Eri Kamei
Flight 707 Wreckage
October 8, 9:38 PM
Following closely behind Hitomi, the girls rush back to the cabin- where they’d left Ai and Miki.
Eri clutches her bag, neatly against her side, filled with food and supplies she’d found scattered in the debris.
She tries her best not to slip on the rubble.
“ Are we going back? “ Kusumi asks, a little too loud.
The rest of the girls were clueless, as to what happened. Hitomi didn’t say much, other than to follow her, and to not split up, but Eri understood the whole situation. With the others, searching in different cabins, she’d overheard Hitomi’s conversation with Ai- since Eri had the third radio.
Miki, in a coma- but how? Eri thought. She just hurt her shoulder… well, from what Hitomi told me.
“ Hey-! I see another pack of peanuts~! “ Reina calls out excitedly from behind. “ I call dibs, sucka’s! “
Her footsteps start to rattle away.
“ Reina! “ Hitomi replies, not even looking back. “ Ignore it. “
Reina's footsteps stop as a confused utter escapes her and she eventually continues to follow.
“ Besides, “ Sayumi giggles. “ We already found like- uhm, a million of those? “
“ I think you mean, everyone else found a million of those. Reina on the other hand, just found, two. “
“ That’s cause Reina was too busy in not helping us lo- “
“ Stop it, you guys… “ Eri says softly, in an attempt to calm them down.
Her mind still stuck on Miki, and their arguing somehow emphasized on how bad the situation had gotten.
Not worse, but bad.
They all fall silent, the eroding waves outside of the plane muffling in the background.
Eri wanted to say something cheerful, to lighten the atmosphere, but decided against it, merely because she had no idea what to say.
Reaching the exit, they slide into the curtain, piling into the cabin one by one.
Eri looks around the room, and near the other side of the cabin, on the aisle, she spots Ai, kneeling beside Miki, whom is covered in Kusumi’s yellow blanket.
“ Hiii~ “ Sayumi says girlishly.
Ai looks in their direction, surprised, and from her kneeled position she gets up- reluctantly showcasing a small wave.
“ Dammit… “ Hitomi murmurs as she quickly heads over, dropping her bag. She kneels down, and feels Miki’s forehead with her palm.
Ai says something to Hitomi, but it’s barely audible, due to the questions of confusion filling the air, as the rest of the girls assess the situation.
“ Yo- she’s not up yet? “ Reina asks.
Eri clutches her bag as she slowly paces towards Miki. “ No, she isn’t… “
“ Hey Eri, wait up~ “ Sayumi begins to follow until-
-Kusumi giggles. “ She’s a sleepy Mikitty puff! “
“ Stop that! “ Sayumi elbows Kusumi, suddenly forgetting about Eri.
“ Huh? “
“ That’s my job. Being cute, I mean. “
“ Why do you keep saying that? “ Reina says annoyed. “ We’re all cute! In our own ways... "
Reina pauses. “ Gawd that was so corny. “
Ignoring their fainted conversation, leaving them behind, Eri kneels next to Ai, and examines Miki, not noticing the weird look Ai gives her. Eri brushes away her bangs from her eyes as she gazes down, softly nudging Miki’s arm, wishing Miki would just open her eyes.
“ She was dreaming. “ Ai says. “ I think. “
Eri and Hitomi flash Ai a look.
“ You think? “ Hitomi replies, confused.
“ Uh-huh. Well… she was moaning. “ Ai elbows Eri gently across her arm. “ Moaning ‘Eri’… “
My …name?
“ Eh? “ Eri squeaks, not sure of what Ai had just said. “ Me? “
Hitomi just peeks a glance at Eri, not saying a word.
Ai nods and shrugs. “ I’m as clueless as you are. But… whatever her dream was- I think it put her in a state of shock; she started screaming… yelling… It, it was horrible. “
“ Can she hear us? “ Eri asks.
Ai looks away, ignoring her question. “ I-I should’ve woken her up… “
Eri spots Ai’s sorrow from the tone of her voice and puts her arm around her, hoping to coax the feeling away.
A sudden increase of volume occurs randomly in the background discussion, pausing their assessment.
“ Only 20,000 points!? Well, guess what- I can get 60,000 points, with one hand! “ Sayumi yells.
Reina scoffs. “ Who cares! Tetris is so~~~ boring! “
“ Can you teach me how to do that? “ Kusumi whimpers.
Ai, Hitomi and Eri glance over at them, but quickly get back to the matter at hand.
“ Eh, is that even possible? Because… to get in a coma’, from a dream…? “ Eri says, puzzled.
“ It’s possible… I mean, it could be something else too, like- a stroke… intoxication… metabolic abnormalities… central nervous system diseases… acute neurologic inju- “
Hitomi holds up her hand, gesturing Ai to stop. “ Whoa, hey- In our language please? “
Ai pauses, thinks about it, and scratches her head.
“ Basically, from what I saw- huge chance she had some sort brain trauma, from her dream… “
Ai stops. She looks over towards the other group.
“ Reina can type 160 WPM- on my cell! So yeah, talk to the hand girly! “
“ 160 WPM is nothing compared to my ‘love-WPM’! “
“ What the hell are you talking about? “
“ Let’s have a race, fuu~! Can I host pretty please? “
“ NO! “ Reina and Sayumi yell in unison.
“ Which means…. “ Eri nods, distracting Ai, and emphasizing her tone so Ai could continue.
“ Which means she could’ve been dreaming about something bad- real bad, like, dying... Her mind probably thought it was real, so it shut her off. She’s basically on ‘stand-by’… “
Hitomi rubs the back of her head. “ Well, that’s convenient. How long til’ she wakes up? “
“ No idea. It’s up to her mind, and how much she wants to wake, I guess. “
“ Can she hear us now? “ Eri asks again, remembering her question from earlier.
“ Un. “ Ai nods. “ So hear that Miki? Please wake up soon, we’ll be waiting for you! “
Eri looks on. Miki lays still, as if she were frozen in time. It surprised Eri, about being in Miki’s dream, if she actually was dreaming, and it sent guilt down her spine.
Why did it have to be my name?
“ We can’t do anything for her, besides hope for the best. “ Hitomi says unwillingly. “ We’ll have to spend the night here and- “
“ Eh? “ Eri interrupts. “ I thought we were gonna go search for Risa… “
Ai tends to Miki, fixing the blanket that covered her body.
Hitomi pauses as she watches. “ …Change of plans. “
What?
“ You can’t be serious… “ Eri says a little frantic, feeling guilty. “ She could be freezing to death for all we know- no weapons, and she didn’t take much food ethi- “
“ Look. “ Hitomi interrupts sternly. She showcases an intense stare as her eyebrows tense up. “ I’m just as worried as you are, but for now, we can’t do a damn thing about it. With Miki’s situation added on to the mix, I’m not about to let another one of us get lost, or even killed. “
Ai looks at Eri, with consideration. “ Eri, Hitomi’s right… We don’t even know what’s out there…. “
Hitomi continues. “ If Risa doesn’t come back by morning, we’ll start a search group for sunrise- no earlier, no later. “
That… That’s too long-
Without thinking, Eri abruptly hops onto her feet. “ If Risa doesn’t come back by morning, that means she’s dead!! “
Suddenly, the whole room became silent. The argument that paralleled in the background stopped.
Eri choked.
She didn’t mean to scream- it just… came out that way.
Reina chirps. “ Oh, wow… “
“ Who is dead. “ Kusumi says, more like a confused statement, rather than a question.
“ Eri…? “ Sayumi iterates soon-after.
All the eyes in the room gazed at Eri. And, for a moment, she regretted it.
But just for a moment.
“ End of discussion, Eri! “ Hitomi stands up from her kneel, her eyebrows even more tense. “ As leader of this group, we wait. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Eri looks away, snapping a look at Sayumi’s group, whom is curiously pacing towards her now.
“ Now go start unpacking for the night. A change of clothes at least. “
Eri bites her lower lip, and stares back into Hitomi’s eyes. She feels the urge to oppose, but restrains herself.
“ What’s going on? “ Reina asks softly as they come to a stop.
Sayumi lays her hand on Eri’s shoulder as Kusumi looks on from behind.
“ That goes for all of you! “ Hitomi continues, ignoring Reina’s question.
“ Huh? “ Kusumi utters. “ What goes? “
Ai quickly shushes Kusumi.
With Eri and Hitomi still staring keenly at each other, absorbing each others’ opposition, the rest of the girls begin to pace towards the cabin exit, heading north, to where they first sat at.
“ Drama! “ Reina says exaggeratedly as she walks, a little irritated by Hitomi’s ‘ignored’ response.
“ Did I do something wrong… “ Kusumi asks cluelessly, which prods Ai into escorting her out. Ai says something to Kusumi, but it was inaudible to Eri.
“ Let’s go Eri… “ Sayumi speaks softly, her hand on Eri’s shoulder lightly nudging her.
Eri pauses. “ I’ll meet you there. “
“ But- “ Sayumi glances at Hitomi.
“ I’ll meet you. “
Nodding her head as she see’s her cue; Sayumi slowly walks out the cabin in silence, the curtains fluttering behind her.
A pause ensues. So quiet they can hear the faint footsteps of the others.
“ So are we going to keep on playing the stare game or are you gonna’ ask me out? “ Hitomi says.
Eri ignores her remark. “ You’re abandoning her, you know. “
“ Eri. “ Hitomi points. “ Unpack. “
Feeling her lips weld up as if she were about to cry, Eri grimly looks away and heads out. Her footsteps kick across mounds of rubble, making her feet ache, but she didn’t care. She had to do something, and, if Hitomi won't do it-
- I will.
Just before Eri enters the curtain, she glances behind, just enough time to see Hitomi clasp her face as she kneels beside her unconscious friend.
Topic: Eri Kamei vs. Morning Musume (Read 102252 times)