[Replies]
@kurogumi: God, you're gonna make me die from happiness with your compliments! Thank you very much! And Yuki... Well, I'll give you this, but she's NOT that useless yet. We'll get to see her more and more later on as the fiction progresses.
@Yuki88: Thankfully she hasn't been caught or died, haha. And there will be plenty of nerve-wrecking moments in the near future, so brace yourself!
@Crossing Crossroads: OMG, no need to bow, LOL! But thank you very much for the compliments! I somewhat wonder to myself sometimes how I'm not having too much trouble managing three on-going fictions and couple OS... Guess that means I have way too much imagination for a single person, LOL.
@Llyloo: LOL, sure I guess. I'm glad you like the chapter!
@Chanaline: More action sequence will appear in the future! And yep. That's how my brain processes apparently, LOL.
@mo-chan: Playing with people's feelings and emotions is something I'm exceptionally well with when writing stories, LOL.
@mayuki_daisuki: Definitely thank god she escaped before the car blew up. Who knows what would've happened if she stayed any longer in it? I had already responded to this on another thread, but I'll say this again: I'm glad you really love the Disappearance fiction! And wow! 8 times?! Is it really that good?
@gek geki: Based on the Heavy Rain storyline, yes. And mmm... This chapter will answer your question to what role Yuki stars in as. And thank you so much for the kind words and compliments! Indeed there is still four more trials Mayu has to face...
@K-popJ-popAWESOMENESS: I'll just bluntly state that yes, Kanon is DEAD. (please don't shoot me. Death is inevitable in this fiction at least.) All we know for sure is that Jurina is locked away like a trapped caged animal and will most likely die if Mayu doesn't save her in time... Those question will be answered as the storyline progresses~
Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm really glad that you all liked the previous chapter with action in it.
Ah, I guess this would be best to announce early, but I'm going to get surgery on my dominant hand in about two weeks exactly starting on Friday. I'll be on my casts for at least three weeks, so I'll have a short hiatus on all of my works here. Sorry about this, but hopefully I'll keep on updating till that time!
And after I've healed, I'll be back and ready to write the fictions again!
Anyway, ignoring that message right now, MAYUKI TIME!
[Chapter 13]
I leaned against the edge of the railing from the motel, inhaling and exhaling with difficulty. I felt the rain sprinkle upon my body from under the cover; some of the droplets making its way under. It was around 3:00 PM when I returned back to the safe area. Pain. I could only feel the stinging pain throughout my body. Mainly on my left side to be exact. Broken bones could be felt under my skin. It's difficult trying to bear in the pain and I don't really have much strength to open the door to my room with my keys. So I just leaned myself against the railing and tried to cope with it.
'It hurts so much...' I felt my eyes being teary and nearly falling out of the pair. My legs gave way and I had to use my hands to catch myself from falling down. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned my body around so my back would be resting on the metal bars. Arms placed on top of it, my ragged breathing came out rapid from my mouth. ‘I don’t know if I could make it. How am I supposed to save Jurina in my condition like this?’
"M-Mayu?”
That voice. It sounds familiar.
“Mayu! A-Are you alright?"
No. That voice again. It couldn’t be… ‘her,’ could it?
But I couldn't really make that conclusion since I couldn't see. I couldn't snap my eyes open due to the intense pain I'm bearing through, only responding with my mouth open for breathing instead of words. A pair of gentle arms quickly caught my body just when I was about to fall forward. They brought me back up against the railings. Those firm yet soft hands that pushed against my body for support. "I'll call an ambulance-"
"Gah... Please... no ambulance..." I don't have time or even a chance to be at the hospital. If I stay at the hospital, Jurina's precious time that could be used to save her would be ticking away and not to mention I probably am being hunted by the police due to my earlier action this morning. I just can’t afford to waste my time. My eyelids finally decided to lift up. And from the person that was helping me, I nearly wanted to flip out and throw myself backward from where I stood.
It was Kashiwagi Yuki. My ex-wife. Standing right in front of me with a concerned expression.
No. I shouldn't get her involved with my mess. But why of all people is she here right now?! Even Yuko or Mariko would be fine! Is she angry? Furious at me? From the way she’s looking at me, she seems more concerned about my health than being angry at me for the moment. I shook my head and tried to say more but only a painful grunt came out of my mouth. My hand reached over to my left side and gripped ahold of it. It took me a few second to get the words out of my throat. "I-I'm seriously okay…" I forced the words out of my dry throat.
It doesn’t seem like Yuki was convinced. Of course she wouldn’t. If I’m unable to move around freely without crying out in agony, then I must look worse than I’m expecting it to be. "No you're not," she frowned, examining my body from the exterior. I must've looked worse than I had expected since her frown quickly turned back into worry. "Don’t even try to hide it when it looks obvious enough to anyone’s eyes. I’m surprised that no one has yet to speak to you about this… Anyway, you're badly hurt, Mayu. You need a doctor for this."
I wanted to chuckle, but just even attempting makes the pain increase even greater internally. "You're... a nurse you know... haha... Just please... help me... to my room?" Tears from the affliction now came out of my eyes and slid down upon my cheeks. I faced her but avoided eye contact with hers. It's not that I didn't like her or was afraid. It was because I was too focused on my injuries. I was in too much agony to even worry about Yuki in front of me. "It's room 207."
Yuki didn't hesitate to help support me towards my room. Swinging my right arm over her neck, a sharp gasp escaped out of my closed lips when she forced my body to move against their will. Slowly we made our way towards my assigned room, giving her the keys to open it up. My hands were shaking violently and breathing was very unstable at this point. Quickly she leads me towards the bed and lets me sit on the edge.
"You're really in bad shape Mayu." For a split moment, I thought I could see her eyes becoming watery. But I didn't pay any more attention for she slipped off my wet jacket. "You should seriously go the hospital. I'm really worried." So it seems that even though Yuki must be hating me for both Ayame and Jurina, she still cares for me…
I shook my head again. "Must have one... or maybe two broken ribs... I could sense that it's not fatal, but it's sore as hell..." My upper body bent forward, trying to keep the pain level as low as possible. But Yuki brought her arms and tried to stop me from falling forward on the ground let alone lean against my injury. "God Mayu... What have you gotten yourself into?" Her left hand was placed on top of my right shoulder. The warmth and comfort I'm suddenly feeling... It was just like before when we both first met and got into our relationship...
Her eyes trailed over to the side of my head. They widened when she saw the injury. "Your head is bleeding! The wound looks rather deep..." Her hand then retracted from my shoulder and quickly left. Heading straight towards the bathroom and getting a couple of supplies to wrap my wounded area up. While she’s away, I tried so very hard to grasp the situation at hand. Everything was just happening at a faster pace than I had believed it to be so.
I just finished the first trial. A trial that nearly got me killed so many times. And all in less than five minutes. Just so I can gain four Japanese characters for an address of Jurina's location. One down, four more to go. The pain doesn't seem to decrease any moment for each passing second, a throbbing ache resides on my side. My eyes flicked over to the bathroom and saw Yuki's back faced at my direction. Her hands were grabbing a couple of medical equipment and items in the now-opened cabinet. Yuki. I wonder what she's doing here? Unless she's going out with another boy or girl... A chuckle nearly left my lips as my heart is panged with aching pain at such pessimistic thoughts. Maybe. But honestly, I hope she isn't. It would kill me to know that Yuki is going out with another person and is in love with them. But wait. Why am I thinking about Yuki's relationship? Either way, I'm just shock to have her in the same room. Same room and actually talking to me other than topics about Jurina. Speaking of Jurina, how was she doing right now? I’m worried when I saw the video earlier. The video of her in that ditch… Calling out for my name and in need of someone to save her…
My attention returned back to the present state when I saw Yuki came back. She returned with a bottle at hand and a couple of medical equipment that would be required to clean my wounds and ease the torturous ache. "I'm going to disinfect your wound first on your head right now," Yuki told me as she bent her knees slightly so she was at equal level with me. "It's going to hurt a little as you can tell, so please hang on..." Then she dabbed the soaked cotton onto my head.
Yuki at first cleaned the area around my wound, slowly and carefully reaching to the actual gash. I winced at the sharp stinging pain, nearly jerking my head away from the cotton. But I just clenched my jaw tightly together and squinted my eyes. Trying to bear the pain from the disinfectant.
After a couple of rubs, Yuki retracted her hand away from my forehead. I saw her from the corner of my eyes place the now-red due to the blood cotton and the bottle on top of the coffee table. She focused her attention back at me and placed her right hand on top of my head. The warmth. I could feel the warmth from her hand just from the touch alone. Just feeling this just wants to make me smile with ease. But I couldn’t. The dull, aching pain on my side reminded me about the situation I got myself in. She gave me some painkiller to ease the pain. Though the bottle did tell me to only take one pill every 24 hours and shouldn’t administer anymore into my body, I instead took about three of them.
I could tell that Yuki was startled at what I was doing. “M-Mayuyu! What are you doing? You know you can’t exceed the limits of taking the medication!” she scolded at me. Scolded at me just like back then when I would get myself into trouble. I shook my head and gripped the white bottle tightly in my right hand. “I can’t afford to wait, Yuki.” I was going to say more. Say that I have to save Jurina. Save our only daughter from the hands of the Origami Killer. But I held myself. I held those words back. Why? Because I don’t want to have Yuki involved in this mess. I know she’s my ex-wife and the mother of Watanabe Jurina. She has every right to have the knowledge of what I was going through. But these trials are very dangerous. If I nearly got myself killed on the first one and almost caught by the cops, then I won’t want Yuki anywhere near the truth of what I was doing. Even if it would benefit me, I would die if Yuki got killed. I would rather be killed from Yuki’s words rather than get her killed.
“I wouldn’t move around for a few days if I were you…” Yuki’s concerned voice snapped me back to the present. She was now sitting down right beside me, her hands on top of her lap. Her eyes gazed upon me with worries, telling me that she actually does care about my well-being. It’s as though the grudge she has against me from Jurina’s disappearance was gone at this brief moment. Or maybe it wasn’t. But she didn’t show it at all on her face. Yuki seems to have already accepted that there’s nothing the two of us could do other than wait for the police and investigators to find Jurina before it’s too late. (Excluding the fact that she doesn’t know that I am able to find Jurina and save our daughter from the killer.)
“I-I need to go shower…” I told Yuki what I wanted to do. Since she’s here, she might as well help me move around for the moment. The older girl nodded her head and soon had the two of us heading straight towards the bathroom. “I’ll help clean you up if you don’t mind,” she said as she leads me inside.
There was an awkward pause between the two of us before I blushed from what she wanted to do for me. Words quickly flew out of my mouth, but stuttered. “T-That won’t be n-necessary-“
“But you’re hurt Mayu. I mean, you can’t even walk around without stumbling!”
As much as I wanted to go and argue back at her (and usually win the argument), she was right. I couldn’t take care of myself right now. Or at least until the pills start kicking in and working within my body system. Closing the door behind us, she motioned me and eased me into the bathtub. With patience, she stripped off my clothing with care. Yuki is very gentle for every moment I hissed at the sharp pain, she would stop and had me reassure I was fine. She then folded them and placed them neatly on top of the sink. Walking back over to me, who was now bare naked before her eyes, I swore I could’ve seen a blush flash across her face for a split moment.
Not saying a single word, she took a washing cloth and grabbed a nearby small bucket used for cleaning one’s self. She sat right outside of the white bathtub, filling up the bucket with warm water from the bath’s faucet. While she was filling it up, she began asking me questions. “So… why are you hurt, Mayu? Did someone hurt you?”
“N-Er, yes. Yes. I did get into a fight.”
“You did? With who?” There was a black aura coming out of the taller girl’s body; scaring those that are afraid that they might offend her by accident. Even that scares me, truth be told. There was a short pause before I spoke again. If she’s reacting like this, then that means she still cared for me after those long two years. Was it because I got injured that she felt bad? Or was it because she really did miss me after so long? I shrugged one of my shoulders into the air. “I don’t know who the guy was.”
“He should be arrested by the police. Did you call them?”
“No I didn’t… As you can tell.” I continued to lie. I felt guilty for doing this, but I didn’t want to drag Yuki into this mess. Not at all. Not ever.
Yuki was then finished with filling up the bucket. I saw her dip the clean, white cloth into the bucket; soaking it completely with the warm water. When she took it out, extra water that the cloth could not absorb was seen dripping from the edges. Fringing it out, she began cleaning my back. The soft cloth rubbing against my skin made my tensed muscle relax. A sigh came out of my mouth. I could feel the medication kicking in and erasing almost all traces of the pain. Or maybe it was because I took more than I was supposed to and overdosed on the pills.
When she asked me to lift up my arms so she would be able to clean my sides, I could see her flinch at the bruises on my body. Thanks to the bones broken on the inside, there were the colors of red, blue and purple around the area. “You seriously should go to the hospital. I don’t understand why you’re being so persistent of staying here,” I heard her mumble while gently washing my body. “Is there a reason for you to staying in this motel by any chance? I don’t quite understand why you’re now staying here…”
“I’m staying here because… I want to get away from those reporters.” Clean lie straight through. And Yuki bought it from me. There was an understanding expression shown on her face as she nodded. “I see… That’s understandable.”
Yuki brought the cloth back into the bucket and re-soaked it. While I was watching her with my eyes, I could feel the kindness that resonated from her. The aura of a caring mother taking care of her kids. My heart inside fluttered at the thought of this small, but precious moment after two years of separation. Did I really yearn for Yuki’s attention after all those time? Am I really that selfish into wanting to be by her side?
“Then what about you? Why are you here, Yukirin?”
“It’s the only place where I can rest my mind and sleep in peace.”
“Sleep in peace?” I raised one of my eyebrows in confusion. “Is there something bothering you where you live?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not it,” she replied as she moved onto the next area of my body. “I get nightmares all of the time when I sleep at my own house after our... divorce.” That last word she spoke out was hesitant. Like she didn’t want to say it at all. “It’s very difficult to sleep and it interferes with my health for work. So I usually come here and rest for a couple days in the motel thanks to Sae.”
“No boys or girls ever did come after you, did they?”
For once, Yuki was heard giggling. It wasn’t a very long giggle of course. A short, but light-hearted giggle. A small smile was formed on her face while she washed certain parts of my body. “No they don’t, silly. I’m still single… and not ready to go back into a relationship… even though it has been two years already…” Her sentences trailed off into silence. She stopped speaking and the two of us didn’t utter a single word. The atmosphere around us became heavier and depressive once more.
“Well, you’re done now. Let me help you out of the bath and change you back into your clothes-“
She clamped her mouth shut when she saw my left hand waving in the air at her direction. “I can take care of it on my own. I’m able to move on my own now, thank you very much.”
“Are you sure?” Yuki looks concerned, frowning. “I just took three pills of those painkillers, Yuki. I’m pretty sure the effects are already kicking into my body system.”
A pause. Then a sigh. “Alright then. I’ll… just wait outside of the bathroom-“
“No no. You don’t have to stay and wait for me. Just… Go and do whatever you needed to do.” I had to shoo her out of not only the bathroom but the room also. Even though I wanted to use this time to cuddle and hug her to death after so long, I held myself back. I got bigger problems to worry about, especially when it concern our daughter. I could see and tell that Yuki didn’t like what I wanted her to do. She wanted to stay and help me at least. Hesitation seen within her dark eyes. But she respected my choice and got up to her two feet. Placing aside the cloth right next to my clothes, she threw a nervous glance at my direction. “Alright then. I’m going now…”
She walked out of the bathroom. But a few seconds later, I heard her say, “If you need me for anything, just stop by my room. It’s room 201. I’ll be staying here for a couple days just to let you know.... Until I hear more news about Jurina...” A small pause. "I really miss her.... I hope the investigators and police are doing their job correctly."
I slowly, but quickly got up from my spot. Staying silent from her words. She seems to be worried about Jurina just as much as I do. Except the only difference was that I had the chance to save her. I knew at least where she was generally. Yuki didn't. That must be killing her...
In a fast motion, I grabbed my folded clothes on top of the sink and changed back into them. Slipping my legs, arms and head through it, I was now dressed back up. It took some time though due to my fresh, new injuries from the trial. But other than that, I’m energized enough to move around without any help. Just when I came out of the bathroom, I heard the door within my room open and close. It seems that Yuki has taken her leave from the room just as I had requested.
I’m thankful that she has stopped by. Really. Without her, I probably would’ve been still stuck with my untreated injuries and force to resort to the hospital to get it treated. Even if I am a doctor, I knew that it was risky to treat the wounds without the proper medical equipment nearby. My left hand held my left side. I could feel it throbbing with a dull ache from the effects of the pain medication trying to minimize the actual pain.
A sigh left my lips as I bent down. My hands reached out from under the bed to grab the brown shoebox once more.
Once I had left it back on top of the desk, I seated myself and proceeded to open the lid up with my two shaky hands. I dumped the remaining content, which only contained four other origami figures. They were resting on top of the surface of the desk, waiting for me to make my move. To choose one. And so I did. Without thinking twice, I took the butterfly and unfolded it.
The origami butterfly figure opened up to be, just like the bear, abnormally big for its size.
‘ARE YOU PREPARED TO SUFFER TO SAVE YOUR DAUGHTER?’
Underneath the bold, black printed words like it was from an old typewriter machine was a one sentence description of where I should head next. It pointed out that I have to head towards the old power plant a couple miles from here. It’s not too far, but I honestly don’t know anything about this power plant other than the fact that it’s abandoned.
Folding the paper in half, I deposited it in my back pants pocket. Cleaning up the desk and neatly leaving it on my desk, I did not waste my time to placing it back under the motel’s bed. I had no time for that. So getting up from the chair, I walked over to my jacket that laid resting on top of the bed. Grabbing it and putting it on, I was soon seen heading out of my room for the second time that day.
Takahashi Minami will have another shot at more action in the next chapter~
Topic: How Far Are You Prepared To Go? [Mayuki] - Chapter 25 [Update: 07/16/14] (Read 84485 times)