaned out. They abandoned their sleep furniture and cooking utensils but she figured that they would take the money to travel out of the town. She flipped her phone open to find her supervisor had sent her a text.
Konno,
The story will be pulled if there is no evidence soon, I understand how you feel right now but we are looking towards stories that may keep us afloat rather than chasing… come back soon
-Nakamura
Konkon closed her cell and walked toward the hill Ogawa had been camping for the past week. She was exhausted from watching the events happening that she was sleeping when Konno came to visit. Asami opened the tent to see her sprawled on the floor with her supplies running down. The reporter clamped down on her leg to draw her attention but she was out cold. Her next attempt woke her up instantly as the cold air had made her shiver.
“Why wake me up so early? I was up all night watching for anything.” Ogawa rubbed her eyes as she looked at Konno with a concerned look.
“Well I guess you never saw the family leave town, Risa is gone with a mysterious woman.” Ogawa’s eyes widen as she charged out in frustration.
“Kuso! Can we verify the story of the girl’s death?” Konno shook her head.
“Did she ever die? I have no proof that she had died. Her parents left and supposedly died someplace else. So, we may need to dig deeper.” Ogawa nodded as she could only think of one solution: Research in Tokyo.
Ogawa and Konno packed up their stuff and took a taxi to the nearest port. They took a private plane from the hangars near the port to get back to Tokyo.
~~
Ai led the pack to a town that was abandoned a while ago. She remembered going to this town for vacationing as it was near the beach but all the people had left their homes untouched. It was filled with high-end mansions and beach houses, Ai had a key in her pocket as she reminisced about the home. The older woman looked out to find the home was turned into a shack. Her heart sank as the luxurious home was now a rundown house, but it still looked livable for the time being.
They entered the house and Ai smiled as the furniture wasn’t moved from the last time she had visited. She could smell the sea breeze from the window which comforted her but it led to the problem of food where every place was closed. Since Ai knew the town, she looked if there was anything worth grabbing from the closed shops. She walked out and the abandoned streets gave her goose bumps as she cautiously walked around. Then, she felt a hand touched her and she screamed out loud startling the old man.
“Takahashi? Is that you?” He asked as Ai stared at him.
“How do you know my name?” He smiled and stuck his hand into his pocket.
“I’m you father’s friend, Yoshio Ito, don’t you remember me?” Ai paused and remembered a man by that name that was clean shaven and was muscular. But, he had lost his tone and he was growing a beard that was at least a foot long from his chin. Ai hesitantly grinned at him as he lowered his head apologetically.
“I do but you look so different.” He let out a thunderous roar of laughter.
“I guess I was more observant of my looks back then, you had a serious crush on me when you were five.” Ai blushed as the memory came back to her.
“You were so cool when you gave me ice cream back then, my father was against sweets but you argued that strictness would break me away from him.” He nodded.
“Sigh, you have grown into a beautiful young woman. I’m jealous that I had to shoot you down twenty years ago for my ex-wife.” Both chuckled at the joke.
“Well, can you explain what happened here?” Ai asked as his smile disappeared from his face.
Ito has explained that the warnings of tsunamis drove the locals away from the town. He explained a few people at a time from every warning they would stick it out and quickly leave when the warning was not in effect. Eventually, everyone left when their essential shops closed and he was left to fish for a living. Ai learned that he was bitter at the government for evacuating a town so many times that their frustrations led to their departures. She knew it was natural for any event but if it happened once every year, it would be understandable but it was happening once every week for twenty-three months. All of the economic factors pointed that it would not be profitable to even share their services to the visitors and they left to find better prospects.
“I guess I have to ask you a favor.” Ito smiled and nodded.
“The fish is yours, come by with your friends, and we can cook before you leave town.” Ai smiled and walked back to her shack.
Risa looked at her bag as she pondered over opening it to get settled or keep it as they may have to continue onto a search for residence. Miki and Riki wanted to play on the beach so they changed into their swimwear and ran out to the edge of the ocean. The bean watched as the sun was slowly going back to its hiding place for the day, she felt safe for once in a long while but there was a lot that had to be settled before calling any place a home.
Ai returned back to the shack seeing Risa with her hands on her knees sitting down outside watching her siblings playing in the sand. She walked up to the steps and took a seat next to her as she placed her head on the bean’s shoulder. It would a perfect place to live despite the abandonment of the town. However, both knew that they still had to travel a while more to feel safe from any more trouble.
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Oh great. Now risa's involve too. Poor ai, her parents passed away. Then why is ai still so young? Is she a ghost?
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Hmm seems as though Risa keeps on getting caught up in it all, and what is Ai? alive, dead, something else :panic: with Konkon and Ogawa on thier case more now I wonder who will get answers first?
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This chapter brings up what Ai is.....
Chapter 11
Ito-san walked over with his bucket filled with fish to give Ai and her friends. He bowed halfway and turned back to his house. Ai was looking high and low for the knife and found it below the sink. She was happy that Ito-san had been hanging around despite all the troubles and they could at least eat for the night. Ai started cut into the fish and made one filet that looked ripped apart from the bones. Risa decided to build a fire from the dead branches and leaves near the house. Luckily, she didn’t have to find a flint to start the fire as she found a flare and cautiously waited for her siblings to be away from the pile before throwing it into the branches. The three were amazed at how big the fireball was on the ground and watch it go down to a manageable size.
Ai grabbed the sharpener on the side of her and honed the blade until she felt it could slice through the fish nicely. She slid the knife over and then saw something fly off the board. It wasn’t the fish and Ai went into panic as she saw her finger on the floor. She picked it up and stared it the location for a few minutes before she came to a realization of what she actually was: non-human.
The red blood she should have seen was not present and now she was depressed that despite everything that she stayed in the house for and eating the strawberries made her alive but not human. She tried to look for something that could hide the fact of the fingertip and found tape to wrap around the area. Ai carefully placed the piece onto her finger and taped it perfectly. However, the thoughts had entered her mind about what she is and felt out of place in the house. Ai walked out to still see the kitchen empty and finished cutting the fillets.
Risa walked into the kitchen seeing Ai slicing the fish with ease and placed the fillets on the plate for cooking but Ai never turned to Risa’s presence. Risa calmly walk up to Ai’s left side and peeked over as she heard whimpering from Ai. The bean casually stroked her hair until she dropped the knife fell into Risa’s arms. She couldn’t understand why Ai was crying but something had to be on her mind that is causing her to be emotional. Then, it hit Risa quickly as Ai’s face dug into the bean’s shoulder, she felt no liquid from her eyes, and she was producing no tears.
“Ai, why are you crying?” She asked as she saw the tape on her finger but there was no red on the finger.
Ai couldn’t answer as Risa was now confused to why Ai was not producing such important liquids humans should have but show emotions like a human. The bean carried her out of the kitchen and saw stairs leading upstairs and decided to head up to hide from her siblings. Ai held onto Risa as she was being dragged up and they got into a room where it was filled with cobwebs and pictures. It was her room with all the pictures of her from when she was young and it ended when she a teenager.
“Ai, you have to explain.” Risa said bluntly as the confusion was being mixed with concern.
“I cannot, I don’t know at all.” Ai ran over to the bed and laid out on her stomach crying out her displeasure.
Risa shook her for a bit for an immediate response until she touched her bare skin, it felt unusual until a thought came into her mind of how the texture was, and then she took a step back from her with shock. Ai turned onto her back and saw the bean’s face had grown white. Risa’s lips quivered as the discovery of Ai was not human. The bean backed herself to the door and felt everything rush back to her.
“You’re a doll.” The words hit Ai like bricks and she touched her face as the fingers were rough on her face.
“How can that be? I lived in that house for so long that I survived off the land, how can I be a doll?” Ai asked with her frustration levels were now at edge.
“You have the answers for that but how can that be?” Ai shook her head and punched the bed hard and let out a scream.
“Did that hurt?” Ai shook her head as they looked at the hand and there was no bruising.
Risa went back to the first meeting and walked her way going forward. She was still in awe that Ai had been a doll even touching so many times she couldn’t have felt any different and the bean touched her again as it was cold like a dead person. Ai walked over to touch Risa and she could distinguish the difference between hers and Risa’s skin. They looked at each other for a moment and then sat down on the bed without making a noise.
“Onee-chan, Onee-chan.” Her two siblings began to knock continually on the door echoing for her attention until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“CHOTTO MATTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Risa yelled out and the pounding noise stopped. The room was quiet again as Ai was looking apologetic for her problems.
“Gomen.” She said in a low voice as Risa rushed over to hug her.
The two siblings opened the door to see their sister hugging Ai, they didn’t understand what had happened until they joined in with the hug and they noticed the surprise Risa had figured out only ten minutes earlier. Risa held up her pointer finger to her lips and they quietly understood their older sister. Ai walked over to the window and wept as she felt like a punching bag from all the abuse in their minds at the moment. Miki decided to walk up and joined in with her crying. Risa watched with her eyes how Ai was still cared for by her and the siblings.
“Ai-chan… we’re sorry.” Miki held onto her legs and her face planted onto her knees as the tears flowed onto her.
“Ai-chan, we won’t say anything about you.” Riki clamped onto the legs as they both were caressed by Ai.
Risa went down to her knees and bowed to Ai as a gesture of apology and raised Risa up from the floor as Ai embraced all three of the family members. After a minute of hugging, Ai felt fatigued, and went to the bed. They watched her slowly going into daze and closed her eyes with a smile on her face. Risa brushed through her hair one last time and walked downstairs to cook dinner over the fire.
The mood had died down as Risa set up a grill over the flame and watched the fillets cook slowly over the fire, she adjusted the grill to go over the heat but it wouldn’t balance on the sticks firmly and left it back at the higher location. Miki and Riki were silent as they watched their sister cook dinner. Risa looked at them as she was still shocked by Ai’s revelation but she knew her duties to cheer up the family.
“Let’s look at the clouds.” She suggested as Miki and Riki wiggled down to look up at the sky.
Risa’s mind was filled with concern for Ai that she let Miki and Riki name out stuff like dog, cat, horse, turtle, and then it hit them where the clouds created a human in the sky. Both yelled out the answer and then they fell silent as Risa turned to them. They each took a deep breath and started their game again until the fillets were fully cooked and they all went back inside to find Ai sitting at the table with the dishes ready to be served.
They stood silent as they let the news sink in with the food cooling down a bit. Ai took a deep breath and picked up her chopstick for the first piece of fish and swallowed it with ease. She held up a smile to comfort the rest and it seemed to work for at least a moment until Riki took a piece and his face turned gloomy.
“What’s wrong?” Risa asked.
“Ai-chan, were you the one to give Risa the money for our family?” Ai placed her chopsticks down onto the table.
“Yes. I did.” Riki paused and bowed his head to Ai.
“You made Risa happy because she works hard for us.” Ai smiled at Riki as Risa was now shielding her face from them.
“Risa is so happy to have you guys too. Remember that she does it for your own good, so you have to pay her back one day.” The two siblings nodded as they continued on their meal without any more conversation.
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:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: Ai's a doll.... :((( Ai-chan... Poor Ai... Was it the fact that she left the house???
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Ai is a doll?!?! how is she like she is, is this what happens when she leaves the house, or has she always been this way?
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I guess all the answers will come later on, could be a great theory though, or just the fact that she always had been a doll
Chapter 12
Konno and Ogawa landed in Tokyo during the late afternoon hours and headed straight for the archives before it closed in an hour. As media personnel, they had access to enter into learning upon cases especially cold cases under supervision of a security guard. The archives was 25 meters by 30 meters and it was the height of them two put together. It contained many of the death certificates going back to the start of the Meiji period where they start to keep tabs on the people throughout Japan. It recently had its lights changed so it was brighter than usual.
They traveled down a narrow hallway to the T section and tracked it down the Takahashi name. Konkon was quicker at finding folder and took a bunch with "Takahashi Ai" on top. There were twenty folder of the name scattered onto the table set up for them to view. The security guard was cautious of Ogawa because it was the first time she had met her, compared to Konkon who came twice before with her colleague from the police stations if she had a scoop on a dead person's family member who was arrested, etc. They each took one folder and scanned through as fast as possible and placed to the side if it didn't fit the description or the birth date. Ogawa was close with one but the cause was too natural and it happened in southern Honshu which was out of the parameters of the town. After scanning through each of them, they found none that fit the description.
They arranged it back in order and placed it back into the original location on the shelf. Ogawa had a thought and looked over at the security guard. Luckily, it was a woman because the way Ogawa had looked at her would make anyone concerned with fear.
"Do you know where we can research birth certificates?" The writer asked the guard.
"I think it is in the other vault." She looked up trying to think of the location off the top of her head.
"Can we see it? If it is not a problem." Konno asked softly with her hand pressed together as she was praying.
The guard flipped her cell and asked them politely to follow her to door. She asked the person who she called for permission and after a few minutes, she seemed to be fighting a losing battle, and it ended with a violent shut of her phone. The guard slipped the phone back into her pocket as they were anxious for an answer.
"They have denied access despite you being media people and since it is closing soon, they didn't want anyone to stay overtime to watch you guys." She bowed towards them.
"I see. I will call my supervisor for permission." Ogawa bowed back as she felt frustrated over her answer.
Konno bowed towards her as they head back out to the open where the sun was disappearing from the horizon. She decided to take a break and offer Ogawa dinner for her help in searching for their person. Ogawa followed her and then suddenly paused, catching Konno entering by herself without her companion. Konkon hurried outside and Ogawa was looking inside the restaurant as she became frozen with fear.
“This restaurant… I remember writing a story about the restaurant.” Ogawa’s throat slowly tightened up as she felt a bad vibe and Konno grabbed her to go to the next restaurant. It was an Indian restaurant and their specialty was their bread that matched well with curry.
They both entered into the place with curiosity and took a seat next to window. It was dimmed for a romantic effect and the smell of curry spices burnt their nose. They ordered their food and watched the other people enjoying their meals. Then, Konno’s phone rang and she stepped out to take the call.
“Hello.”
“She wants you to come back. Nakamura is irate over the progress of your report.” Her colleague informed the reporter.
“I can’t. I have a scoop and I need to finish it up before I come back.” She heard the phone being passed and then Nakamura’s voice caught Konno off guard.
“If you don’t have anything, just come back. I can’t pay the over time.” Konkon bit her lower lip.
“I’ll do this for free.” The words shocked her and she wanted to take it back as soon as she said it but in her gut, she was confident in getting the story.
“You sure? I want to support you, I believe you have the story, but it is still a stretch for you to gain any respect from everyone in the community.” Konno closed her hand and lifted in the air.
“I am having fun.” Konno said softly with a smirk on her face.
“Okay, I’ll give you as long as you want until you finish it up.” Konno closed her phone and walked back into the restaurant where the food was sitting there for a couple of minutes.
“Supervisor call, I assume.” Ogawa had a crooked smile as Konno took the first spoonful to her mouth.
Konno kept quiet as she chewed carefully on the food giving Ogawa a sense of mystery until she figured out she was right and scooped the curry with her bread. The bread was complimentary to their curry dish that they ordered another set for them to take home. It was a special night for both of them as they began to open up to each other about their lives and career goals set by each of them. They spent almost two hours in discussion that they had to rush out to rent out a hotel room.
Ogawa never had a roommate while on the job, usually because she always had a male photographer but with spending a day with Konno. She took a chance in booking a room for both of them. Konno paid for the room under a media exemption which gave them a discount for the first two weeks of their stay and they were forced to pay the regular rate after that. Ogawa and Konno knew their boxes of items weren’t going to come in until tomorrow morning, so they rested on their own beds for a bit before decided to sleep on one bed.
They were unaccustomed to their sleeping habits. Ogawa never liked sleeping in anything except pajamas but in the circumstances, she had to sleep with her work clothes on. Konno was comfortable in anything but had a tendency to sleep without underwear or even in the nude. It was decided that if anyone did get uncomfortable, they would roll to the other bed for comfort but it came out to be good as they kept to their own side.
The next morning, a call came into their room that they had packages that were needed to be picked up and rented a car to the time being to transport to their new headquarters. They drove down to the airport hangar where they had their stuff shipped over from the location and stuffed into the back seats as they drove back. Konno glanced around for breakfast places but felt unsure of what she wanted and they went back to the hotel to have coffee and toast before heading back to the archives.
As they were en route to the building, they witness a few people outside of the diet building protesting about government’s decisions. They were comfortable with the attention growing over at the building that the archives let them to go to other location for the birth certificates. Again, they were guided by a guard except it was an older male with a five o clock shadow. He was even in concentrating on each so he was relieved that they stuck around each other rather than go their separate ways.
Konno decided to look up the names again and took a handful of files to give off to Ogawa who began scanning through them carefully. The fifth folder seemed to match their query and spread out the documents over the table.
“Takahashi Ai. Age twenty five. Never died.” Konno rubbed her chin as she digested the information.
“It could be a mistake or they never updated.” Ogawa pointed out.
“Could be a possibility but it doesn’t make any sense.” Konkon started to think more about the events from that morning.
“Well, let’s make a copy all the information and leave to theorize the results.” Ogawa suggested as she began to feel the chill again from last night and signed out that they received their information.
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Hmm, I wonder if there is something about Ai which some people know about and don't want konkon and ogawa added to that list....
Though officially Ai never died.......interesting
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^ it seems weird that I twisted the story to made her a doll but she is not dead, this chapter will reveal more about the situation and little touchy feely too :)
Chapter 13
Ai exited the table with her empty bowl and began washing it as she felt her hands again.
That synthetic feeling, how can it be?
Without realizing her situation, she felt the hot water, and pulled back her hands. She looked at them, fearing it was burnt, and it seemed that it never changed her figure. But, it had turned a bright red color and looked over at Risa. Their eyes met for a while before realizing what Ai was doing and she ran over to see something peeling off.
At first glance, they thought it was skin and worried about the blood but it was a synthetic material that copied skin. In their relief, Risa curiously touched Ai's hands and she presented a surprised look. Ai felt the bald spot and she had realized that the feeling was wax built up from being in the house.
She had thought about how it could have happened and concluded to the deer, that was preserving her body. She developed as a human but the protective coating prevented any negative effects on her body thus making it doll-like. The discovery took off the weight of being stuck as a doll but it looked weird with the patches off her hands. Ai took Risa up to the bathroom and swiftly took off her clothes in front of her.
"Chotto Matte. I am still her." Risa yelled out Ai nodded curtly.
"I need your help taking off this; you are the only adult who can do it." Ai stated and the bean turned her head away as Ai stepped into the shower.
After five minutes, the room filled with steam leaving only a few inches of visibility in front of Risa. She saw the curtain move and stepped closer to feel the waxy substance on her hand. Ai saw Risa near enough to guide her hand to her back to remove it for her. It peeled slowly and in tiny pieces. Ai turned to face her back against the shower and Risa didn't notice the movement until she felt something firm. The bean turned bright red in embarrassment as she felt Ai's chest. Before she could shout out anything, Ai was close to see Risa's face.
"I see a pervert." Ai joked as Risa pulled her hand back.
"You turned away and I couldn't tell if it was your front or the back." Risa explained as Ai leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.
"You have a great reaction when you can't explain what you are doing. You must be attracted to boys, right?" Ai's question hurt Risa as she was more worried about her siblings than boys and her lack of experience made it easily susceptible to men.
"No... I should be but there are other things I was worried about." Ai frowned as she grabbed the bean's hand again.
"I see because you seem to be less friendly when you touched me." Ai led her to her hips and Risa brushed the back of her hand on her hip while struggling to gain back control.
"It's smooth." Risa confessed as her mind started to ponder about her own sexuality.
"Well, I think we can go for the back again." Ai turned her back against Risa and peeled off a big chunk down past her backside.
Risa felt her smooth skin was coming out from the layer and she began to feel her heart pump rapidly as it seemed to her lower part of the body. Risa placed the rest of the skin to the side to trash as Ai stepped out to wipe herself. The rest fell off to the sides and Risa turned back around to not show her embarrassment while Ai was putting on fresh clothes. Ai stepped by her to open the door as she donned a white shirt and pink shorts with her new, shiny appearance.
Miki walked up to touch Ai's legs which blinded her by the shine in dull lighting. Risa stepped out and saw she was in perfect shape. It was a new person dawning from her old skin and she was now free from her past. Ai went into her room to let down her damp hair with Risa watching from the doorway.
"Are you still embarrassed that you saw me naked and touched my chest?" Risa nodded with the red from her cheeks dying down.
"Sigh. I guess you never let anyone seen you nude before." Risa nodded at Ai's crooked smile.
"I never had a chance to compare, since my parents shielded me from the dangers outside the house. Now, when I am out here, there are so many things I want to realize but it may take longer than I expected." Risa held her hand to her thigh and closed it into a fist.
"I understand how you feel. I want to be that free but we cannot let Miki or Riki know that we did something sacred together." Ai nodded as Risa left the room to tuck in Riki and Miki before heading back with her stomach tied in knots.
Risa looked at them with a smile on her face as they wished them a good night and closed their door before walking into Ai's room and locking the door behind her. Ai welcomed her with a smile and offered her a space next to her. She placed her hand on top of Risa's thigh to caress it with care before starting their embrace.
Ai climbed on top of the bean and pressed her lips on top of hers. Risa hugged her closer as she felt the chests becoming closer. As soon as one made a slight adjustment, they stopped their kiss for a while before coming back to the same position until Ai slid under her shirt and stopped midway to feel Risa's midsection. Ai pulled her hand back out and rolled off the bed to see her body on the bed.
"Can we try something?" Ai asked to Risa's consent.
"I guess so, what is it?"
"Spanking?" Risa's eyes widened.
"Why?" The reaction was classic for Ai as she managed a giggle before her explanation.
"Because you're a pervert for touching me all over without letting me have an opportunity." Risa frowned and turned onto her stomach.
Ai climbed onto the bed and lifted her hand up for a moment before bringing it down with such force on her right cheek. Risa arched her back in pain but Ai brought it up one more time and did it for good measure on the other cheek. Risa rubbed the two areas while putting at the older woman who had a grin on her face. Then, she turned the bean onto her back and ran her finger along her cheekbone.
"Sorry?" Ai blew a kiss toward her and Risa tackled her down with her pout still evident.
"You better be. It was sore." Ai lifted her head to kiss the bean's lips and Risa smiled at her.
Risa rolled off the bed and landed on the floor with her feet. She knew that Ai was in danger of people noting her of the escape from the town. Risa knew of Konno, who was the one who witnessed the escape. She stared out at the stars and listened to the waves crashing onto the beach before coming to her next thought.
"Where are we going next?" Risa asked as Ai was standing next to her.
"I always wanted to go to Tokyo." Ai suggested.
"Was that the reason you gave us money?" Ai shook her head.
"I gave the money for you and your siblings. I have an account with money inside because of my parents but I can only access it from a bank there." Risa nodded and looked up to the moon.
There was silence for moment before Ai slapped Risa's backside again playfully and she fell onto the bed with the pout. Ai smiled to bring out Risa's grin and she gave in with a kiss on her cheek. Risa slipped under the sheets with Ai and laid it on top of hers as they doze off to sleep. Their plan was to say their last goodbye to the fisherman and leave for Tokyo mid-morning.
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Ai peeling of her skin, hmm would never of seen it they way you put it in here! LOL seems as though Gaki didn't either! poor girl even got a spanking from it! :P
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^ I guess reflecting the title, the peeling wasn't an original idea but I began to think what could benefit the doll-like qualities: wax. So, it just was set in there as a way to reveal her true form as a human. However, I made a backstory in the chapter to follow up a little more on the issue. Maybe to the case of how the story is progressing.
As always thanks for commenting on this fic, it is more fantasy like than anything else (which I'll admit is not my favorite genre) but might as well make one for the readers because if killing is not enough than I'm sorry for the people who may not like it all. :nervous
Chapter 14
They gathered outside Ito-san’s house to say farewell to the fisherman. Ai knocked on the door twice before the door popped open. She walked in to investigate where the fisherman was in his house as Risa looked towards the harbor with a boat present assuming he was at home. Ai grabbed the flashlight by the entrance and turned it on. She took a few steps, and then saw a boot right by her. She scanned the boot and it led to another boot and then she saw a body sprawled out on the floor. Ai ran out as fast as she could and closed the door behind her to six eyes looking at her.
Her face turned pale and Risa knew something was wrong but she feared the worst. She grabbed the flashlight and walked inside up to where the body was and she could smell the faint stench that had been growing. Risa took a deep breath and said out a prayer before turning off the flashlight near the door. Despite the calm demeanor, she was scared of seeing him on the floor but for the sake of her siblings, she showed the little strength to be fearless for the couple of seconds.
The group got all their stuff and headed to the bus stop to the airport. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long and got on as soon as the first bus came. It was an hour ride out to the airport and it made the two young ones restless that Risa had raised her voice twice to calm them down. Ai, who decided on the window seat, looked out towards the ocean as the smell still lingered in her nose. She placed her head on the bean’s shoulders and closed her eyes for a bit.
After she calmed the two down, Risa went into deep thought about how she could figure out Ai’s situation and ran back the events that had happen. She was compelled to touch Ai’s flawless skin every minute of the ride and it made her feel at ease to be with her. She felt a chill from being in the bus and wrapped her arms around the bean.
“Hmm, I feel so warm.” The bean said to herself as Ai was feeling around for her location on the seat.
She scooted up until she took a part of Risa’s seat and she presented a big smile as her hold was becoming stronger by the second. Risa wiggled her arms out and let her rest on top of her body while Risa relaxed with her hands behind her head. Within a minute, she heard a loud sound coming from her partner. The snore woke up Miki and she glanced at Ai with a smile as she looked up at her big sister.
“The doll is on you.” She joked as she swatted her sister away.
“Shhh! She’s sleeping.” Risa warned the sister as she looked down at Ai’s mouth was close to her chest.
She saw Ai getting a piece of her shirt and started to nibble on it. Risa spaced herself from Ai thus waking her from her slumber. She lifted her head up and moved her hair to the side. Ai smiled as she went back to sleep but Risa shook her to keep her up.
“Mou, what were you dreaming?” The bean asked as the wet spot was huge.
“Yakisoba with lots of cabbage.” Ai cheered with Miki.
“Baka.” Risa bumped both of their heads as they were an hour away from Tokyo.
Ai decided to switch seats with Miki and left her with a sleeping Riki. Riki’s head landed on Ai’s lap as he was soundly asleep but was awoken when the bus hit a bump causing him to roll of the seat. Ai saved his top half from hitting the floor and he looked up at Ai with wide eyes. His cheeks turned a bright red for a bit and he ran up hide his face from her. Risa looked through the crack and saw his cheeks, she grinned at her younger brother’s face.
“What’s wrong Riki?” Ai asked as he resisted being turned around.
“Ai-chan is his first crush.” Risa spoke loudly at him that he started to cry and try to knock her big sister out.
Ai finally got him wrapped and gave him a kiss on the cheek to his dismay but he stopped whining over his problem and rested next to her. They were on the outskirts of the city as they saw the tall buildings ahead and the bus stopped immediately.
“This is the end of the line. The taxis and buses shall take you to your destination within the city thank you for riding Nihon Express.” The driver yelled out as they gathered their stuff to wait for a taxi to take them to the apartment building that had been picked out at random.
Neither of them was sure of the directions, so the driver was nice enough to indicate the length of time for them to arrive at the location. It would be a thirty minute ride with scenery all around so Miki and Riki took each of the windows in the backseat and Ai sat in the middle while Risa took the front. The driver was a young man, who started couple weeks ago and it was the first time he didn’t have to drive drunks home which was a relief because it was a two-year old car bought from his own funds.
He turned on the radio to the tune of rock and they spent the time covering their ears with the incoherent music. Miki and Riki were pointing at the landmarks like Tokyo Tower and the Bay. The driver was recently married so the young women were far from his mind but his wife on the other hand was presumed a cheater from every person he knew and he wanted to ask them about what a woman would want.
“I guess attention, I would want that. Love is very important too.” Risa answered honestly.
“Honesty.” Ai added.
“I give her all that but she still fools around with others.” Risa smiled and tapped him on the shoulder.
“It can’t be helped I guess when you do everything but it still happens. Hope you can work it out with her.” He smiled and nodded his head.
“We should be there in five minutes. The charge will be 5,000 yen.” Risa looked through her bag for the money and gave it to him as they arrived at the apartment.
They got all their bags and headed up the stairs as they bid farewell to the driver. They looked for the keys hanging with Ai’s name on top and climbed up two sets of stairs to get to their new place of residence. The room was empty with white paint freshly coated and the wooden boards looked new with carpet covering ¾ of the room. It had two rooms. One was for the kids and the other was for the adults but because they were side by side, Ai showed a frown, indicating she was displeased but Risa signaled back they had no choice and Ai walked into the room dropping off her stuff near the closet.
Miki and Riki took a seat on the carpet while the two women unloaded all their stuff. Ai flashed her smile to Risa to bring up their spirits and then when everything was put away, Risa laid down on the bed in exhaustion with Ai to follow. Risa grabbed Ai by the waist and snuggled with her for a bit with the siblings occupied. Ai grasped her hand and the eerie feeling became obvious as Ai was holding long enough to squeeze the blood out of the bean’s hand.
“Let go, Ai. It is too strong.” Risa complained as Ai squeezed harder until she released her grip and turned toward Risa.
“I… I want you to stay with me forever.” Ai stuttered as she held her hands onto Risa’s face.
Risa was going to say the obvious answer but something had changed in Ai’s dynamic like she was instantly scared. Risa held her closer to her body as she started to shiver and in a moment of panic, she threw a blanket over them. Ai charged forward and gave her a faint kiss on her cheek. Risa gazed at her and her body was instantly turning colder and Risa ran her over to the tub.
The hot water hit her like a wave and Ai was soon warmed up but Risa couldn’t understand what was happening to her partner. Ai looked up and the water was warming her body but the cold part was freezing by the minute. Risa closed the door to prevent her siblings from seeing her in a weakened state. The bean held her hand as the water was slowly cooling down and she splashed Ai one more time, which kept her awake.
“Can you stay with me forever?” Ai asked softly.
Risa wasn’t sure how to answer the question as it seemed obvious to answer but something was holding back the bean as the wording was like arrows to confirm her decision. The bean firmly held her hand and put it near her head as Ai looked at her closely. Risa took a deep breath and kissed her on the lips, every part of the body was shaking but if she was certain, Risa expected one more thing.
“I want you to tell me now!” Ai commanded as the knocks were now louder.
“Through this crazy trip, I received money from you. We went back to the area where you grew up, visited as a child, and now we are here because you saved us. I can never repay you but the peeling skin and you shivering suddenly don’t make any sense. You have to tell me first why are you doing this? I want to stay with you because you are a good friend, no, a good partner that would stay by my side. I want you to tell me what’s wrong with you.” Ai sat in the tub stunned, Risa’s frustration was enough to make anyone faint but she had enough strength to talk but was frozen with the answer.
“Answer me because I want you forever but am there something I need to know that we can rid of our secrets now.” Ai moved her lips to loosen her speech.
“One day, my father came in with a body suit that he wanted to experiment. I put it on and created a perfect mold for me to fit in and it soon conformed to my body. Unfortunately, the negative side effect was it fused with my skin. A few days later, he died with my mother. Then, a surprise came with a deer offering food, my arms and legs were stuck to the material so I had limited movement until you visited, but I needed help to get out and supposedly it linked myself to magic of revealing the truth of my house.” Ai took a deep breath.
“I became warm enough to break out but it ached around the joints when you didn’t come around. Then, I needed you to release me from the home.” Risa pause the story.
“My life had been torture, yours must have felt like an eternity, and then I bathe you to release the suit. You are beautiful, I must admit. I fell for you as you were a boy I liked from four years ago. The only thing was I could never expect that it would be a woman I fell in love with. Do you understand?” Ai nodded.
“The moment that you escorted me out, I was relieved that one person still liked me. Now, I began to think that you may leave.” Risa shook her head.
“Riki and Miki like you. There was no way I would leave.” Ai began to tear up and it hit the water.
A light grew from her body and Risa expected another event to happen but it managed to flash out stuff and it all drew back into Ai’s body. Ai took the deep breath and everything was decorated. Ai stood up and leaned against the wall of the tub. Risa felt her body was now hot and took her out as Ai felt everything was moving properly and then opened the door to Riki and Miki playing with new toys on the carpet.
“That was the last part. I can live as a human again.” Ai hugged the bean with face dug into the bean’s shoulder expressing her gratitude to Risa.
Risa patted her partner’s shoulders and it was that warm feeling that Risa wanted to have in her life. It took a doll turning into a human to truly realize her gift in love and compassion that broke the doll out of its shield and now was exposing its true age to everyone.
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Yeah! Ai's a human!
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Aww Ai's history is so sad but now she is a human, I wonder though how this changes things, will they now get people off thier back or will it make things perhpas even worse....
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@risa_ai yes she is, but there is a good reason to the doll mold
@oddy there is a lot more of Ogawa/Konno coming up but it should fill in a little more of the doll mold
Chapter 15
Konno and Ogawa rushed back to their hotel room and looked through the file copies. Despite all the basic information, she was a Jane Doe in matters of the state: No indication of education, medical background, or location of birth. They looked at each other constantly trying to pry the mystery open but they came up with theories, it was their only choice.
Media personnel were able to do their research in the unknown. However it was getting obvious that more people knew them by every visit. They felt a trap was coming soon but they could taste the breakthrough. It was the only goal that was driving them.
Ogawa ran down to the convenience store to get tape to put up their research so both could analyze the pieces easier. Then, Konno’s phone rang it was her supervisor again with an unexpected calm text message.
Konno,
I received a piece of information for you, it might present you with clues to your investigation. There is one catch. The story cannot be released. :(
-Nakamura
Konno text back:
Why?
Konno didn’t want to wait for her response so she looked back at the wall and a thought popped into her mind. Ogawa glances over and looked at the birth certificate where Konno was tracing her finger. The place where it stopped was the parents’ names; it didn’t match the last names that were presented.
“More questions that need to be answered…” Konno thought to herself as Ogawa saw the discrepancy.
Then Konno’s phone rang:
Government documents have a report about her parents. They threatened if it came out to the public they will shut us down.
Konno frowned at the text as she threw it ten feet away from her and laid down on the bed to think about her dilemma. Ogawa flipped the phone open and closed it immediately knowing it was going to be a tricky situation. However, Ogawa wasn’t there to talk about a person but a ghost story which didn’t matter if it was exposed or not but the light bulb lit up in the writer’s head.
“We could use alias names? We can contribute what we know without knowing the parents’ information.” Ogawa blurted out but Konno shook her head.
“That is only half of the truth. We cannot present half of the truth.” Konno yelled in frustration as Ogawa grabbed her arms and gazed into her eyes.
“The whole truth will hurt her. That is the reason. I know you want to expose everything but we have to think of the victim here.” Ogawa released her grip and Konno turned over scratching her head.
Konno picked up her phone and texted their location. It was an awkward feeling that they may receive a package with little or every piece of evidence. She was accustomed with the government documents once as she reported on fraud but she knew that everything was in secrecy and the first step was to meet with them face to face.
Once she got the information on the agent, she walked to the spot agreed upon in the lobby. It was usually a café or restaurant where they would meet but since the hotel they selected had none, it was a lock and follow mission. Konno sat down on the couch looking toward the entrance for her agent. Fifteen minutes later, a young female entered with sunglasses and casual clothing. Konno walked up to the agent and winked at her to follow the reporter up to their room.
Konno stopped by the door and knocked three times to gain entrance. Ogawa let the two in and closed the door behind her. She reached into the pocket and showed them the USB drive in her possession.
“I shall introduce myself. I am agent Fukumura Mizuki of the Japan Security Police, you can call me Fuku-chan if you please. My reason is the person or person(s) you are looking for is in possession.” She said sternly.
“Okay, we have a laptop you can use.” Fukumura plugged in the USB drive and popped a screen, which highlighted the name. She clicked it twice and a profile came up showing his status and reasoning for his security level.
Konno scanned through it and looked up at the agent with plain expression. The agent clicked the statement that prompted the security watch and it was a paper about the plastic material used on his own daughter. It had explained that it was an expandable mold that fits over the torso, arms, and legs to prevent disease spreading agents.
“Was Takahashi sick?” The agent shook her head.
“The medical records indicated she had a weak immune system from a case of food poisoning as an infant. Her father developed the material after their life savings went into caring for their daughter. Soon after, few doctors visited the house to analyze the effectiveness and were surprised by the results. One from Osaka, who couldn’t make the visit, heard the news and gave him a trip to Osaka. However, the drive to the airport caused his death.” The two nodded.
“Why was the medical records wiped clean?” Ogawa asked.
“To protect the patient.” She answered to them.
“It had no scientific effect so we could release anything until she followed through with all the tests, which she didn’t because of her father’s mourning. The doctors left soon after and she was left to fend with her mother, she committed suicide.” Konno rubbed her chin as the details were making no sense.
“So their deaths were even covered up to because it could link to success or failure.” The agent nodded.
“It comes to my next question. Do you know where she is located right now?” They looked at each other before answering the question.
“She was in this town twenty miles outside of Tokyo.” Konno pointed out. “I don’t know where is running to with other people.”
“Other people? There are people with her?” The agent wrinkled her nose and traced the map out of Tokyo to the town.
“I met accomplice, Niigaki Risa, living in the town. She was a hard-working sister taking care of two young siblings. I remembered seeing them before they left but a quick flash distorted my sight and they left quickly.” Konno explained.
“Niigaki Risa. Niigaki… I heard that name before.” Fukumura wrote down the name a small piece of paper and slipped into her breast pocket. “The flash of light you saw, was it natural to you?”
“I assume so but if you think about it, how could they leave that quickly?” Fuku-chan rubbed her chin to explain the phenomenon but could up with nothing.
“Anyways, if you do see her, don’t hesitate to call. You guys can only catch her and report to us. We will decide on a public place to meet to avoid any confusion, understand?” The agent gave them a card as she started toward the door.
“Well, if I ruin your top story, I apologize but I cannot believe anyone would attempt to break her out.” The agent presented a false smile.
“Wait… but what if they don’t stay long enough?” The agent turned and closed the door behind her.
“In any situation, you are responsible for her health, do your humanly actions. Our goal is to find if she has improved with the suit on for twenty years and just in general to improve Japan’s chances of resisting life-threatening diseases. You should be intelligent enough to take on the challenge.” Konno nodded as she left them.
Konno decided to take a nap to think over their plan while Ogawa decided to take on the problems beyond the bizarre circumstances in front of them. The writer scribbled down possibilities of their location. It wasn’t too much they could think of until a statement caught her eye and she slapped herself on the head.
“That woman has money here in Tokyo. She may be in Tokyo.” Ogawa smiled as she looked at Konno fast asleep on the bed.
Ogawa lay down next to her and played with her hand before closing her eyes for a nap.
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Hmm, interesting Fuku-chan is here now and seems to be investigating too, more and more bigger agencies seem to be intrested in our Ai....
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Hmm, interesting Fuku-chan is here now and seems to be investigating too, more and more bigger agencies seem to be intrested in our Ai....
The more people get to know Ai, the more she seems to be oblivious to her existence. Although, I am trying to put in the one other big clue that could probably make this story expand a little more but I am having a hard time placing it with the introduction of characters and intimate moments between the couple
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Chapter 16
Risa and Ai stayed in bed while the other two slept the night away. Risa glared at her partner’s face before pressing their lips together and then she heard a murmur from the floor. The bean rolled out of bed to Riki rubbing his eyes and she sat next to her brother with a smile on her face.
“Had a nightmare?” Risa asked as he looked at Ai for a second.
“NOOOOOO!” He replied with a loud voice impressing Ai with his courage in his voice.
“I see, well if you need anything just wake me up.” Riki nodded as she laid his head down on the pillow while the two stepped out of the room.
The bean took the lead while Ai stayed behind her and went towards her right hand. Ai grabbed onto the fingers and then crawled up to get her hand. She held it tight like her hand had superhuman strength and then slowly released the grip. Risa looked at her and now she had her whole right arm to herself as she smiled to her like the moon on a cloudless night. They walked to the elevator and Ai pressed the button to go down to the lobby.
“I never had a drink before… can we go to the bar?” Ai asked and Risa gave her a strange look but she would take a drink just for the celebration.
They headed towards the bar and the stalls were the only places left to sit. They decided to hide in the shadows and ordered a beer for each of them. It was filled with happy drunks who were private of their conversations and then the waitress came back to deliver their drinks. Ai smiled looking at the beer and popped it open to take the first sip and her face turned to the suds hitting her tongue. She swallowed it whole and let out a loud gasp as it tickled her throat.
“I guess you thought it would good, nee.” Risa smiled as she took a sip and let out a sigh to her partner.
Ai tried her beer one more time with less liquid in her mouth and held it for a second before letting it go down her throat. The success was short-lived as she developed a rhythm of drinking alcohol. The duo was admiring each other until Risa saw two people walking into the front entrance. She noticed the first one quickly and hid from their view, Ai didn’t notice the two walk in but was wondering why Risa was hiding.
“Finish the beer and let’s go.” Risa commanded but Ai was slowly swishing it in her mouth pondering over the younger woman’s words.
Risa took the last gulp and dragged her partner through the front of the bar but the radicals were blocking their way. Risa unapologetically pushed through and got out with her partner quickly. Her heart started to beat faster as she tried to make her next move but she started to notice people coming out of their hiding places and ran toward the open elevator. They tumbled inside and waited as they went to a floor below their room and traveled up the stairs to throw off their tracks.
“Risa-chan, why are you jumpy now?” Risa covered her mouth and slowly removed her hand.
Risa explained that when Ai had been taken out of the house, a person named Konno witness the event, thus they were trying to run away from her. The older woman couldn’t take any more into her sponge and paused the bean from going into information overload. Ai pointed out the main details and came to the conclusion that it could have been related to the material.
Gaki thought it was plausible but they had to think of a way to escape before anything else could happen to them but the drowsiness of the alcohol was taking a toll on Ai as she felt nauseous and let go the contents over the railing. Ai wiped her mouth and followed the bean up to the next floor. Ai leaned over on Risa and was carried back to the room where the two siblings were asleep but Risa wasn’t intending to get some rest until a plan was set in action.
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Ogawa woke up from her nap noticing it was the late afternoon and she could smell something good by her bedside. She sat up and saw her plate was filled with a big steak and mashed potatoes. Konno was in the middle of her meal quietly eating while trying not to wake up Ogawa. However, the food was too much of a deterrent to stay asleep and Ogawa dove into her meal. The writer was puzzled by all the events that were happening and still if the possibility she was in Tokyo, it could be a major breakthrough.
Konno licked her plate clean of food and took a sip of water while eyeballing the food left on Ogawa’s plate. The other woman didn’t mind the staring but she felt the next step was to get to the bank before Ai did. However, it had to wait until morning. Fifteen minutes later, Ogawa stuffed herself with the last piece of meat and sat back to let the food digest in her stomach.
“It is interesting being with people, especially if they are around your age.” Konno spoke to the ceiling with Ogawa catching the last part of the sentence.
“Ditto.” Ogawa felt a rush of gas and it zoomed out of her mouth causing a loud belching sound.
“Excuse me.” She giggled as Konno grinned at her unsanitary move.
They sat in their separate areas in silence until Konno looked at the clock and it was after 7 P.M. Konno leaned back and let her body contour the blow of the bed as Ogawa sat cross-legged looking at her roommate. Ogawa closed her eyes for a quick second and her heart started to beat quicker as the thought grew into the possibility of being this close with another female. Then, she opened her eyes to see Konno passed out with her arms behind her head.
Ogawa crawled over and hovered over Konno’s head as she admired the reporter’s face calmly positioning herself for the move. She moved her face closer and in a flash her lips touched Konno’s for a second. Ogawa stumbled off the bed and felt the rush go to her head. In her daze, Konno woke up seeing Ogawa on the floor moving her eyes side to side.
“Ogawa, what happened?” Konno asked.
She was relieved that Konno didn’t notice the kiss but she feared that she did know but wanted to get an answer from her instead of the other way around. She presented a bad poker face and it was the dead giveaway to her crime. Konno howled at the writer’s innocence and stood her up from the floor. Konno dusted her off and gave a faint smile as she pressed her lips on top of hers and slowly fell onto the bed. The hands curled up with each other until Konno broke it off too soon for Ogawa.
“Well you got what you wanted, now I guess we can continue.” Ogawa bit down on her lip as she wasn’t ready to let go the reporter easily and grabbed her card key.
“Tomorrow, we can start on chasing them. Tonight, we shall enjoy ourselves.” Konno smiled at her as they both grabbed their coats and headed to the bar downstairs.
They entered into the bar when the raucous was building within as the men were being controlled by the booze. They took a corner seat as they looked on the menu for the particular alcohol choices. It was within their budgets to at least have a few drinks while on the job. They each ordered a light cocktail mainly to sample the alcohol before making their choice to continue on with harder liquors or get drunk by the cocktails. Konno watched two people go outside of the bar and looked back at Ogawa who was minding her own by looking around the atmosphere of the room.
“Do you think they will go to the bank tomorrow?” Konno asked as their drinks arrived at their table.
“Maybe but I am more concerned about having fun instead of tracking them right now. Fuku-chan really put a damper on our story.” Ogawa took a swig of her cocktail and the alcohol hit her quickly.
“The government has beaten me down a lot too. They just want to protect the safety of the people, it’s their job but I think it becomes overbearing once it does come out.” Ogawa smiled while holding her drink in her hand.
“In hindsight, I wish I could still do the story based on what we have but since they know, it can be censored.” Konno nodded as she went through half her drink.
“Well we can stay here and just party.” Konno suggested as Ogawa agreed.
The two continued to drink until the early morning where they swayed every which way to their room. Konno decided to change despite the other woman was attracted to her. Ogawa had her thoughts become filthy with her sexy movements and pounced on Konno with her shirt off. They tangled their bodies until the alcohol won the battle letting them rest.
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Okay I'll be honest, I never expected the story to go this way :nervous Now, I will try to get more of a lighter theme but changing the whole aspect again of the writing. Whenever, either of the stories do finish up, I will either get a Berryz pairing(s) or C-ute, because I haven't done them for a while and the storyline will be less violent (I hope :gulp:)
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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! :(
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They found takagaki! Oh noes!
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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! :bow:
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@oddy: Well at least they have a working relationship :nervous
@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 :thumbsup
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.
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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....
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@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.
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Oh noes! Ai's sick! Save her!
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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....
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^ 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.
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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.....
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^ 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.
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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......
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So ai is stable because risa was there... AI'S SCARY!
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@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. :nervous 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 :nervous
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.
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Gosh! Perfect ending! Takagaki is 2gether!
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Yay!!! :D
Ai and Risa are both OK and they end up together, good ending!